The Big Island is a great place to live AND a great place to vacation. I was lucky to spend a long weekend at the Hapuna Prince recently. We drove out after work one Friday afternoon and joined our friends (who were there for a golf tournament) for a fun staycation.

Our friends invited us to join them at the dinner events each evening. The first night’s dinner buffet afforded us beautiful views of the ocean in addition to some onolicious food–roast beef, mac nut crusted fish, curry, poke, ulu, and more! And of course dessert–creme brûlée (guava basil, coconut, and coffee flavors) and ice shave–perfect for the hot and humid weather we were experiencing! I woke up early the next morning, had some coffee, and sat on the lanai of my ground level room and listened to the waves break on the shore as I appreciated that neither Hurricane Madeline nor Lester derailed our plans for our weekend at the beach. On that Saturday, initially, both kids had sporting events in Kona, but my son’s BIIF cross-country meet was canceled ahead of Hurricane Lester’s arrival. My daughter’s soccer organization waited to hear more about the hurricane forecast. The weather turned out to be awesome so we drove to Kona on Saturday morning for my daughter’s Big Island Rush soccer game. It was a good fun cheering on the team while catching up with the other soccer parents.After driving back to Waikoloa, we relaxed, cooled off a little and then got ready for dinner. I enjoyed the poke, warabi salad, seared ahi, and oysters for dinner. It was a hot night and it was nice to have cool-temperature foods to help beat the heat.

The next morning, I finally made it to the fitness center at the Hapuna Prince golf clubhouse and got a quick workout in so that I didn’t feel too guilty as I overindulged at the breakfast buffet. I enjoyed lox, miso soup, bacon, and the Sunday special, eggs Benedict. After breakfast, it was vitamin D time with the mamas! Hapuna Beach is still as awesome as I remember it being when I was in high school. The mamas weren’t the only ones who enjoyed the beach. All our children enjoyed the time to play and swim with each other.
The last dinner of the golf tournament weekend was an incredible spread of crab, miso butterfish, tempura, steamed clams, oysters, and of course, dessert.After checking out of the hotel on the last morning, we stopped for lunch at Romano’s Macaroni Grill. That was my first time there and I enjoyed a Bibb & Blue salad (bibb leaves ~but I got romaine lettuce, gorgonzola, crispy prosciutto, walnuts, pickled red onions, and buttermilk dressing.

I had an appetizer order of the spicy ricotta meatballs to go with my salad.  YUM!

Staycationing  on the island is awesome. But now…where is my calendar? Workouts need to be scheduled!