Hawaii - Jeff Campbell [254]
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EATING & DRINKING
As with the rooms, so with the food. The restaurant at Volcano House (Map; 967-7321; www.volcanohousehotel.com; 1 Crater Rim Dr; buffet breakfast & lunch $13-17, dinner mains $17-30; 7-10:30am, 11am-2pm, 5:30-9pm) serves a cafeteria-quality buffet for breakfast and lunch, and dinner plates match what you’d expect at your uncle’S second wedding – but the dining-room view is a knockout. There’S a snack bar during the day, and at night Uncle George’S Lounge (4:30-9pm) has a full bar. The high point of Volcano House is the lobby with its famous fireplace. At the end of the day, grab some firewater at Uncle George’S Lounge, come sit in a leather couch under a Tavernier painting, and warm yourself in front of ‘Pele’S fireplace,’ which according to legend is never allowed to go out.
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GETTING THERE & AROUND
The national park is 29 miles (about 40 minutes) from Hilo and 97 miles (2½ hours) from Kailua-Kona. From either direction, you’ll drive on Hwy 11. Volcano village is a mile east of the park entrance.
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AROUND HAWAI′I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
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VOLCANO
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The village of Volcano is a mystical place of giant ferns, giant sugi (Japanese evergreen) and ohia trees full of puffy red blossoms. Many artists and park employees enjoy the seclusion here.
Information
The visitor center and a laundromat (open daily) are located next to Thai Thai Restaurant (Click here).
Post office (Map; 967-7611; 19-4030 Old Volcano Rd; 7:30am-3:30pm Mon-Fri, 11am-noon Sat) Down the street from the post office
Volcano Visitor Center (Map; 985-7422; Old Volcano Rd; 7am-7pm) This teensy unstaffed hut has brochures aplenty and an ATM; call for help booking a room.
Sights & Activities
One of the warmest community events on the island is the Volcano Farmers Market (Map; Cooper Community Center, Wright Rd; 5:30-9am Sun). If you’ve been in Volcano more than a day, you won’t feel like a stranger here. Everyone comes (and comes early) to socialize and buy local organic produce, hot food, and local crafts you won’t see everywhere. A bright play structure teems with children (as does the awesome skate park, outside market hours). There’S even a used bookstore.
The very attractive Volcano Winery (Map; 967-7772; www.volcanowinery.com; 35 Pi′i Mauna Dr; 10am-5:30pm) grows only one variety of grape – symphony – and only one of its six vintages uses it exclusively. Others mix in jaboticaba berries and guava for sweet, unusual wine variations, and a rich honey wine is almost like mead. Free tastings let you try them all.
Artist Ira Ono and his voluptuous masks seem to be everywhere, and his gallery, Volcano Garden Arts (Map; 967-7261; www.volcanogardenarts.com; 19-3834 Old Volcano Rd; 10am-4pm Tue-Sun), is central to Volcano’S burgeoning art scene. A cute café serves vegetarian gourmet lunches (and soon dinners as well), and it hosts poetry readings and arts events. A pottery studio is in the works.
At the glass-blowing studio 2400° Fahrenheit (Map; 985-8667; www.2400F.com; Old Volcano Rd; 10am-4pm Thu-Mon), you can watch artists Michael and Misato Mortara create their mind-boggling glass bowls and vases (Thursday to Sunday). A tiny gallery displays finished pieces. It’S outside of Volcano on Hwy 11, near the 24-mile marker.
Near 2400° Fahrenheit on Hwy 11, Akatsuka Orchid Gardens (Map; 967-8234, 888-967-6669; www.akatsukaorchid.com; Hwy 11; admission free; 8:30am-5pm) is famous for its unique hybrid orchids and its warehouse stuffed with 100,000 perennially blooming plants. It also carries seeds and starters for Kona coffee plants, hibiscus, plumeria and bamboo orchids, all ready for shipping.
Free half-mile nature walks are offered every Monday at 9:30am by the Volcano