So Far Away

Last week I had three friends who suddenly had their worlds turned upside down. All involved being in the hospital with major health issues. Hawaii felt very far from friends and family. There wasn't much I could do from 2,500 miles away. I wish I could have at least sat with them and held their hands, but phone calls, e-mails and prayer had to suffice.

I had an amazing 4th of July. We watched a parade, we went to Hickam Air Force Base to see Plain White T's in concert and followed up with fireworks. The weather was perfect and I was feeling great.

Surprisingly, the 4th of July here was the most patriotic 4th I've seen since I lived in Washington D.C. in the early 90's. Women and children donned in red, white and blue, and stars and stripes, shouted greetings of "Happy 4th Of July". During the parade, people waved American flags. The color guards marched. The VFW, American Legion and Vets of the Korean War, Vietnam and one Pearl Harbor survivor all paraded. I haven't seen Americans stand up, clap and cheer for Veterans in a long, long time. It never happened in San Francisco. But, then, there's no Independence Day parade in San Francisco.

I felt American again, here in Hawaii. Then the phone calls and e-mails happened from my friends in California telling me about their, or their spouses injuries/illnesses. I imagined them stuck in industrial-looking hospital buildings, smelling those horrible hospital smells and watching machines and waiting for doctors, while I was looking out at steep green cliffs and rainbows, feeling warm tradewinds blow past me carrying the scent of tropical flowers.

So, here I sit in Hawaii, feeling like it's another country and realizing how important my friends are. These three friends span my lifetime; one from nursery school, one from high school and another from college. They represent different times in my life, different experiences I had while growing up. They are important.

I think of friends and loved ones back on the mainland. SFO airport used to carry me to them within a few hours, or I could drive to them on a moment's notice. Now I'm 2,500 miles away at closest.

But Hawaii has an airport. A big one, where American Airlines will fly me to Georgia this October so I can visit one of my best friends from high school and watch his sons play in their football games.
I'll make time to see the people who are important to me and I will find time to visit those three friends I've been thinking about all week.

See y'all in October.

Tsunami Damage

Our last day in Kona, we stopped at the King Kamehameha Hotel which suffered extensive damage from the March 11th tsunami. Here are photos from the hotel lobby and the exterior.

Going Back In Time

After touring The City of Refuge, we drove to our hotel to find dinner. If you're ever in Kona, stop at the Royal Kona Resort to be transported to the past. Here are photos from the bar and Don The Beachcomber restaurant. At times, I thought I was in Disneyland. You can feel how the place used to be the IN spot, probably in the 1950's and 1960's.


The next day we drove to Hilo, which reminded us of the city of Petaluma in Northern California. A small town feel, but not much to do there. Well, okay, we did go to Big Island Candies and the Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory. The weather driving out there was foggy, cold, and rainy. It was 63 degrees at one point near the town of Waimeia. We passed the Hamakua region, known for growing flowers, vegetables and, um, "other" famous Hawaiian crops. (We figured those crops were growing behind the fences that said, "Keep Out".)

Parker Ranch, a working cattle ranch, owns most of the land around Waimea. (Also known as Kamuela.) I thought the stop signs in the shopping center were a kick. "Whoa".

Our day ended at the Four Seasons Hotel, just to see what it's all about. With Balinese-style decor, it is stunningly gorgeous and the sunset was amazing. We wished we could sit on one of the lounge chairs on the beach, but they were for hotel guests only.

We left the Four Seasons and dined at the Kona Inn Restaurant, with its delicious mahi-mahi and super friendly staff. A walk along the bay, back to our hotel, ended our night.

City Of Refuge

After visiting the coffee region of Kona, Mark and I drove to Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau, also known as the City of Refuge.

A reconstructed temple called the Hale o Keawe Heiau sits on the edge of the bay. Back in the 1500-1600's if someone broke a law (kapu) they could seek refuge here. The photo with the carved statues is the reconstructed heiau.

Next to the heiau is the former palace grounds. Reconstructed huts, games made out of stone, and fishing ponds were built for posterity to get a sense of how royalty lived back then.

As we walked out of the grounds, feeling like we could sense Ali'i from centuries ago, paddlers entered the bay. Were they seeking a sort of refuge in the water?

Kona Coffee

We took another three day trip to the Big Island. This time, we stayed in Kona and went sightseeing over the entire island.

Our first stop was to the Kona coffee region and Kona Joe's coffee. "Joe" is an orthopedic surgeon from California and friends with my podiatrist in San Francisco. Kona Joe's closes up early. After leaving the rental car place at Kona airport we arrived at Kona Joe's at 2:30. No more tour and they were out of free coffee samples.

I bought a few small bags of their Trellis grown reserve. Oh, my. Coffee never tasted so good.

Since we missed out on the tour, we drove on to Greenwell Farms. There is a reason for everything, because the tour at Greenwell Farms was fantastic. Everyone was friendly. The tour guide was local and shared with us his personal coffee experiences from growing up. I'm a coffee fan and I learned much.

