About This JournalThis is a chronological listing of observations and events during our 2004 trip to Hawaii. Entries in this journal were sometimes made at night, but there were a few delays. Hey, would I rather sit in the hottub at night or write in this thing? You get the idea.Monday, March 15: Damn this flight is still long even without having to worry about nic cravings--otherwise, uneventful flight--car pickup and drive the Nimitz to Ala Moana to Kalakaua--pkng at the Park Shore is $10 a day--ripoff--room is TINY!! Disappointed but don't complain--view is great but better last time--go to dinner Burger King, forgot to call Bruce until nearly 11 Duluth time--sleep early Tuesday, March 16: Drive to Dole Plantation near Wahiawa--Patty bought us $7.50 tickets to their Pineapple Express--boring but some interesting stuff about this fruit--Ruby Tuesdays for lunch--Patty loved their salad bar--my burger good but not great--traffic is nuts here but not as bad as the Twin Cities, I guess--got lost exiting the H-1 west of Waikiki, drove in circles for awhile--got some sun...love that sun here--bought a cooler for tomorrow's circle-island drive--what the bleep is up with this adjoining door to the next room? can hear everything in there--mutter mutter Wednesday, March 17: Drove around the island today--weather nice but some light rain up near Pali--saw our first whale near Makapuu--couldn't find Lanikai Beach--some construction up there and got lost, of course--lunch at Jamisons by the Sea--outstanding place and view, good food--Germaines Luau site is a dump on a dirty beach in an industrial area--too tired to get over to the leeward coast so went back to the hotel--missed out on Ewa Beach and Sand Island too--next time I guess--more sun--walked over to the Outrigger Village for a beverage tonight--always did like that place--memories of '96 trip Thursday, March 18: Tanning day--had to return car--tired of driving--H-1 is totally nuts but drivers are more courteous here than back in Minnesota--one hr ride back to Park Shore on The Bus--$2 fare--must have been one hell of a contract settlement last autumn to jack the price up again--Oceanarium for dinner--fantastic food and great service but man, expensive. Fun day. Friday, March 19: Days are starting to fly by--fourth full day here already?--Bus pickup at 10:30 to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center--tour guide very knowledgable and dry sense of humor--this guy heard my last name, saw my UMD cap knew I ran minnhock.com!! Geez, small world--talked with him for awhile. PCC was a lot of fun--touring various lands such as Samoa, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, Hawaii & Tonga--very informative--Ali`i Luau dinner was very good, almost as good as the fare at the Old Lahaina Luau--Horizons show was terrific--shot nearly the whole thing with the mini-DV--Back to the PS at 10:30 p.m.--VERY long day Saturday, March 20: I'm 46 today--ugh--time is a cruel trick, the older you get the faster it goes--had to do laundry, found a coin-op on Kuhio--Internet cafe nearby so checked in and found out the Gophers beat the Dogs 7-4--figures--tanned for awhile but kept clouding up and sprinkling--Chili's for dinner--should have stuck with the Monterrey Chicken--Steak fajitas were disappointing--poor quality gristly steak--walked around Kapiolani Park--getting into a walking routine here and that park is serene to walk around--Starbucks afterward, becoming a tradition to drink cafe mocha and people-watch on Kalakaua. Sunday, March 21: What's up with the weather?--cloudy, showers, forecasters say that it's going to get worse--locals say it's the worst winter they've had here in years--no shite--no sun so go to the Honolulu Zoo--same old pretty much as two years ago--price is good at $6 and a decent variety of animals--gibbons were screaming at each other, some territorial thing or something--finally found the sun bear exhibit but he/she was nowhere to be found--Cheeseburger in Paradise for dinner--wow--$10 for a burger--should be used to the sticker shock by now but it still puts us on our heels from time to time--got the address to Local Motion and finally found it just before where Kuhio splits off from Kalakaua--trying to find out where they used to do their shows on Real World-Hawaii--getting tired of people all over the place, looking forward to Kauai Monday, March 22: Check-out at 8 a.m.--Illima tours took us to the airport for $6 each--tipped him $3 only to find out he dropped us off a quarter-mile from where we should have been! Tickets were confusing, showing a Northwest flight identifier but it's a Hawaiian flight--duh--caught an earlier flight--Hawaiian flights (inter-island, at least) are on a first-come first-seated basis--seat #'s on your ticket don't mean anything--found out when the long line took place and we ended up almost at the back! Got seated in the next-to-last row--can't see a thing out the window because of the engine--bummer--rainy today--cloudy "only" in Lihue--car is a Saturn Ion, very nice with power windows, locks and lock buttons on the keychain--still miss the Corolla. Very concerned about Aston Islander on the Beach--reviews in tripadvisor.com were mixed and numerous complaints about room smell and bugs--no need to worry--room is clean and spacious--Patty thinks she smells something