Email ElizabethThe Vanillerie Tour in Kona Ends With Ice Cream
My friends at the Kona Haven Coffee group mentioned The Vanillerie tour in Kona a few weeks back, and I had forgotten about it. They were a little vague about where the place was located, saying it was past the turnoff for Costco. But after I read the reviews online among the list of things to do in Kona, I thought my husband would enjoy it during his stay.
At the beginning of the tour, Steve began the narration. We learned he has lived in Kona for 14 years and came here from Washington. It seems everybody we meet in Kona, if they were not born here, count their years like rings on a tree, and some with great pride. It’s always an announcement or a question about how long one has lived in Kona.
The people we bought our house from said residents are slow to warm to newcomers, always concerned they will make a close friend and then that friend will go back to the Mainland. With people my age, the greater concern is your new friend will DIE from OLD age. Honestly!
The Vanillerie tour in Kona starts with an introduction to the vanilla bean, which is actually an orchid. Not many people know this. Or if they knew it at one time, it’s escaped their now mature memory banks, or got shoved behind a bunch of boxes in the attic as information that has no bearing on your life when you live in, say, Minneapolis.
We discovered during the Vanillerie tour that vanilla beans need filtered and shaded light in a warm, humid area. What kind of weather is better than Kona? They must also be pollinated, which at the Vanillerie is done by hand. After you pick the beans, which takes about 3 years to mature, they are still alive, and they must be killed. Which they do with heat.
Then the vanilla beans go through a curing process, which involves sweating and drying.
As you can see on these trays, the vanilla beans on top are drying. The pieces in the containers below the top row are cut up with plans to make them into a vanilla powder.
After the Vanillerie tour in Kona, we returned to the gift shop, the building we first entered, to enjoy vanilla ice cream. They also sell vanilla extract and kits to make your own vanilla extract from vanilla beans. Just add alcohol, how easy is that?
Or you can buy a variety of vanilla products like scented candles or vanilla hand lotion. A little goes a long way with the hand lotion. I dribbled a teaspoon on my hands and tried to wipe off the excess on my husband, but he was having none of my shenanigans.
The tour is only $15 and well worth the visit. The reception area with the picnic tables can be transformed into a place for group lunches, celebrations or weddings.
The Vanillerie, 73-4301 Laui St, Kailua-Kona, Island of Hawaii, HI 96740-9010. 808.331.8535. 10 AM to 4 PM, 3 tours a day.
Mahai’lua Beach at Kekaha Kai State Park
You have to really want to visit Mahai’lua Beach to drive down the road to get there. To say the road is unimproved is to put it mildly. In fact, there is a sign about halfway down the road that warns you are entering an unimproved road, just in case you didn’t know. However, the road to the unimproved road is also unimproved, so it makes you wonder how much worse can it get.
Wasn’t bad in my Subaru SUV, but some of the people who care about their suspension (or maybe their kidneys) had turned around and headed back to the highway. It’s about a 15-minute drive, averaging somewhere between 5 and 10 miles per hour. But who is in a hurry? This is Hawaii! You’ll get to Mahai’lua Beach. Eventually.
Mahai’lua Beach is long and wide, with beautiful sand. This is not the most beautiful beach in the Kekaha Kai State Park. There is another beach, but it is a longer walk. From the parking lot, it is about a 1/2 mile walk to the beach, through a gate to a path.
Beyond that beach, you need to navigate another 1/2 mile over lava beds and lava rock to reach the most beautiful beach, known as Makalawena Beach. Best white sand beach in West Hawaii. But we did not reach that beach since it was already mid afternoon, and the walk in hot sun over lava did not appeal to my husband. But we will go there another day.
Waves were high and surf was up the day we were at Makai’lui Beach. We could watch the surfers way off in the distance patiently wait for the best waves. On occasion, there were sets of waves rolling on top of each other. I almost jumped in the water with all of my clothes on but then I realized after the beach, we had to stop at Wal-Mart to exchange a propane tank.
The sun must have made me dizzy because as I stood in line at Wal-Mart to pay for an exchange, I could have sworn the clerk kept talking about cocaine to the guy in front of me. I was thinking, hey, can’t she see I’m standing right here? She shouldn’t be discussing a cocaine transaction in the middle of the store.
When I shared this interaction with my husband, he began to parody JJ Cale’s song, Cocaine: if you want to grill meat, you’ve got to take her out, propane.
