The OTHER Big Island

We all tend to think of the Big Island as a two-part county. There is the Hilo side and there is the Kona side. But a relaxing weekend in Waimea-Kamuela persuaded me that the northwestern end of Hawaii County is very much its own third place. The Hawaii Performing Arts Festival is a diverse collection of concerts all over the left side of the Big Island every summer, and I flew over Saturday to host a semi-staged performance of a new opera (the premiere was in 2007) on "The Grapes of Wrath." Charlie and Barbara Campbell put Bernadette and me up in one of their cottages, the first time I've overnighted in what other-islanders call the Kamuela area. This Waimea is cool, windy and showery with very fine rain drops that are quite invigorating and pleasant. Some of us around the state hear Waimea-Kamuela and think "Parker Ranch," but it's also home to Merriman's, the most remote shrine to Hawaiian regional cuisine, and to hundreds of employees of Keck Observatory. This is a town full of intellectuals and a town that appreciates culture, yet it also retains a sense of Old Hawaii just like Hilo does. Lance Hamasaki and his wife spotted Bernadette and me at the end of the Hawi road at Pololu Valley and we talked for most of an hour like old friends. Good business advice from the owner of Bamboo Restaurant in Hawi - no matter what it takes, own your building and your land. Better for weathering a downturn. On Monday on the way to Kona airport, we had time for a side trip on Kailua-Kona old high road. It is so beautiful up there!

Comments

[A. Smith]

Aloha Howard!

When next on Hawaii Island and visiting Hilo, please do stop by the East Hawaii Cultural Center, 141 Kalakaua St. (downtown across from Kalakaua Park)for amazing Islandwide arts culture!

Maybe even give the office a call for a tour of the campus! (808-961-5711)

www.youtube.com/easthawaiiculture
www.twitter.com/easthawaiiarts

Alohas mahalos!