slightly but I don't--grounds are very well groomed, pool seems clean, ocean is really kicking up today--beach filled with wood and dangerous surf, can't swim here--go to Poipu for that if we want--coin op laundry, we need this--hot tub--Coconut Marketplace next door with plenty of shops and places to eat--ABC doesn't open until 8:30?? Kauai is striking and beautiful despite the cloudiness--lush like no place we've ever seen--crossed the Wailua River en route to the Aston--contra lanes? Get settled in, eat at Coconuts--good food--penne and chicken with marinara sauce--Patty just wants a salad--service is just okay but a good bargain for what I had to eat--hot tub after dark--meeting all kinds of folks from Minnesota--Sand Bar is alive next to the pool--Patty thought the barmaid was snooty--so?--drive up to Opaeka`a Falls, wonderful view but it's nearly sunset so the pics came out not well Tuesday, March 23: Drive the North Shore--not sure how far we want to go--on and off again showers--no sun--Hanalei Valley was as it appeared in pictures but without the sun which muted the colors a lot--rained hard at the Kilauea Lighthouse--coastline is shrouded, visibility poor--major traffic jam on the way back to Kapaa--radio says there was a landslide--not surprising considering the rain--9:00 chopper ride at Jack Harter didn't pan out due to weather--rebook for tomorrow early morning--drive to Kalaheo to eat at Brick Oven Pizza--salivating still writing this--amazingly good. Wednesday, March 24: Leave the Aston at 7:30, easy drive to Jack Harter but today's flights were cancelled also--rebook for tomorrow--is thing thing gonna happen or what? Great, spend a fortune to go to Rainy Island--getting testy--Al & Don's for breakfast--food was mediocre, ditto the service--we're seeing quite a bit of this indifference on Kauai--why??--we decide to drive to Poipu in search of the sun and we found it for a couple hours before the skies opened up just as we were leaving--things had cleared up by the time we got back to Kapaa--freshen up and go to Duke's Canoe Club--another great dining experience for us--very well prepared food, great service, good prices--might be the best dining experience we've had so far in Hawai`i--nightly hot tub visit afterwards--lots of talk with folks about this and other islands and their home places on the mainland. Thursday, March 25: 11 a.m. flight finally happened today--holy sh*t, was it worth the wait--unbelievable views--waterfalls everywhere you look--couldn't decide whether to shoot video or take pics--Waimea Canyon and Na Pali defy description--feel tiny in those places--the cliffs towered over and under us--brief rain over Na Pali did little to diminish the experience--three from Stillwater on the flight--Dad in the back doesn't seem like he did well with the motion--think his girls are as interested in the Bon Jovi lookalike flying the chopper than the sights, heh heh. Back to Kapaa, do the Wailua River cruise--shouldn't have done this on the heels of the helicopter tour--how can anything even come close?--Fern Grotto was okay but not as I had pictured it--not a big deal--Tropical Burgers for dinner--average burgers with mediocre service--what's with these places who give you the bill while you're still eating? Rushed much?--hot tub at night of course. Friday, March 26: Comment to Patty that this trip is half over--no idea why that'd even occur to me--we still have ten full days here!--Waimea Canyon via the Saturn today--long drive--Waimea Canyon Rd just climbs and climbs--very good views on a mostly sunny day--stopped at Kalalau Lookout, somewhat obscured by clouds--could see the Pacific 4,000 feet below--road to the final lookout point was posted as being closed, not sure why--cause of the rains they'd been having?--wanted to eat lunch at Pomodoro at Kahaleo but they don't serve lunch so we go to Brick Oven Pizza again--can't go wrong on that choice--buy a t-shirt there--back to the room--need to do laundry then hit the hot tub--started pouring while we were in the tub--so what, we're already wet--something about walking through a warm tropical rain--fun fun. Saturday, March 27: Finally a sunny day in Kapaa! Patty hit the sun and I took the opportunity to go back to Opaeka`a Falls--made a side trip to Wailua Falls--wow--falls are really pumping--tons of people up there--hey moron, you've been standing in that spot for ten minutes--move your arse and let someone else take some pics! Farging tourists. Back in time to get a couple hours of sun--baked--back to Kahaleo and Pomodoro, get there at 4:00--they don't open until 5:30 we're told with a bit of a snooty attitude--fine, we'll go elsewhere, putz--Cafe Portofino next to Duke's on Kalapaki Bay--outstanding place which does everything right--recommend this place to anyone--well worth it despite the price--hot tub, hot tub. Sunday, March 28: After yesterday's sun, we're bummed that this is our final day here--forget the weather--cloudy and sprinkly again--drive back up to the North Shore until the road runs out at Ke`e Beach--what's up with the stream which runs right over the road? Weird--wanted to hike a little but the rain is preventing that--no good footware for wet hiking--gotta bring boots next time--Bubba's Burgers for lunch--as good a burger as I've ever had--pretty neat little place--hot tub in