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The last dispatch from Hawaii

Monday, April 21st, 2008

So once Steph left, I made a solo day trip to the Big Island.

I am an idiot for not planning better; the Big Island has two airports and I flew into the one that was further away from the main attraction and my main reason for visiting—Volcano National Park. I’d like to say I had a good excuse for such a lack of forethought, but I’m a travel writer for !@#$% sake’s. Hence the only conclusion is that I’m an idiot.

Anyway, at Jamie K.’s suggestion I stopped at Pu’uhonua o Honaunau, an ancient religious ground on my way to Volcano.

In ancient Hawaii (and by “ancient,” I mean about 150 years ago) the punishment for almost every crime was death. And there were a slew of ways to violate the law too; for example, standing in the king’s shadow was forbidden. But if a law breaker could get to Pu’uhonua o Honaunau before being killed, he or she would be pardoned and usually could return to home within a day.

After an hour or so there, I headed back to the car to drive to Volcano. The ride took about three hours and led me just a few miles north of the southern-most point in the United States (no, it’s not Key West). For a long duration of the drive, there was just one radio station, which played traditional Hawaiian tunes, and for about half an hour, even that station didn’t come in well.

Volcano National Park’s rangers know what its main attraction is—lava. Unfortunately one of the first things I saw at the visitor’s center was a sign that said no lava was visible that day. On April 14, however, that changed: Yahoo! news: Kilauea offers rare view of glowing vent. Furthermore, a sizable part of the park was closed when I was there because of high sulfur dioxide levels (the entire park was closed April 8-9 for that reason). Unfortunately, volcanoes don’t always cooperate.

So I drove around Crater Rim Drive for as far as I could, stopping at each overlook to take pictures and enjoy the sweet smell of sulfur.

Afterwards I returned to the visitors center and asked a ranger for the best way to see the volcano in the four hours I had before I had to drive back to the airport in Kona. He recommended hiking the Kilauea Iki Trail, which goes through the craters. It took about four hours and was amazing.

The first part of the trail was all lush greenery.

But at the end of the descent, I was spit out into a volcano seemingly void of life other than fellow hikers.

But upon closer examination, vegetation was making some progress.

After finishing the hike, I got in the car and drove four hours back to the airport in Hilo, exhausted.

The next day I worked until 4 p.m., at which point I put on my new board shorts and water shirt and went surfing. Or tried to. Despite having no problems getting up on my own during my lesson, I got destroyed this time out. After an hour of drinking ocean water, I returned my surf board to the rental place.

I knew the beach where I was surfing was a lot harder than where I’d been the previous week, but as sunset was near, there was only one board rental place open. I had neither the time nor inclination to carry the board half a mile down the street to where I’d have an easier time. In hindsight, bad move.

The day after was our last in Hawaii. More out of obligation than interest, I went to Pearl Harbor (I had a lot of work to do and, if I was going to blow it off—which was clearly the case—I wanted to spend my last day in Hawaii doing something enjoyable or going back to one of my favorite spots).

Maybe it’s because living near DC I drive by the Vietnam Memorial at least once a week (the most effective memorial I’ve ever seen) or maybe it’s that any venue would disappoint after hiking through a volcano, but Pearl Harbor struck me more as just another tourist attraction than a somber memorial to the people killed on December 7, 1941. The most moving part for me was watching three survivors autograph books. That being said, monuments are subjective (they either move you or they don’t), so I wouldn’t discourage anyone from visiting the USS Arizona Memorial and the rest of Pearl Harbor.

I then went to the Bishop Museum, Honolulu’s one-size-fits-all science, art, children’s, and anthropological museum with the Hawaiian sports hall of fame thrown in. If you’re in Hawaii for 45 days, it’s worth a visit. Otherwise, it probably can be skipped.

For our last night there, Margaret and I went to the Halekulani Hotel, which is on the water, and sipped tropical drinks, watching a hula dancer and the sunset.

