Eating Ice cream = 3

The following three places we tried are ranked from least desirable to best.

Uncle Billy’s General Store. Although wifi is available IF you make a purchase, that doesn’t mean you can get online and there’s no one available to reset the router if that’s the problem. The ice cream? Once was enough. The brand, Meadow Gold, is available in local grocery stores. One scoop on a waffle cone will set you back $4.57. It was a big scoop of ice cream, but … I had haupia (coconut) - coconut flavored, not one speck of real coconut. 

Verna’s. This corner fast food joint is very popular. The menu is huge and the food is pretty good (Dick ate there once), but if you want to eat on site, there are only 3 outdoor picnic tables (with too many flies to suit me). The brand is also Meadow Gold, $1.95 (plus tax) for one scoop in a bowl or on a regular cone, no sugar cones or waffle cones available. The flavor choice were fairly standard except for Hawaiian Mud Pie which was great.

Hilo Homemade Ice Cream. This is the BEST ice cream, all made on site. Popular flavors are rotated. For example, haupia (also just coconut-flavored) and toasted coconut (WITH toasted coconut shavings) change around every Wednesday. On one visit, I had banana macadamia fudge ripple - excellent. Another time, salted caramel with macadamias - excellent. There are also some delicious island-fruit flavors. Samples are freely given. $4.75 for two scoops in a waffle cone, although the scoop on top seems to be a lot smaller depending on who serves it up. Dick thinks I always get bigger-sized scoops than he does and wants me to do the ordering from now on.

On site is also a small convenience store, a campground, and “dorm rooms” (popular with younger frugal travelers).

Here’s a bonus, after you get your ice cream, go out the back door onto the patio and discover a tropical garden.

You’re invited to walk through the garden on small informal paths where you might pass a tent site along the way.

At $20/night for a tent, we thought the price was great and imagined what a find this would be if we were bicycle touring.

Tiny white pineapple, they only grow in the shade, therefore aren't good for commercial growers.  Roie and Cindy gave us one a few weeks ago.  I've never tasted such a delicious pineapple.  Try one if you ever get the chance.