Hawaii - Day Two - Thursday

Please excuse the bed-head hairdo. I was so happy to sit out on the beautiful lanai, that I didn't care what I looked like. It was about 6:00 in the morning, and all I wanted to do was sit there and take in the gorgeous view!











Scottsdale Arizona left a comment on my Hawaii Day One blog. I didn't know a city could leave a comment.

I'd like to leave Scottsdale a comment: Not far from you in Apache Junction is my second home.

I love it there! I wish I had enough money to live in Scottsdale, it's absolutely beautiful!

I feel well when I'm in Arizona, which is wonderful, since I don't feel well in other places.

Day two (Thursday) arrived with Mike and I on the lanai watching the sun come up. What a view! We could see the ocean, large ships, sailboats, young men playing some game by the beach, surfers, surfing the waves, and birds, birds, birds.

Birds love Hawaii. Well, why not? They live in paradise.

We ate breakfast at KoKo Cafe and headed for the beach. Laying out in Hawaii is so easy. If you lay-out other places, trying to get a tan - you watch the clock - waiting for the time to end so you can get out of the sun. Not in Hawaii. You need to watch the time because you don't want to get out of the sun. It's very easy to get burned there.

I didn't burn any of the days we were there and we went to at least 5 beaches. But then, I don't burn! I can burn if I'm in the sun a really long time. But mostly, I just turn brown.

Mike gets darker than I do, but he burns first. He legs were as white as snow and hadn't seen the sun since he was a kid in shorts.

He layed out twice in Ogden before going to Hawaii, trying and brown up a bit. He really should have layed out everyday for two weeks - just 15 minutes a day. He would have browned up nicely.

Instead he tried to do it in two days at an hour a day and was a little burned before we left. He noticed not long after we were on the beach that he had red spots on his legs. He showed them to me, but I didn't know what they were. Several days later Karen my cousin John's wife said they were hives! Poor guy! He's still itching!

After laying on the beach we took a stroll along the beach toward Diamond Head. Mike wanted to get a picture of it. We had walked so far already and by the time he suggested we turn around I told him I wanted to walk over to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

I have always admired it from afar. I wanted to go in it when I was there the first two times, but never had a chance. This time I made it. It is lovely! It has been there since 1927 and was one of the first hotels on Waikiki Beach.

There is another hotel that was there first, but I can't remember what it is.

The sad thing about the Royal Hotel is that it has been gobbled up and nearly swallowed by all the huge hotels that have crowded in around it. You literally cannot see it unless you are on the grounds, and then you see all the tall buildings that sit practically right on top of it.

I could see the hotel clearly from our hotel room 30 years ago, now you can just barely see the top of the pretty pink structure.

I think the Hawaiians made a mistake in letting the hotels crowd it the way they have. Too many of us sell our souls for money. And that's what I think happened here. Trump Towers is going in just a block from it right now as we speak. You'd think they couldn't get one more hotel in there. But it never ends.

After our long walk, we drove to Diamond Head. Mike walked to the top and took pictures. I knew I couldn't walk but stayed in the park there, read all about it, and ate lunch.

Diamond Head got it's name from people who looked down into the crater (it's a volcano) and saw sparkly things they thought were diamonds. They were wrong but the name stuck.

Then we drove over to Hanauma Bay which is a gorgeous bay where people snorkel. I wanted to snorkel badly. Snorkeling was my favorite thing to do 30 years ago. It was something I intended to do this time, but we simply didn't have time. We were expected back to the hotel for a luau. I will return! And, I will snorkel again!

The luau was great! There was pulled-pork from the earth, of course! Mike loves it. I'm not that big a fan. I ate a little of it though. There was teriyaki chicken, and mahimahi. So, plenty of meat.

There was raw salmon in chopped tomatoes and cilantro, fried banana. fresh slices of pineapple, another fruit salad with mango, and a fresh cucumber salad.

Dessert was coconut cake, and another coconut dessert. I'm sure that was not the whole menu. Oh, I forgot the poi, which is a good thing to forget. I didn't have to cheat on my diet at all, because everything on the menu was legal!












I cheated earlier that day during lunch at Diamond Head.

I had a hamburger and ate the bun. Unusual for me, but I did it. I was afraid I had cheated a second time because

I also ate a mango smoothie, that was delicious! I was happy when told that there was no dairy in it. Yeah!

I had to do something during that hour while Mike walked to the top of Diamond Head.


This picture was taken when he returned from his hike to the top.





We had a nice program at the luau with dancers from all the islands.

And the MC was a terrific singer. We didn't learn until halfway through the program that he was a singer we knew. I didn't know his name but recognized the song he had made famous. His name is Glenn Medeiros. Do you remember the name? I didn't think so, neither did I.

He made this song famous when he was just 16 years old:

Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You. We were really impressed after that. Notice how the song comes right to your mind, when you hear, nothing's gonna change my love for you? You can't help it, You just start singing.

At the end of the program I leaned over and told Mike that I had to run to the bathroom, and that I expected him to stick around and buy a CD. I ran! I knew I had to get there first because there was no waiting!

When I caught up to Mike again he told me he couldn't find the CD's. That wasn't going to stop me. I asked everyone who worked there, and finally asked the bartender, who pointed to Glenn who was standing two feet from me. We talked to him and bought our CD. I really like it. It has lots of songs on it I love.

The luau ended late and Mike and I went back to our room, sat on the Lanai for a while. Watched a little TV. And called it a night again.