This is the same Hawaiian monk seal that we spotted in the small lagoon during our tour a few years ago of the Kona Natural Energy Laboratory. We have only two Hawaiian monk seals on the Big Island, and we found both of them this week at Mahai’lua Beach.
Fortunately, there are volunteers who put up signs and rope off the areas to keep tourists and beachgoers away from the Hawaiian monk seals. The monk seals are an endangered species and endemic to the islands, meaning they are found no place else in the world.
It is also possible to hike about 7 miles south to reach Kua Bay, another popular yet secluded location for a beach. At least Kua Bay is a place you can drive on a paved surface to reach.
Successor Trustee Sellers Thrilled They Picked Right Agent
These successor trustee sellers did not know which agent to hire but they knew they wanted an experienced Sacramento Realtor. So, they went to a referral service that refers top producers in exchange for a piece of the action from the agent. This particular company sends seller’s information to a bunch of top producers and they let the agents fight it out to get the business.
As a top listing agent in Sacramento, I charge more than just about any other agent, because I’ve never lowered my commission from 40 years ago. It’s been the same amount. However, I am also confident I am worth the standard commission rate and so are my clients. They know better than to shop for an agent based on commission. We all charge about the same anyway; and they wanted the very best.
It also helped that I checked out the property before I contacted these successor trustee sellers. Even knowing that sellers often go with the very first agent who contacts them, I take my time to verify that I really want the listing. That means looking up the history of past sales and studying the specifics for red flags. This way I speak with authority when I talk to the sellers.
Upon checking, the public records showed no sales since 1989, and different sellers were in title than the names I had from the referral source. Due to experience, I guessed quite accurately that it was a successor trustee sale, as I do so many of them.
When I sent a quick email to the successor trustee sellers, I asked if this was a possible successor trustee sale. They called and asked me to come over. Said nobody else had figured out that this was not really their home or how they came in possession to sell it. I was the only agent who took the time to do my homework first before I chased a listing.
Every single listing I take is important and special to me. Few agents are as focused or dedicated to the sellers as I am. Sometimes I hear agents tell sellers that Elizabeth Weintraub can’t possibly do a good job because she sells so many homes, and they can do a better job because they sell so few. Which is the stupidest thing I’ve heard since Trump began tweeting.
Quantity does not equate to bad quality, just the opposite. The reason I sell so many homes is because I make each seller feel like they are my only client. I am devoted to their transaction and offer this service because I am organized, efficient and driven by my sincere passion for real estate.
Upon meeting the successor trustee sellers, I immediately felt a connection, and I think they did, too, because they hired me on the spot. I recall standing in the dining room with them and looking at what appeared to be wet spots around a window, which stained the wallpaper. The sellers asked me what I thought. They were puzzled because water intrusion had not happened. Funny enough there was a crochet curtain draped over the top and down the sides as a topper. It looked like the owner had removed the topper to wash it and hung it back up wet.
Which is exactly what had happened.
I gave the sellers the name of my handyman to remove the wallpaper from that wall and paint it. Then I suggested they call my carpet cleaning guy, who is obsessed with making carpeting look new again. Initially, I thought we would market it as a fixer since it needed updates. But after spending time in the home, I suggested a different strategy to maximize profit potential, and sure enough, that strategy worked.
We closed escrow at list price, $674,950. Which was also a very aggressive price, and we sold the home in four days. 2023 Lux Court, Carmichael, CA 95608 closed escrow on January 14, 2019.
Afternoon Visit to Holualoa Artist Enclave on Big Isle
The first time I tried to find the Holualoa artist enclave uphill from Kona, I turned the wrong way and ended up in front of the Aloha Theater in Kealakekua. Not only that, but my friends were leaving Holualoa soon, so I drove really fast up and then down the winding road of Hualalai, not wanting to miss them.
But I did miss them anyway. Since I had run out of food, the next best thing to do was stop at Safeway on my way home. I zoomed into the parking lot, jumped out of my vehicle and all of a sudden my mouth started to water. The calm before the storm.
Wild thoughts raced through my head, like am I gonna endure a forceful regurgitation right here in the Safeway parking lot? Oh, wait, up there on the curb is a trash can. If I can just make it to the curb, I can stick my head into the trash can and pretend I’m searching for the cellphone I accidentally dropped inside while I politely heave, not drawing any attention to myself.
Instead, I focused on the sushi restaurant next door to Safeway and reiterated to myself I’m simply hungry. That calmed the queasiness and it vanished as quickly as it started. Motion sickness is a weird thing.
