When we got back to the condo, we decided to have a super leisurely breakfast on the lanai, when a pod of dolphins dropped by. The Big Island has spinner dolphins, which are super amazing when they jump because they spin around. We watched them for 20 minutes or so when the icing on the cake arrived on the rocks below, a wandering tattler! Needless to say, by the time we've got ourselves packed up for the next adventure, we are a bit sad to be leaving Kona, but the bittersweet departure is tempered knowing we are headed to volcano land next. 
Since it is only 9 am and we have until 4 to check in, we decide it's a good day to check out some of the on land sights the Kona area has to offer: Coffee and other agricultural delights. We head up to Hololua to drive the Mamoloa Hwy South. Our first stop is delightful Blue Sky Coffee, where we couldn't resist buying our first pound of fresh Kona beans and enjoying their free yummy bananas. With the ample samples of chocolate covered coffee beans being handed out, I know we will be perky all day. We are disappointed to discover that Hololua, a cute artsy town, is mostly closed on Mondays, so we continue on driving the coffee road. Our next stop is perfect: Kona Joe's. We wanted to pick up some coffee for Joe Z for his super kind early early AM ride to the airport. Kona Joe's specializes in trellis grown coffee, which is a wine grape growing technique. The effort pays off in the taste of the beans. This is one of the prettiest farms we visit all day, sweeping views surrounded by happy Saffron Finches and Yellow Fronted Canaries. Delightful. 
We continue down the coffee (Mamoloa) highway, but decide we are satiated on that frontier and pass over several more farms until we reach the turn off for Kealakekua Bay and drive the twisting road down to where we had snorkeled by boat the day before. En route, we discover the Kona Pacific Farmer's Cooperative. We loved this place. The grounds include all sorts of cool tropical farming exhibits, our favorite was the fruit tree walk, so many varieties of crazy fruits. I forget what they all are, but we got to taste many of them in the co-op store. The girl working there was very enthusiastic about sampling stuff for us, and we ended up buying quite a bit from her, including several types of chocolate macadamia nuts and Charlie's favorite muffin of all time: Soursop Macadamia. It sounds weird, but it is mind-blowingly good. We continued on down to the overflowing Kealakekua Bay parking lot, a site of some contention on the island as the state is no longer allowing kayaking without a permit in the bay, so as the tours have had to pull out, several entrepreneurial locals have stepped up with their own kayaks. Many tourists take them up on it and the kayak tour companies are pretty peaved. This is one of the reasons we opted to go on the boat tour, to avoid all this. Looking at the chaos and sign-age in this parking lot, I'm glad for it. We head on to the Place of Refuge, which on the crazy road we took provided for plenty of excitement. 
When we arrive at Place of Refuge, I'm glad once again that we took the boat snorkel as the kayaking parking area here is insanely full and from the look of it, we would have bumped into every other snorkeler near the shore. This must be why the guidebook says "go early." We park in the National Park lot and enter the refuge. The Place of Refuge is both a restored ancient village and an important religious site. Ancient Hawaiian religion included a number of taboos, that if broken, could result in your execution. But you get one opportunity to outrun the army to the place of refuge where you can be purified and re-enter society. From what we learned, these taboos ranged from accidentally looking someone from the Royal Family in the eye to the sorts of crimes still punishable in the US today. The park is well worth visiting. We particularly enjoy the huge number of Ki'i carvings guarding the park. 
After all this, we're starved, so we skip the Painted Church and a botanical garden we saw on the map, but not from the road. We pick the first place we see, a casual place that is struggling to choose between a store and a restaurant. The woman behind the counter suggests fish and chips because it's "ono," a word the guidebook uses interchangeably with local, so we order that. It's delicious. And definitely not what we get at home. We press on, we still have a long drive and plenty of things too see left today. Our next stop is the South Kona Fruit Stand, where we can't seem to resist loading up on fruit, even though we have a bag of lychee from the co-op, we get Brazillian Grapes, perfect tomatoes, and soursop. For the next 45 minutes or so the road meanders through lava fields and forests. The guidebook describes failed development after development in this section of the island. Apparently because communities have organized to sue developers to protect the land and curb environmental impacts. It feels weird like we are driving through sacred land, but then you'll see areas that are clearly delineated for development that never happened.
We stop at a surprise grocery store that seems to be in the middle of nowhere and though we want to get some supplies, we are so weirded out by the place that we end up not buying anything once we get inside. I remember that John, our guide from the birding trip, said not to hike off the beaten path in this area and think he's right. Our only other stop around here is the view point to see South Point and its wind farm. We were never going to be brave enough to try the off road drive and hike to get to the green beach there and now, I totally am not. I feel relieved when we arrive in Naalehu, which is a bustling town of happy people where every store boasts being the southernmost of its kind. We pick up groceries here and stop at the Punalu'u bakery, the island's favorite bread maker, to pick up Lilokoi Malasadas (to die for) and some bread for all the sandwiches we've been eating. 
It's only another 15 minutes to the condo we're staying at near the black sand beach. We're staying at Colony One at Sea Mountain, which according to the guidebook was to be one of many, but a lawsuit intervened here as well. Which is fine by us, Colony One is awesome and feels more private than remote. We get checked into a cute little studio inside a town house near the pool. After we've unpacked, we can't resist the walk to the island's best black sand beach. It's about a ten minute walk and is rumored to be very popular with sea turtles. En route, we check out the swimming pool and are so delighted by it, we vow to get back in time to swim a bit before dinner. Sunset viewing won't be as essential at the south end of the island, but still we want to be back eating dinner by the time it's dark.The walk to the black sand beach is fast and soon we are walking on its eerie shores. I hadn't expected to be so flummoxed by it, but with the diffused light, it's just downright strange to be walking on a matte black beach. We come across a lounging turtle, who is unfazed by everything as he enjoys the warmth of the dark sand. Charlie points out a pond for some possible birding and we head over to it only to discover it's like a reverse Monet or something.
A scenic lily pond, with black sand at its shore and utterly dark water, we assume from the sand. It has a jaunty bridge that I would expect to be painted red, but it's just a faded brown, which goes with the overall darkness to the place and we assume is just a weatherizing issue. We spot a path and head further into the park. The trail is completely over grown, which we again just assume is a tropical thing. We reach the bridge we first saw and cross it, only briefly discussing how rickety the thing is. We continue on, through thicker foliage to a second bridge, this one seems even more rickety, but again we don't think much of this. Then suddenly we look up and we see a scene straight out of Spirited Away. We've come across one of the abandoned developments. All this landscaping was part of it and that is why it's so over grown, rickety, and unpainted. The development is huge, with big stair cases that have fallen apart and lights that may never have been lit. We explore this a bit and realize the only way back to the beach is through the final bridge. This time we hold our breath as we cross it. Whew. 
We end our adventurous road trip day drinking Mai Tais poolside. The pool has a view of the cliffs below and huge waves hit every few minutes, making an incredible show of ocean spray. Bliss. Our photo album for this day is here.