The next morning we barely made our flight to Los Angeles. Apparently having 45 days to prepare for our return wasn’t enough time.

Posted in Big Island, Bishop Museum, Crater Rim Road, Halekulani Hotel, Hawaii, Honolulu, Kona, Oahu, Pearl Harbor, USS Arizona Memorial, Uncategorized, Volcano National Park | No Comments »

Our penulitmate (big word) dispatch from Hawaii: Diamond Head and David Beckham

Friday, April 18th, 2008

So where’d I leave off? Oh yes, Monday.

Monday I tended to all that work I’d ignored the past week (you’ll notice work was barely mentioned in our last post) while Margaret was back in the office and Steph went to the beach. But Tuesday Steph and I hiked to the top of Diamond Head.

It was a fun hike and the view from the top was great, but I prefer hikes with more trails and less stairs.

Wednesday Steph and I rented a Geo and drove around the island, stopping at a flea market near the stadium, the previously fawned over Poke Stop (where I had two more lunches), and the North Shore, before returning to the stadium and joining Margaret and Wendy to watch the Pan Pacific Championships, which featured David Beckham.

Somehow I managed to refrain from swooning.

Or not.

Despite having played poorly and his team having lost, after the match Beckham came out to midfield, waved to the crowd, came to the sideline a few rows in front of us, and gave his shirt to a fan. And the fan was no wide-eyed kid; it was a wide-eyed woman in her 20s.

Steph and I went fishing off the shore of Diamond Head the next day. I regret to report that she caught more fish than I did (mostly trigger fish), but seeing as her job is to promote boating and fishing, I’m ok with it. Being on a boat, however, afforded a different perspective of Ohau—and we saw a whale and Molokai (the closest island to Oahu).

Steph, Margaret, and I had hoped to spend a weekend on the Big Island, but Margaret had to work one day that weekend. So instead, we hung around Oahu and had a laid back weekend.

Posted in David Beckham, Diamond Head, Hawaii, Honolulu, Oahu, Pan Pacific Championship, Steph, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The next-to-next-to-last dispatch from Hawaii

Monday, April 14th, 2008

Ironic isn’t it? When not much was happening in Hawaii, I had ample time and inclination to blog. But our last few weeks in Hawaii, we had a lot going on and I didn’t feel like taking time away from the fun to write about it. (I’m much more likely to blog when the other option is working, which brings us to this post.)

Here’s a recap of what happened in Hawaii since my last post (which ended with me hanging out in the hotel, waiting for Carolyn and Chris to arrive while Jamie K. was off on the Big Island).

Chris and Carolyn arrived only a few hours late, but understandably exhausted. Their first day in Hawaii they relaxed at the beach and pool while I worked. But the next day we rented a Jeep Wrangler and drove around the island, watching 30-foot waves crash on the North Shore (the picture doesn’t do it justice—the bartender at our hotel, an avid surfer, said the waves were as high as they’d be all year).

We also went snorkeling at the previously mentioned Hanauma Bay, which was my favorite activity in Hawaii.

Later on in their stay, Chris and I took surfing lessons. It was surprisingly easy to get up on the board, but it was also exhausting. By the end of our two-hour lesson Chris and I were content to float on our boards rather than have to paddle ourselves back out for another run.

On Valentine’s Day Margaret was off in Midway, 1,100 miles further west of Oahu. Carolyn and Chris invited me to dinner with them, but I didn’t feel like being the third wheel. Plus, I reckoned with Margaret gone, I could have that special Valentine’s Day dinner I’d never be able to have if she were present: Denny’s Moons Over My Hammy®.

Margaret returned the next day as did Jamie. The following Saturday the five of us hiked to Manoa Falls.

After hiking Jamie and I climbed the Aloha Tower. Docked next to it was Paul Allen’s dinghy.

It’s named Octopus and is one of the world’s largest private yachts (you can get the skinny on it at Wikipedia). To take that picture, I had to use my camera’s panoramic mode.

