Hawaii, 32 years ago

[Norman]

Some adventure start out in a totally different direction, and chance is followed by choice, then a pile of good luck.  The trivial part of our 25th anniversary celebration started quite slowly, traveling to the East.  We had no idea that we were starting a process that would BE our celebration.

There is some sailing content for those who read far enough.

Shirley and I received an invitation to a sales event for a time share at our favorite beach.  One of the optional dates was the day before we were going to be there for the annual Church retreat.  The complimentary night in their facility would increase our visit by a whole day, free,just for listening to a long sales talk.  That seemed to both of us to be a bargain, so we went.

2 hours, with complimentary coffee, soft drinks, and cookies, and it was almost over.  Our guest cards had been collected, and put in a bowl. After stirring them well, a card was drawn to find who had won the free trip to Hawaii, including half fare airline tickets.  WE won!

We took the paperwork and at our leisure, after the day on the beach, read the small print that usually makes such offers worthless.  First, even at half price, the round trip tickets were not cheap, but within our willingness to pay for such a trip, so OK there.  The 'free' accommodations there are a hotel being converted to time shares, and we must sit through the sales presentation for it to get the refund voucher for their half of the airline ticket.

The rest of the offer looked good, so when we were home from the beach, we called up and put in a reservation for the room, and then for the airline tickets, but added another week before the return trip.  We have had very good luck at finding someplace to stay when in a strange city or town, and were confident that we could do fine in Hawaii, and for sure better than a random reservation from home.

The day came, we boarded the plane at Baltimore Washington International airport for Salt Lake City, change planes, and on to Honolulu.  As always, I took the window seat, away from the wing, and enjoyed the world passing below me.  The leg across the ocean started late at night, and arrived the next day, and I was treated to wonderful views of the islands as we descended inbound.

Our accommodations were straight inland from Waikiki Beach, and next to the Ali Wai canal, which connects out to the Pacific Ocean.

The next morning, we woke to see the canoe race teams preparing for the island canoe races.  Some of the teams were working out at daybreak, others in the evening, but the efforts were universally extreme.  Crew members shouted with  joy as they pulled ahead of another canoe, and after the end of the course, the canoes turned, lined up, and raced back.  We were amazed at the level of competitive spirit and effort we observed, and found it remarkable that people would put such effort into a before or after work exercise.  The practice continued till dark, every day.

That first morning, we enjoyed the complimentary light breakfast, then we attended the sales pitch, which was only moderately high pressure, and separated from our personal sales person before noon, and sight seeing began.

We toured the Pearl Harbor Memorial, and the military Cemetery in the extinct volcano crater.

We went to a Kama Ana dinner at a local restaurant, claimed to be traditional food and entertainment, we thought it a joke, all the singers and dancers must have entertained the soldiers and sailors during the WW 2 years. They were ancient. The food was batch made, and blah.  The charge was not cheap, but not sky high, either.  Well over a hundred tourists were there, concrete warehouse type building, pure tourist operation.

I took an hour long sailplane flight along a ridge in the trade winds.  Shirley did not go with me.

Sunday we visited the local Methodist Church, and were invited back for the monthly traditional Tongan pot luck dinner that night hosted by their Tongan congregation.  Nearly everyone there that night was Tongan! Real native food, and hours of continuous traditional dances, performed by all ages, from kinder-gardener to grandparents, with mostly drum, cymbal, and rattle accompaniment for the singing of the related traditional songs. This lasted for more than 4 hours, never boring! The food never ran out, and if you did not bring food, you donated $ 5.00.

While sunning on the Waikiki Beach, we noticed a catamaran that gave sailing tours along the coast, and bought tickets.  They departed ahead of their scheduled time, with a light load of passengers, as they were listening to the VHF radio reports of the Trans Pac race leaders position.  We sailed as rapidly as possible, with good wind, toward Diamond Head, and arrived just as they fired the canon for the catamaran that won the catamaran class.  We then tried to keep up with them as they headed in to port, but no chance of succeeding in that endeavor.  The sail included a swim off the stern, and I expected them to heave to outside the reef for this part of the trip, but they would not, said the Coast Guard required that such swims take place inside the reef, so the bodies could be recovered if any thing went wrong.  So much for my expectation of bragging that I had swum in mile deep water!  Inside the reef, after the swim, sails were secured, the outboard started, and we backed straight in toward shore, and at just the right time, motor off, raised, and we coasted neatly up on the beach.  The total time out sailing was about twice the time listed on their board on the beach, lucky again.  For those who have read this far, that was the promised sailing, and blue water, too!

The next day, we went swimming with the tame fish in the Hanauma nature preserve cove.  I bought goggles and a snorkel and swam into the deeper part, Shirley borrowed the mask only, and watched fish with her feet firmly on the bottom.

We visited many cultural history sites and museums, did not buy any trinkets.

There was a travel booth at the city Municipal Building, and we checked on options for flying to Maui, and the attendant gave us a wide variety of choices, and we picked a combination air fare, car rental, plus motel near the port of Kahului.


