glad you liked the BI! Dominic Monaghan and Evangeline Lilly (Charlie and Kate from Lost) were in my store the other night. The "girls" took a picture with him, Frank the cashier touched Evangeline's hand when she signed her credit card receipt. Got autographs for the whole store. They bought a bottle of Yellow Tail wine (on sale for $5.49) and some postcards. She had dyed her hair blonde and was trying to be low key, he enjoyed the attention. Great people! Think they were here filming...

Karameli - thanks for a GREAT report! I will be there (on Oahu) in 49 days (but who's counting?) and will be doing lots of what you wrote about.

I too love the pancakes at Boots & Kimo's and am nearly drooling thinking about what day I'll go there for breakfast.

I like to go to Duke's and agree that the bar menu is better - I love to sit at the bar - facing out at the beach, of course - eating nachos with a few of their yummy banana "panini" (foo-foo)drinks to wash it down.

I'm planning to do the Diamond Head thing this time around - I've never done it before. I'm hoping that since it will be November and I'm planning to go EARLY it won't be as hot as it was when you went.

I absolutely LOVE Oahu - Waikiki in particular - and try to get there as often as I can. From the sound of it you'll be going back too.

Love your TR, so informative. Haven't been to the Big Island but definitely will remember to stay close by after visiting the VNP.

matnikstym -- I'll have to tell my husband. He's a HUGE Evangeline Lilly fan!! (I'm SURE he just admires her acting talents....haha.)

Aww, the "foo-foo" drinks at Duke's bar sound good...guess we'll have to go back someday, so we can sit in the right section and get some burgers and umbrella drinks!

matnikstym: Can you reveal the name of your store?

Loved it, especially the part about the lava flow. I'm going in a couple of weeks, and that's the part I'm most looking forward to. Thanks.

P_M,

I'm jealous! Check in with the Visitors' Center when you get there -- they'll draw a path on the map to the nearest flow. It was super-helpful. If you're going at night, absolutely bring one flashlight for each person -- the lava is rocky and SHARP, so you'll definitely want your own!

Have fun!

My husband had five stitches in his knee from tripping and falling on the lava rocks. He did not fall at the volcano site, but on a path at the hotel. The path ran along the water and had lots of lava rocks around it. My husband was carrying a ton of stuff from the beach and looked up to see a wedding being photographed, lost his footing and Bam! Lava in the leg!! He patched it up and we went to dinner, but it was gross looking. So, I drove him up to the Waimea hospital where he got 5 stitches. He tells everyone a shark nipped his leg... ha ha..

So, if you are walking around at night on uneven lava, please be careful and bring a flashlight. The emergency room doc said that the slips and falls on lava rocks, keep her in business and happily living on the big island!! Enjoy!

Thanks karameli, will do.

And thanks to you, girl on the go. We both plan to bring flashlights and wear long pants.

Counting the days....