Sightseeing: Banyan Drive

A good friend and blog follower recently suggested I write a travel guide book.  A book?  Sounds like too much work and who would buy it?  Instead I will attempt a little sightseeing guide here in the blog.  This morning on the phone, Brother-in-law Tom the Geologist said to blog everything we see and do. Everything?   Dick was thankful to be excused from today's excursion, since looking a bunch of trees (and waiting for me to take a picture of every single one of them) didn't seem exciting. Getting to shore was the first order of business.

I'm practicing rowing to and from shore and hauling the (empty) boat high onto shore by myself.  Today I needed my photographer, however, to come along.

I mounted my trusty rusty bicycle, which stays locked to a fence post on shore (Dick's bike goes back and forth in the dinghy), and rode up and down ...

Banyan Drive.  On the map, we're anchored about where the "y" of "Reed's Bay" is.  The dinghy was left on the beach of Reed's Bay Beach Co. Park, toward the left.  Most of Hilo's tourist hotels are along Banyan Drive, some nicer than others.  Uncle Billy's does not have a good reputation.

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500 ft

200 m

Banyan Drive is sometimes called "Hilo's Walk of Fame" - you can see lots of banyan trees planted by or in honor of "celebrities."  The banyan tree is a fig, noted for its roots which grow downward, sometimes obscuring the main trunk, to provide support for a wide tree top.  This one was planted in honor of King George V's silver jubilee in 1935. 

Although some trees were lost in storms and tsunamis, there are still about 50 on Banyan Drive which have wooden plaques with the names of adventurers,

politicians,

sports stars (this one is George Herman "Babe" Ruth, in front of one of the nicer hotels and very well maintained),

movies stars, religious leaders, members of the 1934 parks commission who thought this was a good idea, and notable Hawaiians.  In 2012, however, many of the "celebrities" are no longer relevant in today's culture.  Henry Morgenthau?  Mr and Mrs Otto Rose?