Their farm dog came on the tour with us. She laid down when we stopped and walked alongside us when we toured.

After the tour, we sampled 10 different coffee types and two chocolate covered coffee beans. Oh, maybe that's why the tours end early, otherwise people will stay awake from all the caffeine.

Greenwell is the place to go for a Kona coffee tour.

Photos are of a coffee tree, an apple-banana tree, the farm cat and local coffee growers dropping off coffee beans.

Random Places

I'm posting photos of a few places I've been this weekend.

Champion Malasada is apparently the original malasada, or so I've been told. Look at the breakfast! Who says Hawaii is expensive? I can get eggs and rice with Portuguese sausage for a deal!

The sunset is the view from Lanikai on Saturday night. We drove there before our dinner where the woman paid for everyone's meal.

A rainbow over Manoa, and the view from the industrial section near Honolulu Airport.

A Meal Like No Other

No one really noticed the woman sitting at the corner table. I glanced at her as I was seated at the table in front of her tonight. She wore a gray t-shirt and had a glass of wine on her table. I thought she was waiting for someone to join her.

Mark and I sat at our table and laughed about something that happened earlier this evening. The table of three women next to us were celebrating a birthday. A party of four was being seated on the other side of the birthday women.

We ordered our food. The woman left the restaurant, leaving unnoticed.

Noel, our waiter, came over to our table.

"The woman behind you just paid for your meals."

We looked at him, stunned.

"She just paid for everyone's dinner in my station and left me the best tip I've ever had."

Neither Mark nor I have ever had something like that happen to us. Our waiter said it had never happened to him either. I asked him why she did it.

"She said she just lost someone important to her and wanted to put something positive out in the world."


My first thought was, the person she lost must have been a generous soul in order for her to think of others while grieving his or her loss.

As Noel spread the news to the table of women, they too, were stunned. They tried to attain her name and number in order to thank her. Noel said he had her information but she expressed her wished to remain anonymous and he was honoring her wish. He did tell them this woman "lived on Base." (Kaneohe Marine Corps Base is 5-10 minutes away from the restaurant.)

To the woman who paid for dinners at Zia's Cafe in Kailua Town tonight, we feel your loss and we will pay your generosity forward.

Kids Day in Honolulu

The U.S. Army museum sits off Waikiki Beach, between a condo complex and Fort DeRussy, in a low-lying concrete building. The helicopter on the roof and the tank out front give clues to what's inside.

Mark's nephews spent the day with us yesterday. We walked along the beach to the Shorebird restaurant for lunch. We were told the waves along South Shore were supposed to be huge again yesterday like they were the day before. No such waves where we were. Instead of watching for surfers, we walked into the U.S. Army Museum.

The reinforced concrete building is so tough that when developers tried to knock it down, they were unable. They building remains and is a remarkable place to visit. We stepped inside and were greeted by veterans. One came to talk to the boys; a retired U.S. Special Forces Green Beret and recipient of six Purple Hearts. He served in Vietnam and ended his career after a tour in Afghanistan. He showed the boys where a bullet had been removed from his neck. (He still has five bullets remaining in his body.)

Mark made sure the boys shook his hand and thanked him for his service.

We entered the exhibit area next. I tend to get claustrophobic in small, dark places, but the low ceiling of this reinforced building made me feel safe. It was built to protect, and the cool air and thick walls inside instill that "safe" feeling. I couldn't help wonder what would happen to this building if a major tsunami arrived. I think I'd run for this building, and hunker inside until danger passed. It seems much safer than trying to navigate Waikiki's traffic jams.

The main hallway of the museum has displays lining the wall on the right and entrances on the left where displays of each era of Army artifacts are exhibited. I entered the first doorway. The history starts with the Hawaiian Army, not the U. S. Army. Each exhibit on the left winds around and ends up back at the main hallway, but further down from where I started.

The areas are segregated by time and conflict/war. The last doorway on the left shows Vietnam. Hawaii was a place for a quick escape for R&R for the soldiers in Vietnam. Families from the mainland could catch a flight to meet their loved one in Hawaii. I snapped a photo of a replica Tiki Bar from the era. The TV played videos from the original Hawaii Five-0 show. Photos of Elvis and other celebrities visiting Hawaii lined the walls of the Tiki Bar.

The boys knew most of the types of guns, rocket launchers, etc. and searched for the descriptions and names of those they didn't know. They told us later they knew the names from playing the video game, "Black Ops, Call of Duty."




From the Museum, we walked to Lappert's Ice Cream in the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I'm not an ice cream fan, but I love Lappert's.

Next we took the younger nephew to Punahou School. It was raining, but after we walked around campus for awhile, the rainbows broke out everywhere.
Mark's nephew exclaimed, "I want to go to school here!"

Who wouldn't want to go to a school with lush green vegetation, rolling lawns, large athletic pools, gyms, fields and rainbows covering the entire campus?