Steph arrived from DC mid-afternoon that day. For dinner that night the now six of us found a restaurant that served half-priced sushi after 10 p.m. (hey, it’s no less fresh than what it was serving at 9:45 p.m.).

The next day, Sunday, was gorgeous. Most of us went to Kailua Beach Park.

(That’d be Jamie floating). There, one of Margaret’s colleagues and her family were gracious enough to let us borrow their kayaks and row out to a small island bird sanctuary.

Later that evening we dropped Carolyn, Chris, and Jamie off at the airport.

I originally intended for this post to be the last one from Hawaii, but it’s gone on for too long. I’ll cover our last two weeks there (which includes my trip to the Big Island and Pearl Harbor, as well as shopping and hiking and shopping and fishing and shopping with Steph) in the next post.

Posted in Aloha Tower, Big Island, Carolyn, Chris, Dennys, Hanauma Bay, Hawaii, Honolulu, Jamie K., Kailua Beach Park, Manoa Falls, North Shore, Oahu, Octopus, Paul Allen, Steph, Uncategorized, Valentines Day | No Comments »

Attention kids: Watching television can pay

Sunday, February 24th, 2008

My latest Gridskipper dispatch from Hawaii was posted today:

The Brady Bunch Guide to Honolulu

Gerrit and I used to watch The Brady Bunch on WLVI 56 almost nightly. I usually skipped the Hawaii episodes, however, because Vincent Price and the cursed tiki gave me the creeps.

Margaret and I will have another post here in the next day or so that details what we’ve been up to recently. Ironically, when we’re doing a lot of cool stuff, we don’t have the time to write about it. But when nothing interesting happens, blog posts abound.

Posted in Brady Bunch, Gridskipper, Hawaii, Honolulu, Oahu, Uncategorized | No Comments »

A quick recap of the last week in Hawaii

Tuesday, February 12th, 2008

This week I finally got to downtown Honolulu to visit some of the attractions.

‘Iolani Palace was interesting, especially when compared to the palaces we’ve visited in Europe.

This palace, the only one in the United States, was influenced by European ones as the Hawaiian monarchy had close ties to England (the Hawaiian flag even incorporates the Union Jack). There were also some features, however, that were distinctly Hawaiian. Probably the most interesting fact about the palace is that it had electric lights before either the White House or Buckingham Palace.

After visiting the palace, I climbed the Aloha Tower. Located on the coast of Honolulu Harbor, it used to be the largest building on Oahu, and it was hit in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Afterwards Margaret and I went to Don Ho’s for some, yes, lava flows. We then went on a self-guided walking tour of Chinatown, which we cut short when some shady characters seemed to be checking out our electronic gear.

The Pro Bowl on Sunday was enjoyable; the related events that occurred during the week, however, were miserable. That’s good—it’s a lot easier to write a funny recap of terrible activities than fun ones.

Jamie K. arrived Saturday, but left Monday morning for the Big Island to camp by himself for a few days. He’s planning to emerge from the volcano and return to Oahu later this week.

Last night Diane and Stan had us over for dinner. It was a little strange going to my seventh grade math teacher’s house, but less so than it would have been if my mother wasn’t a teacher as well, showing me that teachers do in fact have a human side (usually). We had a fantastic time: the food, wine, and conversation were great. It was also the first time we saw the sunset in Hawaii.

Carolyn and Chris are en route for a four-day stay with us, but their three-flight trip from Massachusetts got extended to four flights. Not good times. Chris just sent me a text message; they were on a plane waiting to fly from Seattle to Maui, but had no idea of its flight number.

And finally, I just received this DC weather alert:

National Weather has issued a Winter Weather Advisory until 7AM Wednesday. Cloudy with periods of freezing rain. Temperatures will remain freezing and slowly start rising after midnight. Accumulations of 1 to 2 tenths inches of ice and the AM temperatures around 35 degrees.