When we began our journey up Hualalai Road, I drove much slower. Also, we made a pit stop at Tutu’s Nursery to visit with Barbara Bolton. It was a long shot, but I thought she might have a red sealing wax palm she’d be willing to part with but no. Instead of coming away with a lipstick palm, we bought a giant avocado named Linda instead and proceeded on our way to the Holualoa artist enclave. This time, when I got the fork in the road, I turned left instead of right. Must have missed the clever sign with the arrow pointing toward the artist galleries the first time around.
Well, first on the order of business in the town of Holualoa was lunch! My husband was very interested in the Tuesday Tacos at a place that, well, I wouldn’t say food poisoning was totally out of the question. It seemed the Holuakoa Cafe would give us more dining options.
Above is a statue of the Hindu God Ganesha in the garden of the Holuakoa Cafe, located along the Mamalahoa Highway in Holualoa artist enclave.
My husband Adam ordered the frittata, but I opted for the ahi tuna melt and a Longboard Island lager. I didn’t eat all of the bread as it seemed a bit much but the tuna was delicious. Should also mention the extensive wine menu. I spotted a Kurayoshi malt whiskey, which I considered but it was also the middle of the afternoon. We had art galleries to visit.
In this photo, you can see the Kona Hotel (the pink hotel) on the left, and the wonderful view down the perpendicular road. It looks like the world is flat, and if you drive over that hill you’ll fall off the edge. I’m sure there are people in Kona who believe that, along with the ones who won’t vaccinate their kids, follow conspiracy theories and believe fake news. A friend of mine in Kona said she doesn’t use a microwave because she doesn’t want “that” in her food. Yet, she uses a cell.
But I try not to judge people and look for the sides of their nature to which I can relate. We all have goofy quirks.
Adam is looking a bit impatient because I asked him to stand by the red door of the art gallery in the Holualoa artist enclave. Like he does not want his picture taken, especially if he is simply standing there and not goofing off.
Although, he was very upset when I once published a photo of him with green beans hanging out his nose and a tomato on his head. Hey, why did he stick that stuff on his body and stand for a photo if he didn’t want a photo taken? I dunno.
We visited Barbara Hanson’s art gallery. She makes the most incredible works of art from clay she rolls together and pulls the colors into a shape. She paints them in a very creative style that makes me think of my Oaxacan cats.
I did pick up a honu as a memento, a t-shirt at M. Field and a pair of handmade earrings. This Holualoa artist enclave hosts a First Friday event for a couple of hours the first Friday of every month, beginning around 5:30. Might be better to visit in the summer, though, when it doesn’t get dark so quickly.
The photo above is the view out the back from the Dovetail Art Gallery. Amazing, isn’t it? It’s also a bit cooler at the higher elevation of 320 feet than it is at sea level in Kona.
Old Kona Airport Beach at Low Tide
The last time I strolled along Old Kona Airport Beach Park was more than a year ago, when I shot photos of my last day in Kona. Not very many people seem to populate this area; it’s fairly quiet and secluded, featuring picnic tables under covered canopies.
But yesterday, my husband and I stopped at Old Kona Airport Beach at low tide to check out the sea life and vegetation. Above, is a close up photo of an intricate flower on the velvetleaf soldier bush. Must be a hardy plant to survive on the edge of the ocean.
Here we have sea urchin, with a few shells hanging on. If you step on one of these babies barefoot, you will live to regret that action. I’ve never done it on purpose nor by accident but I hear it stings and burns something terrible.
In this photo, I spied a sea urchin next to a red sea anemone, the beautiful tubular thing. This is where I almost slipped into the water on the wet rocks. Good thing I wore water shoes.
My husband says he thinks these are mussels, but there are so many types of mollusks it would take me forever to pin down this specific type. They could be bleached or a different variety all together.
One of the things I love about tide pools is the stuff you can find that is otherwise not visible to you. When I lived in an oceanfront on the Rincon in Ventura, California, I once caught a squid and put him into a jar with ocean water. He didn’t live, and I was very sad to return his dead body to the sea.
However, for years, I endured nightmares of waking up to giant tentacles attached to my windows, the mama of the squid returning to get revenge for killing her child. There is always karma in life.
This is just the two of us enjoying sitting on a large pahoehoe and watching the sea, wondering when the tide would begin to turn. Any new wave could have washed over us. As luck had it, we were an hour away from the end of low tide. Sometimes you can just sense these things. But never turn your back on the ocean, especially not at Old Kona Airport Beach.
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