The Big Island - The First Saturday in May in Hilo

We set the alarm for 4:45 am to watch the sunrise at Kilauea.

At times it was quiet enough that I could hear the roar coming from the volcano.

Cloudy skies. Only one area was spurting up this morning, as opposed to the two places that were active the night before last.

It's interesting how the spurting points shift throughout the day and overnight. Video here.

Offerings for Pele in the new morning light.

We drove to Hilo to hit the Farmer's Market. But first, brunch! We ate at Paul's Place, a half-block away from the Farmer's Market and it was my favorite meal of the trip. It is tiny. And by tiny, I mean, there are literally three tables. And those tables seat two. So I highly recommend making a reservation. It is worth it.

Hubs had eggs benedict. The hollandaise had dill, which was a nice twist. The benny was good, but I was too busy with my own food to pay much attention to his.

I had a veggie sandwich and discovered a new key to the universe: green apple. Green apple on the veggie sandwich makes it special. And that's what makes Paul's food standout. He elevates humble-sounding food by adding unique, unexpected ingredients. The side salad was dressed with an anchovy and lemon dressing and topped with blueberries. Anchovies + blueberries = amazing. Never thought that would work, but, oh, it does.

Done with the fabulous meal, technically, I think there are food stalls up everyday, but on Saturdays there are arts and crafts for sale as well. T-shirts, jewelry, soaps, wood carvings, and lots of other goodies.

I figured this was the best place to buy souvenirs from the trip and support some local artisans. I chose a bracelet by Cora Marie Andrews. It was made out of mgambo seeds, black spheres that look and feel like they're wrapped in velvet.

Photo by Velvet Jewelry

I also bought a necklace by Ivy Torrez at Small Scale Magic with a hand-painted lehua blossom, the flower that grows on the ohia tree.

Photo by Small Scale Magic

Since the farmer's market is in the heart of downtown, we browsed through some stores and enjoyed an ice cream cone. Mostly we were killing time because it was the first Saturday in May, so we were biding our time for the Kentucky Derby to begin. We walked to the Hilo Town Tavern, ordered a Hawaiian beer, and the bartender was nice enough to change the channel for us.

We were rooting for Dortmund, who won the Santa Anita Derby. We have quite the jinx going with the Kentucky Derby. In the last decade, if we watched the Santa Anita Derby at the track, the winner doesn't win the Kentucky Derby. If we don't go, the SA winner crosses the finish line first on the first Saturday in May. So, we were, in fact the reason Dortmund lost, not that American Pharoah was so great. Ahem.

We drove back to Volcano and picked up some groceries on the way. We stopped at Cafe Ono for a late lunch, a vegetarian restaurant attached to an arts/crafts gallery. We ate outside where a goat named ernest balled almost non-stop. To be fair, it had started raining.

The food was delicious. I had lasagna that came with soup and a giant salad and the best garlic toast.

Hubs had quiche.

The meal wasn't cheap at $15 each, but the portions were huge and Volcano is expensive in general. What a great eating day!

It kept raining, so we relaxed at the Haven. There is no TV, which is lovely, but it was a big sports day. The Clippers beat the Spurs in an epic game 7. We watched the numbers tick up and down on the ESPN gamecast. Also, the Mayweather-Pacquiao was that night. Hubs read the play-by-play according to Twitter which was probably more entertaining than the actual fight. It certainly was cheaper. Unsurprisingly, Mayweather won, but it was still disappointing.

It's a small world. I saw on Facebook that my college roommate who I hadn't seen since college was in Kona. I messaged her and found out she was coming to Volcano, so we went out to meet her for a drink. It was great to see her and catch up.