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Catching the Honokaa Trading Company during “open” hours is a little hit-or-miss these days. Grace, a respected elder of the Honokaa community, has put her time in the old shop and can be forgiven for easing up a bit on her work. She has been selling her curiosities, aloha shirts, and antiques for years from an unassuming storefront that belies a rustic warehouse filled with as much history as sellable items. Beyond the electic mix of goods, if you’re patient to stick around, you will find out a bit about Grace’s life and perspective on Hawaiian culture. The value of her lessons is much higher than any cash you will spend in her shop.

On the Northshore of the Big Island is a local little drive-in that serves hot malasadas and loads of breakfast, lunch, and dinner options including burgers, pancakes, miso soup, and other sorts of local and American food. The prices are good (a malasada will only set you back a buck or so). It’s a bit of a drive from both Hilo and Kona, but you can enjoy the Big Island’s changing landscape on the way around the top of the island.

Can honey make the world a better place? Prior to traveling on the Big Island, my answer to that question was most definitely “Huh? ” most likely followed by “No.” However, after meeting Richard of the Volcano Island Honey Company and spending hours with him, my answer is now an enthusiastic “Yes!” Richard wears a wide-brimmed floppy hat and has a gray beard and a welcoming smile. He describes himself as a retired hippie. He started as a lawyer participating in the Civil Rights movement, and ended up in a VW van traveling across the U.S. to live an “alternative” lifestyle. He wanted to show people that there’s another way to do it—"it” meaning life in general. Richard tells me all about organic honey production at the farm. What makes this smooth, silky, mixture so unique is the way the bees are handled, and the way in which the honey is produced. The first key is this: The honey is produced from pollen that comes from the nectar of only one plant, the Kiawe flower. In the same vein in which Richard struck out of the corporate world to show people another way, he revolutionized organic honey production. Richard is making the world a better place and teaching people to accept and embrace different ways to produce honey. He calls it his Bee-green initiative. More Information: http://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/honey-farm-tour-hawaii/ Location: 46-4013 Puaono Road, Honokaa, HI Tours available and Gift Shop

Seeing the Big Island by air will have you sitting on the edge your seat anticipating what will turn up around the next mountain or valley. Waipio Valley, one of the most beautiful areas on the Island, is best seen from the air to really get a perspective of the area’s vast beauty. If staying on the ground is more your style, hit the trail and do some hiking through the Waipio area or make your way to the ocean and enjoy the sound of the surf.

Ice cream, chocolate-chip cookies, coffee, cakes, shakes—these are the goodies where you expect to find vanilla beans or vanilla flavor. But what about lemonade, BBQ sauce, chutney, cornbread, maple syrup, jelly, or salad dressing? And would you expect to find a vanilla farm (the first and only commercial vanilla operation in the U.S.) in Hawaii? The Big Island continues to surprise me, and today the surprising secret ingredient is….Vanilla! Don’t miss the chance to have a vanilla experience on the Big Island. You can have a vanilla lunch complete with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream for dessert, and then take a walking tour of the vanilla farm and learn how the Hawaiian Vanilla Company started raising this crop on the Big Island. Overall, a great way to spend an afternoon. And you won’t go hungry! More Information: Hawaiian Vanilla Company Website: www.HawaiianVanilla.com Information on the Vanilla Experience Luncheon (Reservations are required!) Other tours and tastings offered at the farm: Vanilla Tours Hawaiian Vanilla Company Inc. P.O. Box 383 43-2007 Paauilo Mauka Road Paauilo, Hawaii 96776 Phone (808) 776-1771 Fax (808) 776-1661 Toll Free (877) 771-1771