They offer ceramic classes, sell clay and tools for sculpting clay, and have a great selection of…read morejewelry, ceramics, and other kinds of art that are done by local artists. REVIEW #281

I've been taking classes here for a few months now and really enjoy it. The facility is well…read moreorganized and clean. It's fun to learn and socialize. I especially appreciate the open studio times. My first two classes were with Shannon, who is a force of nature. One needs to have a lot of strength and determination to have a ceramics studio open for as long as she has in an area like Hilo. At times she can be a bit gruff but she's had to put up with a lot of careless students who don't pay attention and cause tremendous damage (destroying kiln shelves, destroying plumbing, etc etc etc). Just have some patience and don't take her tough love personally and you'll be right as rain. I love this place and am super grateful to have a space to learn how to throw. Also, she sells equipment, clay and glazes for those who are setting up their own space.

Cute little gallery along the scenic route past mile marker 7 as your heading north of Hilo on HWY…read more19. Displaying works of art from local artists. Two days before stopping here, we had the good fortune to witness lava flowing into the ocean as well as lava flowing along the crest. It was interesting seeing the artists rendering of Pele.

We brought warm clothes, chairs,flashlight,blanket and hot chocolate with us. We hiked up the…read moremountain to see the sunset and the stars. It was a beautiful view and experience.

We fully planned to hit the visitors center and go no further (rental car, no 4x4). We came prepped…read morewith hoodies (it hit maybe 50°? A little chilly for the Midwest, but I loved it so much!) Catching sundown on the way up was absolutely beautiful. Some conversations heard inside: "You can pay someone $20 per person to go up, up to $200. But you get what you pay for, and the more expensive ones will drive, clothe, and feed you, and it's totally worth the price." Chilling at the visitor center - the staff was crazy knowledgeable about the stars, the area, their books - and made great recommendations (and prevented me from buying the wrong star chart for the wrong location and the wrong language!) - so be sure to ask them questions if you have them! Managed to catch some constellation discussion outside (he used a green laser pointer which made it easy to follow along!) But for the love of Superman - please don't turn in your BRIGHT LED LIGHTS at night when people are trying to enjoy the darkness and look up. They have red light flashlights there, or maybe let your eyes adjust and go slow - there's no reason to run!

This is THE premiere hula event in the world. For Hula aficionados, sitting on old hard benches for…read more5-6 hours, navigating the crowds, migrating their way to sleepy Hilo town is a labor of love. My mother is one of those who sits through every second of the four day event. The population of Hilo swells with all of the halau's and visitors alike. They come from all over the world, especially many from Japan, to be immersed in the chants and dancing for a few days. In addition to the actual competition they have parades and a ton of craft shows that showcase many of Hawaii's premiere artisans. This is our favorite part. We've bought everything from necklaces to clothing, food, and toys. The only real drawback of watching it in person is that you have to really know your stuff. On television they explain things and there isn't a bad seat in the house. They also use a biker "club" for security and they're not really known for their customer service as well. One great suggestion, bring your own pillow to sit on. Located in Edith Kanaka'ole Tennis Stadium (http://www.yelp.com/biz/edith-kanakaole-tennis-stadium-hilo ) it's really a great festival. If you're interested in attending, I'd check the website for information. There are strict guidelines for ordering tickets and they sell out almost instantaneously.

