There’s plenty to see while walking around Kona

There’s an attitude you feel while walking around Kona. Sure, Ali’i Drive is set up for shopping. Tourists are more than welcome to buy and dine. We walked, too, my dear wife Karen, terrific daughter Elisabeth and fantastic significant George Three and I. Every dang day of the family reunion and dream vacation. I noticed…

We saved Hawaii Friday for Drew and Maritza

Nephew Drew had announced on the Family Reunion Facebook chat page a while back that everybody had to reserve our Hawaii Friday for he and his girlfriend Maritza. No problem. Once in Kona a few days, we were told that we were all going to a beautiful beach resort 20 or so miles toward Hilo.…

We spot many dolphins on a whale of an adventure

My wonderful daughter Elisabeth booked this special excursion for her significant George Three and my dear wife Karen and I far in advance. Sister-in-law Jana and niece Dacia spotted that news on the Family Reunion Facebook news-chat page and signed up, too. We met at a well-hidden Kona public launch for a 7:30 a.m. send-off,…

This makes it easy to rise in Hawaii

Mother Nature makes it easy to rise early in Hawaii. And I’m not (just) talking about the six-hour time difference. At our Aston Kona By the Sea staying place, the sun came up on the mountain side of our week stay. I chased the magical moment out on the road with my iPhone 6s. Too…

Now that’s an Hawaiian sunset, repeat after me

I made sure I was out on our balcony around 6:30 p.m. I had iPad Pro ready. Beautiful, the sunset was off to the west. At our trip to a luau later in our dream vacation week at a resort a bit down the road toward Kona proper, I knew the location right on the…

When you must stay inside in Hawaii, it can be suite

When you travel from Central New York to Kona, Hawaii, you don’t want to stay inside much. But if you must, a suite at Aston Kona By the Sea will do the job quite well, thank you. That’s where my dear wife Karen set up ourselves, my wonderful daughter Elisabeth and her terrific significant George…

I can feel at home at Aston Kona by the Sea for a week

When we pulled into our place to stay for Family Reunion II, Kona was very dark. But the place my dear wife Karen had chosen in collaboration with several of her siblings lightened my spirits considerably. That first night, we dragged our bags in from the rental SUV, put them into our bedrooms, and checked…

Aloha, Kona’s open airport

We arrived at Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, N.Y., before the clock had hit 5 a.m., giving us plenty of time to check our bags, pass through security and board the first of three planes that would take us westward that day. Although the sun had yet to rise, somebody was enjoying the open restaurant…

New things are blooming up front

A tall, scraggly bush has coaxed some cuss words out of my dear wife Karen and I since we moved into A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville last October. We never thought it would amount to much. But instead of digging it out or cutting it down, we trimmed, pruned and hoped.…

What to do with that bothersome water pipe?

There is a common bond in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville. We all deal with a stubby water pipe somewhere in our front yard. My dear wife Karen and I have been letting the rusty little thing just sit there between our walkway and the road. Inside, I seethe a little bit. And notice that…