We’d appreciate it if our friends in DC would make sure that ice is all cleared up by the time we return in two weeks. Thanks!

Posted in Carolyn, Chris, Diane, Hawaii, Honolulu, Jamie K., Oahu, Reading MA, Stan, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Getting paid to watch football and scout dive bars in Hawaii

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Normally my articles for Gridskipper have to be about Washington, DC, as correspondents are assigned to cover their home city. But I guess because we’re here for 45 days, I qualify as a kamaaina (Hawaiian for a non-native who has lived in the islands for a long time), and my editor was cool enough to let me write a few posts about Hawaii.

My first one was posted today:

Drink with Locals at the Pro Bowl

(Now, apparently there are sentiments circulating on the Internets that we do a lot of drinking; that’s not the case. We just like to drink, and sometimes it’s my job to do so, so we write about it a lot.)

Later this week I’ll be reporting on the NFL Pro Bowl for Deadspin. I’ll have a post Friday that covers the pre-game activities. And Monday’s article will cover the game and Saturday night’s Pro Bowl All-Star Block Party.

Right now I’m off to downtown Honolulu to work and watch the Pro Bowl Week Kick-off Rally.

Posted in Gridskipper, Hawaii, Honolulu, NFL Pro Bowl, Oahu, Uncategorized, Waikiki | No Comments »

At least something good happened on Sunday

Wednesday, February 6th, 2008

Sunday we were in a brew pub next to our hotel to watch the Super Bowl. We got there early to get a great spot in front of the TV. A couple sat next to us, the man was wearing a Sox hat. Figuring I’m going to be next to these folks for four hours and that they’re friendlies, I asked them where they’re from.

He responded: “Reading, Mass. You?”

Usually I say I’m from the DC area. If the other person is from Massachusetts, I’ll say just outside of Boston. I don’t have a canned answer for when the other person is from my hometown.

Me: “Same here. Pine Ridge Circle.”

His wife said they lived on a street I hadn’t heard of; no surprise, there’s been a lot of construction in Reading of late, and she said that it’s part of a new development.

Me: “I actually live in DC now; but I grew up in Reading.”

They smiled. “Did you go to school in Reading?” he asked.

Me: “Yep, RMHS class of 94. Parker Middle School and Joshua Eaton too.”

Woman: “I was your math teacher. I’m Diane Portman.”

I felt like the fool that I am for not having recognized her, she looks the same (and I didn’t write that last sentence just because we gave them the URL for this blog). I blame the context: I hadn’t seen her in about 15 years, and I don’t recall ever having seen her outside of a classroom. Certainly not at a brew pub in Waikiki.

Of course, I called Dan immediately as he’d had her for a teacher as well. While outside on the phone, I realized how bizarre it was for my wife and middle school math teacher and her husband, Stan, to be drinking with my wife

Anyway, for the next five hours Margaret and I sat–and drank–with the Portmans. We had a fabulous time talking about their travels and ours. Afterwards they came up to our hotel room for some more wine. We’re heading to their place for dinner next week.

And that’s all I have to say about the events of Sunday.

Posted in Dan S., Diane, Hawaii, Honolulu, Oahu, Stan, Super Bowl, Uncategorized, Waikiki | No Comments »

Exploring Oahu 2: Outrigger races, native dances, poke, the destitute, and scrubbing the dirt

Friday, February 1st, 2008

We were hoping to update this blog more often, but there’s not a lot going on during the week that’s worth writing about. We wake around 7 a.m. Shortly thereafter Margaret leaves for work, and I hit the elliptical machine, partake in the complimentary breakfast, and then plop myself down at the desk in our suite and begin working too.

Margaret usually returns around 6 p.m. at which time we head to the lanai for her complimentary Cabernet and my complimentary Blue Hawaii. It’s at this juncture that our days start to have some variety: sometimes I only have one Blue Hawaii, other evenings I have three. Three’s the limit though; four Blue Hawaiis = blue Zachy.