Absolutely one of the best Hawaiian events all year and undoubtedly the best hula event in the…read moreworld!! The passion and talent expressed by hula dancers and their kumu dancing and chanting their hearts out, the sweetness of pikake and plumeria from leis and headpieces wafting through the air cut only by the smells of laulau and chicken long rice, Hawaiian melodies drifting through the stadium by some of the best and well-known musicians in Hawaii, and the best display of Hawaiian culture as the Merrie Monarch himself, King David Kalakaua, would have wanted it. First off: tickets - HARD TO GET as there are only 4,200 seats for the event. You don't buy these "day-of" (unless you're willing to press your luck as one of those many people holding a sign at the stadium entrance asking for tickets), you buy these about 3 months prior. The only way is to send money (i.e. money order - no checks) with a completed ticket request form w/ SASE on/after 12/26 and NO SOONER, then pray and wait! Like a lottery - only some win and tickets show up one day in your mailbox! While you may not get the seats you request, you may get a lesser category of seats (if you indicate you're willing to accept this option) but at least you get inside! Unfortunately, the vast majority (and those who postmarked their requests BEFORE 12/26) will get their requests & money sent back. Tickets for 2013 were sold out by February since it was the 50th year. Seats - well, closer to the elevated stage are rows and rows of folding chairs on the main floor. There are rows of benches up three sides of the stadium (the stage-rear benches are for the halau). The event organizers do their best by providing padded folding chairs, but the 1st night sitting on them really tested our tailbones and blood circulation! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND bringing a discrete pad to help comfort your tush for nearly 6 hours of hard sitting! (Many people did!) In addition to the 3 nights of competition - which runs from 5:45 p.m. till about midnight - there is the ho'ike: a non-competitive celebration of hula and the festival itself. Keep in mind the entire Merrie Monarch Festival is not just the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights of hula competition but a week-long event starting with the ho'olaule'a on Sunday. Arts & crafts fairs, hula events, art exhibits, even a Kalakaua beard look-alike contest occur throughout the week turning the sleepy town of Hilo into an active visitor scene. But it's the 3 nights of competition that receives all the attention and live television coverage. We were lucky enough to receive tickets to the 50th Merrie Monarch Festival and what a wonderful experience it was... 24 Miss Aloha Hula performances and 58 halau performances over 3 nights by the best hula dancers and kumu in the world! The beauty of the performances often left us with misty eyes and fond memories we will not soon forget... Hana hou!!

Oh my gosh looked for something to do to kill some time before our flight and decided to walk…read morearound Prince Kuhio Plaza. We love arcades and came across Tilt. Surprisingly stayed in here a while. Loved that they have old school coin pusher games that actually give back tokens to keep playing and not just tickets to redeem. It was a little warm in there but it wasn't super busy so it was manageable. This location was bigger than I thought and has such a variety of games. Loved that it seems well maintained. Clean throughout and no games were out of order. The two girls working were constantly walking throughout and were friendly. Would definitely come back.

the most rigged yet heavenly place has the stupidest prizes…read moreever like some rice cooker idk the machine was broken but we got the racks scary teenagers roaming there 24/7???? ive only ever seen 1 staff work here like is she the only one hired

My son really enjoyed the Train Museum. He is a train maniac so even the smallest sight of trains…read moreexcites him. That's a good thing because the train museum is small. It's essentially one building with lots of newspaper clippings and older items related to the train history on the big island. If you're interested in the history there's a lot of things to read and old photos to enjoy. If your children don't have a good attention span and just want to see little trains it might be a quick visit. They have one older layout that doesn't run and they have a wooden table outside on the patio for kids to play with. The gift shop is tiny but my son still found a small train and shirt that he loved. You can go inside their caboose to check it out. It's been refurbished although not in the most authentic way. Still, my kiddos enjoyed it tremendously. Nice 30 minute stop, especially for train lovers.

Driving up and down route 19 to several other activities, we passed the train museum multiple times…read moreduring our week on the island. Sadly, we did not get to go inside to look at any of their collection as the hours here are very short at Mon-Sat 10am-2pm. The closest we got was on a Monday at 1:50pm but there were no cars in the lot, and everything was closed. I got out to take a look at the caboose and the switcher which both seemed decent enough. I don't see this as a destination stop unless you're a hard core foamer but it would be nice to learn something about the railroads historical impact on the sugar cane harvest on the island. Maybe next time. thetrainmuseum.com/coming-soon/

These lychee are the best. The flavor is sweet and robust and meat is full of juice. One of the…read morebest I've had.

We had such an amazing time on the lychee farm! It was so easy to schedule an appointment for our…read morepick your own lychee. You can go online and schedule an appointment from the website. It is separated into blocks. When you arrive, the owner greets you at the gate and tells you where to park. Then she gives you a brief tour of the place and shows everyone how to use the picker and what lychee is ripe for the picking. There's plenty of lychee inside the trees, but there is also lychee on the outskirts of the trees, but the lychee inside the trees were nicer (imo)! After picking the lychee, we are able to cut, sort, and discard the lychee that are broken or not as ripe. So you really pay for whatever you pick/ is good! She weighs your harvest after and boxes/ bags them up for folks to take away. The owner is SOO nice and she has a water station for guests to stay hydrated since it does get pretty hot and humid. But the trees offer so much shade underneath that I didn't even know it had drizzled! She just started offering pick your own lychee and it was very well thought out and we had so much fun!

Wonderful displays and interactive learning activities for all ages!! The owner did a fabulous job…read moreputting together a center for learning and play.

What a fun, relaxing, STEAMpunk-y space! Can't wait to come back and hang out again!read more