Hilo

I stayed in Hilo last night.  Hilo is actually the largest town on the island, but is on the wetter and less tourist friendly side of the island, so there are not really any national chain hotels.  I chose to stay in a Hawaiian chain and it really had a personal touch.  On checking two people tag-teamed a five minute introduction to the overwhelming number of features and amenities the hotel has including emergency candles in the room, a museum down one hall, dining options etc.  The hotel was older, but everything was very clean and nicely kept, like there was a pride the people too in the place.  My room had a balcony that overlooked not only the ocean, but also a very impressive Koi pond area (one of the amenities).  I thoroughly enjoyed the stay.

View from my room

I had been very interested to go to Hilo.  Not because there were a lot of things that I wanted to do here, but because it is a place I have heard of since I was a kid.  My grandfather was in the Navy during and after WWII and stationed all over the Pacific.  But one place I clearly remember him talking about was Hilo.  I can't remember the details, but the name really stuck in my mind.  So I decided to take a walk and discover the place.  My hotel was off Banyan Way, a road lined with banyan trees that had been planted by celebrity visitors dating back to the 1920's and 30's.  I kept thinking that it was probable that he had strolled this same street looking at the trees with their celebrity planters, that he may have visited the nearby Liliuokalani Gardens, and walked along the seawall.  It was a nice connection to make to the place.

Banyan Way

Amelia Earhart Banyan

Liliuokalani Gardens

The only other thing I knew about Hilo before this trip was that it was hit by two tsunamis in the 1950's and 60's.  During my walk I saw some memorials to the tsunamis, including the old town clock, which was preserved and still stuck at the time the waves hit from the 1960 tsunami.  It was very sobering to think about everything around me being underwater with buildings and cars and people being dragged out to sea.

Town clock Tsunami memorial