Flew to Maui, drove to the motel.  The cheap room they held for he package was tiny, just outside the office, and had been last occupied by a chain smoker.  We could not imagine sleeping there, went back to the desk and asked for a different room, non smoking.  The clerk moved us to a large room, one from the beach, second floor, beautiful view.  Lucky again.

We were right on the beach in the harbor, a few hundred yards from the Chart House Restaurant, and just on the other side of the Chart House, the local canoe club and its summer camp for kids. Those kids lived in the water, swam like fish, and the teenage counselors had an impromptu swimming race, a mile to the other side of the harbor and back, to see who was really the finest swimmer. On the beach on the other side of the harbor, the fastest waited for the slowest, before racing back, keeping the pack of swimmers fairly close together in case of any problem. These kids were very competitive, but also constantly looked out for one another, and especially for the younger ones. The crafts that they did were not for sale, they were useful at home, and proudly presented to parents when picked up at days end. Most walked to and from home, the youngest either with a sibling or a parent.

Good luck is hard to beat, and we had it at Maui. The Championship canoe race was at Maui while we were there (We had missed the last races for the Oahu championship, on the Ali Wai canal, just before we left, they were the Sunday we went to the Church and Tonga dinner and entertainment), and the club just up the beach at Maui was the host, we watched the whole thing from our chairs on the beach, or walked over to the club. It was an all day event, the islands equivalent of the Super Bowl, and with wild cheering for the various clubs. There are various sizes of canoes, and ages of crew. The larger islands have multiple clubs, and compete on a regular schedule for the privilege of representing their island in the Championship races. Many of the canoes arrived paddling from the home island, a physical tune up for the race itself. Shipping it in is considered missing the traditional spirit, but the islands farthest away do ship all their canoes in.  The local Maui team won the total points from the various races, and thus, the trophy.  What a noisy celebration ensued!

There were vendors selling genuine local food to the contestants and families, but the one surprise was the hot dogs included in the selection offered. There were very few tourists there, and we were welcomed by all the people we met. We bought souvenir T shirts, unknowingly depriving some contestants of the opportunity to get one for themselves, as they sold out with a line still remaining.

We went to the top of Haleakala volcano for the sunrise, and took the ranger tour of the top.

We drove the Hana highway, but did not walk to Lindbergh's grave.  Weather had been dry for a while,and the famous falls were modest in comparison to the normal, interesting any way, neat drive.

Drove to the other end of the island, Kapalua and found that the sidewalks were paved with fire brick from the sugar evaporators, and most of them came from the fire brick company in Mexico Missouri that my wife worked for after graduating from high school. When we visited the small port there, the fishermen on the pier were glued to their radios, a sport fisherman off shore had a very large fish on, it was eventually boated, and was record size. No official record resulted, however, the crew had spelled the exhausted client several times before the fish was boated.

Back to the hotel, drive to the airport, and fly back to Oahu, and connect to our fight home.

On the down side, as a pilot, I was not too happy with the flight back. Our airliner arrived about 4 hours late due to an unscheduled stop at San Francisco, for repairs. As soon as the plane stopped at the Jetway, a work platform was rolled under the cockpit, hatches opened, and components removed, replacements carried in. Parts came and went for about two hours, we boarded, and before we pushed back, the Captain announced "If there are any maintenance personal still on board, call the cockpit now, we are departing". A minute went by, he apparently received no call, and we taxied for departure. I wondered if they really finished. The answer to that question came when we landed in San Francisco unscheduled, and once again, technicians went to work. After a couple of hours, we continued to the scheduled stop in Salt Lake City, and changed planes for the rest of our flight home. As we deplaned technicians were once again working on our plane from Hawaii. I would be inclined to guess that the problem was in the wiring, not the sensors or computer modules.

Yes, the 25th anniversary was different from most of the Anniversaries.  To an amazing degree, it resulted from a string of good luck, combined with spur of the moment decisions.

Norman and Shirley, 57th, and still together!

[jotruk]

great read and congrats on 57

[CharlieJ]

great story. Congrats to you and Shirley

[Owly055]

Great story........... My only visit to Hawaii 10  years ago was not nearly so eventful, spending 3 weeks in a mansion on the beach at Anini on Kauai with wealthy neighbors as an impromptu temporary family member, roaming the island with one or another of the three children in tow much of the time........... beautiful island, small population, friendly people.     If I ever return to Hawaii it will be by sailboat............    Seeing the way white people are systematically destroying the once pristine beauty of the islands was depressing to me.  Hotels and vacation  homes everywhere.......  like the one I stayed in, where the front steps were on the beach.  The reef at Anini, the longest in Hawaii is dead due to runoff from the Princeville golf course and town.   I longed to don a backpack and hike the Nepali Coast.... not widely  known then, but now being "loved to death"..... but had no equipment along.... The more remote parts of the world are for me I think, as I loath crowds and cities.  Perhaps climate change will cleanse the shores of Hawaii of those gawd awful hotels!!

                                                                    H.W.