Last Saturday we had a nice lazy day. For the second straight week we tried to watch outrigger races and for the second straight week we went on the wrong day. But at least we knew where to go for them on Sunday. So instead we ate overlooking the ocean at the Shore Bird before returning to our room for a nap. Later we went to a cookout at a house the Fish and Wildlife Service owns.

There I met a woman who spends six months each year living on the furthest outlying Hawaiian island where she and six other people count birds on behalf of the state. She’s been working in this job for years; up until recently she didn’t bother to take days off because there was nothing to do but drink. This year though she started taking off Sundays, which she spends reading.

Sunday was more eventful. Margaret, her colleague Wendy, and I started off by, yes, watching the outrigger races.

The Ala Wai Challenge also featured natives dancing for mostly non-natives.

Afterwards we headed to the westward side of the island. Strangely no road goes all the way along the island.

View Larger Map

So last weekend when we took our first drive we couldn’t complete the circuit, but had to drive home through the middle of the island.

Our first stop was for the best meal we’ve had in Oahu: Poke Stop. Poke is typically raw fish that’s been marinated. And it’s fantastic. I had lunch. Finished. And then had a second lunch. Poke Stop is in a strip mall, surrounded by a Sizzler and Popeyes. But the chef is world-class and the food tastes it. We’ll be back.

Wendy had been to the western side of the island before, and as we headed to the shore she described how destitute it was. Predictably, the homeless were not Japanese tourists who’d gone astray on a sake bender. According to Lonely Planet, many of them are natives of Oahu whose ancestors were displaced and fled to that shore when Kamehameha invaded the island when unifying Hawaii in 1795.

There were probably several hundred people living on the beach, some in store-bought tents, while others constructed their homes as birds assemble their nests, piecing them together from whatever materials were available.

We continued until the road ended at Kaena Point State Park. Framed by mountains jutting out on both sides, we sat on a beach of volcanic rock and watched the waves crash in front of us.

I wandered around to take some pictures. When I returned to the car, Margaret was gone. In her place was her evil twin.

Margaret’s evil twin decided that we then needed to find the end of a rainbow. The result was better than the last time I chased a rainbow and ended up at the Blue Oyster Bar (Dah da da da da daaaah, dah da da da da daaaah da-dah).

When we returned to Waikiki, Margaret, Wendy, and I went to the Hilton Hawaiian Village for gelato. The compound bills itself as an all-inclusive resort; when Margaret was looking for hotels, the operator there said that Margaret’s husband would love it, “He’d never have to leave the hotel!”

As I was walking from the Hilton Hawaiian Village to our hotel I saw a Hilton employee using Fantastik to scrub the dirt from an outside wall. I was about 20 miles from the tents.

Posted in Ala Wai Challenge, Hawaii, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, Oahu, Outrigger races, Poke Stop, Shore Bird, Uncategorized, Waikiki | 2 Comments »

Where we are staying

Saturday, January 26th, 2008

View Larger Map

Blue = ocean

Posted in Embassy Suites, Hawaii, Honolulu, Oahu, Uncategorized, Waikiki | 3 Comments »

Pane & Vino Part II

Saturday, January 26th, 2008

Ok, we just returned to Pane & Vino, which I described in our last post. We got it half wrong and half right. Turns out one of the guys is married, so we were wrong on that front. The food, however, was still excellent. We switched it up and had the eggplant crostini and penne pesto, both of which were phenomenal (Margaret gave it the the best rating possible: “Tastes like Paul’s“).

And not only did they remember us from last week, but they also recollected what wine we’d ordered. The grappa came out again this time too, once we mentioned that we were newlyweds. Tonight it went down a lot smoother, probably because we had an inkling of what was coming.

Anyway, it’s 10:46 p.m. here and we’re bringing a bottle of wine to the hot tub. Life could be worse.

Posted in Hawaii, Honolulu, Oahu, Pane & Vino, Restaurants, Uncategorized, Waikiki | No Comments »

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