Hawaii Begins With Food -- An Unfortunate, but Yummy! :) Trend

Food, unfortunately, was a difficult issue throughout my Hawaiian adventure. Unfortunately, I didn't know how difficult it would be throughout the trip. It wasn't the food, however, and the issues that would plague me -- namely, early closing restaurants that made sticking to my diet of six hours between ending one vacation meal and beginning another -- were non-issues for the first two meals of my trip.

I asked a friend to drive me from my apartment at 6:30 A. M. on Friday. He said he could do it at 6:00 A. M. I was up by 4:00 A. M., doing last minute packing. I had breakfast at JFK airport, and lunch at the Phoenix airport, and my second flight from Phoenix to Hawaii lasted over seven hours. I was dead tired and very hungry when I landed in Hawaii, and my first experience, after getting luggage and obtaining the rental car, was to eat. Taking a tip from the rental car staff, I went to Da Kitchen, a local restaurant near the airport, which provided access to a quick, Hawaiian cuisine!

Here are some pics, along with the "hang loose" sign, which the waitress insisted I display!

Not sure what the fish was that I ate there, but it is yummy! Came with the green salad, too!

Here is the link to the restaurant, which is a Hawaiian chain:

http://www.da-kitchen.com/

A nice opening act!

I was up early the next morning, in time to jog, and arrive early at my next stop, The Gazebo restaurant, the typical restaurant with the line out the door, so it has to be good! While I waited in line -- nearly an hour -- for the restaurant to open, I got the chance to photograph this natural beauty!

Here are some pics of the restaurant -- I am seen there with the Big Kahuna Omelet, which contained my first taste of scruptious Portugese sausage.

Below is the view of the island of Molokini -- from the seat the waitress gave me after I asked for the "best avaiable seat."

A picture of the line, along with umbrellas handed to patrons to protect them from the rain, and showing the gazebo giving the restaurant its namesake.

Here is a link to the restaurant:

http://www.mauiinfosource.com/Activities/Dining/Napili%20Dining/The%20Gazebo%20Restaurant/the_gazebo_restaurant_menu_main.htm

Looking back on experiences I would not yet have on this morning, July 2, 2011, I am sorry that my Hawaiian experience centered so much around food. That is not healthy for me, and I will describe it better later. That said, Da Kitchen and The Gazebo provided exactly what I wanted -- Hawaiian cuisine (because I was in Hawaii), and yummy food. They are definitely worth the patronage, even with the long wait at The Gazebo.