the afternoon with occasional rain showers--this rain thing is really sucking and old by now--Maui better? Hope so--decide to give La Playita Azul for dinner--get there at 4:00, don't open until 5:30--man we gotta start going to dinner later--used to Duluth's restaurants being open for dinner at 4:00--found an Internet Cafe, logged into uscho.com and found the Dogs had beaten the Gophers in the NCAA tourney!! We slap palms, pump our fists and giggled like kids--Dogs in the Frozen Four! Picked up our mood immensely. Dinner at La Playita Azul was okay--different from any so-called Mexican food we get back home--think Patty was expecting that and was disappointed--one last time in the hot tub; met a couple of girls who live in Kauai, talking about the Hawaiian language, the pronunciation thing. Funny how some butcher what's essentially easy pronunciation of places and words--the multiple vowels tend to throw some off. A nice final day here in Kauai. Monday, March 29: Up at 6:00--had to dry my shorts from last night's hot tub excursion--checked out early, before 8:00--got to the Lihue Airport in plenty of time so we just bummed around waiting for our flight to Kahului--got good seats this time--travelers can be pushy schmucks--family of four just barged right ahead of everyone sitting so they could get onboard first--the blondie looked the type of someone who believed she's privileged--got some good footage of the landing and subsequent takeoff from Honolulu--turns out the flight wasn't direct to Maui but no big deal. Stressed from flight--Patty and I sniping a bit at each other--got a red Cavelier and headed for Lahaina--being on Maui again with sunshine and familiar sites makes us forget our petty crap and we were fine and happy again--get to check in early--nice studio with a kitchen as usual here--layout if the opposite of previous trips and takes some getting used to--hideway bed which we didn't have before turns out to be very convenient--push it up into the wall and you have a dance floor in your living room...heh heh. Settled in, more or less--Safeway to buy groceries--nice big fridge and cupboards galore to fill up with grub--put in an app to the Safeway Club that gives us some nice automatic discounts--we save $21 on a $101 bill--nice--walk over to BJ's Chicago Pizzaria for dinner and both had the spaghetti--very good but Pizza Luce's is better, I think--Patty doesn't like how they put tomatoes on top of their pizza in lieu of pizza sauce--she doesn't know yet that you can ask them to hold the tomatoes and put extra sauce on--mentioned to Patty at dinner that today would have been my mother's 31st sobriety anniversary--god it's nice to be on Maui again--special, special place for both of us--Kauai is lusher but Maui has that sentimental thing going for it--still our favorite island--probably always will be. Tuesday, March 30: Up pretty early--had to be on the road at 6:30 for the drive to the Ma`alaea Harbor--slip 60 is where the Four Winds II is moored--unusually breezy morning for this part of Maui--captain not sure if conditions would allow us to even get to Molokini--Patty (and others) got seasick and got to see what she had for breakfast--feel for her, that motion sickness has to be a pain in the buns--got to Molokini just fine--instructions on how to use the equipment--found a good Rx mask so I can actually see what's down there--or course, some idjit made off when my mask and fins while I was in the bathroom--what'd I say about tourists again?--found new equipment and into the water we went--used flotation--can swim but not strongly and want to focus on floating and seeing what's underwater--fish everywhere but the flurry of people hitting the ocean spooked many of them off--man what an experience--crystal clear water, you could see 100 feet down--did this for about an hour then lunch announced--hungry--BBQ burgers, dogs, lots to drink--saw the Lahaina Princess anchored next to our boat so got a couple of pics--Patty mentioned it looks old--it does--talked about our dinner cruise on it back in '96 and the couple from Atlanta--fun ride back--guy who used to live in Wisconsin noticed my UMD hat so this triggered a convo about college hockey and digital photography--he's got a Nikkon D100--major nice piece of equipment--exchanged email addresses--saw sea turtles on the way back--very windy. Got back to Lahaina at 1 p.m. and hit the sun for an hour--clouded up just a bit so we took a nap--bright and hot when we awoke--no dinner tonite--walked over to Hilo Hatties and bought a red aloha shirt for $35--ripoff--rude--thought we were going to walk off with it? give me a break--stopped at Kimos for a drink and piece of cheesecake--watched the sun set--early to bed--awesome day. Wednesday, March 31: Sun again this morning--Patty made lunch reservations at Mama's Fish House for this afternoon--attending the orientation this morning put on by Activity World--quite well done by a very enthusiastic guy--forgot his name (Dan?)