Hawaii 2016 Day 1

Good golly. So pooped. Vacation started out with bigsis and I taking Mom and her best friend of 74 years to the seaside. It was fun but a lot of work. Wheelchairs give an extra dimension to logistics, as does memory loss. Mom has been calling at odd hours recently, and she called me at 3am the day we left, insisting that I had called her. She performed her nightly phone ritual the next night also, with the added dimension that she woke sis and I up to let us know the phone had rung and there was nobody there. Sis earned many gold stars last weekend. Many. We'll leave it at that.

Mrguy and I headed out yesterday morning, on our way to the sweet relief that is Hawaii. Thank you, people of Sensaphonics earplugs, for helping us withstand the rigors of a baby-encrusted airplane.

 

I tried to deaden the effect that unhappy children was having on me by having a bloody mary. Note to makers of Mr. & Mrs. T Bloody Mary Mix: your product tastes like onion powder and suede. I did not drink that beverage after all.

Soon, however, we were in the bosom of our usual first stop, La Mariana Sailing Club. For two months mrguy has been saying "I can taste the tuna sandwich now", which is code for the tuna sandwich at La Mariana. It did not disappoint. Like the Eagles Aerie back home, they hang up bags of water and pennies to repel flying insects.

Our new hotel is totally quiet and on the other end of town. We flopped in our room with some complimentary wine for a bit and then walked up town to see Our friends play at the Royal Hawaiian Center. It was great and always inspiring to see them play. They are fantastic musicians and great people (earnest, thoughtful, funny) and kolohe as well. Their set last night was uncharacteristically sad -- a song about a dead schoolmate, a song about losing someone, a song about the Japanese tsunami of 2011, a song about George Helm (WHO IS DEAD). Even the song Bumbye, which has a jolly melody, is based in sadness (but they didn't tell that story). Today mrguy said "You know when you lose someone, and their pillow still smells like them, and you continue to sleep with that pillow? And you cry and cry and cry and that person is never coming back? This song is about that. It is called 'Tear-Stained Pillow'".  "And you know when your house burns down and all your most priceless possessions are a smoking pile of rubble? We've all experienced that (or we will). This song is about that. It is called Smoking Pile of Rubble".

After (redacted) (again, I tease but they are some of the most inspiring musicians we know) we walked over to the Halekulani and tossed back a few mai tais. 

Then we helped a fellow tourist from Iowa who wanted to walk along the water to get back to her friends (who wanted to walk on the sidewalk) and made some suggestions about things they might want to see when they're in town.

Then to the ABC Store for a few nibbles and to bed.