--took off at 12:30 and drove up to Paia--was wondering what the place would be like after having heard and read so much about it--the place was incredible--perfect service, not slow and not rushed and very helpful--the people who work there seem to really like their jobs--pork medallions I had was the best pork I've ever tasted--Patty had the Ahi & bacon sandwich--she loved it--now we know why the place is rated so highly--the setting ride near the ocean was also fantastic--dinner there would be a truly fantastic experience--next time we visit. Drove to Wailea Beach--trying to find our wedding site--no luck in our search in '02--can't believe we couldn't find the place that time--this time the public access for Wailea Beach looked familiar so we tried it--bingo--walked right up to the hill overlooking the beach where the ceremony took place eight years ago--what a rush--brought back that early evening with crystal clarity--wanted to just stay there and take in the memories--afterward walked the Beachwalk up to the Kea Lani--wow, what a place that is--drove to Paipu Beach afterward and found that place also--how could we have missed both places two years ago??? Ran into some rain at Paipu--cleared up pretty much by the time we'd returned to Lahaina...of course. Thursday, April 1: Yet another sunny day--took some time to myself late morning and drove down the coast--taking pics at a few different beaches and McGregor Point--hit Paipu and Wailea Beach one more time since it was so sunny and nice--saw the beach at Paipu for the first time--actually a very nice beach in contrast to how it looked from the parking lot--back to BJ's, this time for pizza--otherwise a pretty quiet day--the sun energizes and relaxes us at the same time--weird. Friday, April 2: Damn, time is really flying by--just three full days left--where has time gone??--took a long walk down Front Street after making breakfast in the room to see how long it'd take to walk to the Old Lahaina Luau tonight--just 30 minutes so we won't need to drive--more sun--shower up, put on the aloha shirt, get some pics of each other on the lanai with our evening garb on then head out--checked in and was escorted to our table in the very first row of conventional seating--guess it pays to book this luau as early as possible--just a row of traditional mat seating between us and the stage--beautiful grounds and a much better setup than they used to have at 505 Front St--my hat is, as Patty said, a conversation piece--triggers many conversations--ran into Duane and his wife, amazingly, who were sitting right nearby. Food was great and got totally stuffed--better than at the Ali`i Luau at PCC--the show was also very good but short (less than an hour)--Horizons was better--had some light rain early on but had cleared by the time we started our feast--clouds broke and the stars came out in time for the show--all in all, another wonderful night. Saturday, April 3: Trip to the North Shore today--tons of action at Ho`okipa Beach as the surf is up pretty good today--also big surf at Baldwin Beach--lots of boogie boarding and body surfing there--got caught by surprise by a wave and got our shoe-clad feet soaked--should have gone in and swam but didn't bring my trunks with--gotta plan for these chances better in the future when we're here!--did some tanning early morning--Kimos's for dinner--Patty and I need some time apart--I acted like a jerk tonight--Patty matched it pretty much--a downer to end what could have been a very nice nostalgic evening--we love Kimos--tried the steak tonight and wasn't disappointed--dining after dark with the torches lit and the ocean just feet away--warm breezes--the absolute best it could be--in the hot tub solo after we got back to give ourselves a breather--much spirited talk there and a lady actually proposed to her boyfriend in the tub!--they're off to Kauai tomorrow to get married--seems neat but a bit off-centered--will they actually do this? Sunday, April 4: Final full day--a bit sad but very happy about how the trip went--walked the beach after early breakfast--god I hate turkey bacon--toaster only toasts on one side so that's a bit of a pain--alone time this morning, drove to Iao State Park--sunny and got some very nice pics of the Needle--back at noon--two hours of sun--cooked--cocktail cruise on the Manute'a late afternoon--was a very late decision--surprisingly good time--Pacific Whale Foundation puts this on--excellent food--pork, chicken, even had banana peppers and olives--great way to bring the vacation to a close--many thoughts of home now--mail and email to catch up on--clothes to wash--nearly 900 pics to upload--sad but resigned. Monday, April 5: So, we check out early at 10 but don't have to be in Kahului until 7:00 tonight--hate that--once we're checked out, we just want to get home. Drive up the highway past Kapalua where we've never been before--found a couple nice beaches and one very scenic overlook. Drive back to Paipu--tired by 3:00 so we decide to check the car back in at Alamo and hang out in the airport--one of these days I'm gonna find out the trick to sleeping at night in the Cattle Car--maybe an hour of sleep going to Seattle--better sleep on the flight from Seattle to Mpls--sat with a lady from Washington State on her way to New York--she flies a lot--$$$ Back in Duluth--nice warm day here--tons of regular mail to sort through and 600+ bleeping emails to delete--only five or six of any use--farging spammers should be shot.
On to planning the next vacation [ O`ahu ] [ More O`ahu ] [ Kaua`i ] [ More Kaua`i ] [ Maui ] [ More Maui ] [ Final thoughts ] [ Trip Journal ] [ Restaurants ] [ Life in Duluth ]last updated may 18, 2004 |
