Monday, August 27, 2007
Hawaiian Journal - Feast Your Eyes on this Lele
Day 2
Waking up in Hawaii is one of the best things ever. Well, actually, just waking up without an alarm clock. Or a to-do list. Or . . . did I mention that we hadn't been on vacation in four years?
You know that things have gotten restless in your life when your spouse says, as Our Woman in LA did not so long ago: "My idea of Heaven is a place with no to-do lists." Amen, sister. Heaven is a place called Hawaii. Let's get our Heaven on.
Exhibit One: Happy feet.
We went to the beach the morning of Day 2 and just chilled. Steph and her feet got happy (see above). How do you know they're happy? Dude, look at all that sand on them!
Our Man in LA even found time to relax with a book. That's right, I said it. Relaxing. I can do it.
But eventually, we did have to get up and go. Which leads us to . . .
Quote of the Day #1: "Magellan is no Magellan." (Chris Wieland, 2007)
This is the car we used to tool around on Maui. Yeah, it's a red convertible.
Anyway, when you're in a new and different place, it's easy to get lost along the way. That's why the rental agencies (in this case, Hertz) provide - for just a few dollars more - a GPS navigational system. In this case, they handed the Wielands a Magellan.
It was awesome. Loved that little thing. I felt like we could go anywhere, and it's little robotic heart would lead us in the least convoluted way possible.
That is, until it died. On our way to the luau.
It's cool. We're on vacation. In Hawaii. Which means that nothing phases us. Our Woman in LA did call Hertz to "discuss" the broken Magellan, but that's neither here nor there. Yes, the conversation did include the phrase, "Well, yeah, I know you're going to refund us for the Magellan, I'm just interested in how you're going to make this up to us and save our business." (Stephanie Wieland, 2007)
I love my wife. And you should know that Hawaii had an effect - no raised voice at the fool manning the phones back at Hertz central. Just calm, collected customer dissatisfaction. Ah, the islands.
Plus, you gotta figure that losing the Magellan is the Universe's way of telling us to be a little more adventurous. OK. Game on, Universe.
Sans Magellan, we made our way up the coast to Lahaina, home of The Feast of Lele, infamous luau. Such a beautiful locale. We were super-psyched to have our own table and from the very moment that they slipped the leis around our necks, it seemed like it would be a magical night.
Then . . .
Quote of the Day #2: "You can take the lei off if it's suffocating you." (Chris Wieland, 2007)
Our Woman in L.A. was a sport. She wore the flower lei through at least two of her tropical drinks, until I noticed her eyes watering.
"Aw, honey, are you crying?" I asked.
"No," she said. "I'm fine. This is really beautiful." Insert sneeze here.
"Seriously, are you OK?"
"Um . . . I think the flowers in this lei are making it hard for me to breathe. But it's cool."
Yeah, she had an allergic reaction. But she really wanted to wear that lei. We compromised. She could take it off and drink more frozen/tropical/rum-filled drinks. This is why I'm a sensational negotiator.
At the luau, you dine on five courses - each one native to one of the South Pacific islands - Hawaii, Samoa, New Zealand, Tahiti and . . . uh, another island. A tropical one. We really liked this course, which might be Samoa. It's hard to say. There was a bit of alcoholic beverage served . . .
Of course, one of the reasons you go to the luau is to see the entertainment - traditional island dances and customs, including hula and fire dancing. Hold onto your hats (if you have hats), this is pretty cool. I want to pause here and recognize Our Woman in L.A. for her fabulous photography skills, especially during the luau performance. We both really enjoyed the entire performance.
Take a look . . .
Truly a great way to spend Day 2 in one of the most beautiful places we've ever been.
Post-script: First, a disclaimer from Our Woman in L.A.: "It may look like we were drunk off our asses the entire time we were in Hawaii. We weren't. Not the entire time. And we really were careful about not drinking and driving. That's one to grow on, brought to you by Kona Beers, makers of Longboard Lager."
Post script 2: Here's another picture of Our Man in L.A. getting his drink on:
Tomorrrow: Starfish, sushi, spa, and a man with no name.
Waking up in Hawaii is one of the best things ever. Well, actually, just waking up without an alarm clock. Or a to-do list. Or . . . did I mention that we hadn't been on vacation in four years?
You know that things have gotten restless in your life when your spouse says, as Our Woman in LA did not so long ago: "My idea of Heaven is a place with no to-do lists." Amen, sister. Heaven is a place called Hawaii. Let's get our Heaven on.
Exhibit One: Happy feet.
We went to the beach the morning of Day 2 and just chilled. Steph and her feet got happy (see above). How do you know they're happy? Dude, look at all that sand on them!
Our Man in LA even found time to relax with a book. That's right, I said it. Relaxing. I can do it.
But eventually, we did have to get up and go. Which leads us to . . .
Quote of the Day #1: "Magellan is no Magellan." (Chris Wieland, 2007)
This is the car we used to tool around on Maui. Yeah, it's a red convertible.
Anyway, when you're in a new and different place, it's easy to get lost along the way. That's why the rental agencies (in this case, Hertz) provide - for just a few dollars more - a GPS navigational system. In this case, they handed the Wielands a Magellan.
It was awesome. Loved that little thing. I felt like we could go anywhere, and it's little robotic heart would lead us in the least convoluted way possible.
That is, until it died. On our way to the luau.
It's cool. We're on vacation. In Hawaii. Which means that nothing phases us. Our Woman in LA did call Hertz to "discuss" the broken Magellan, but that's neither here nor there. Yes, the conversation did include the phrase, "Well, yeah, I know you're going to refund us for the Magellan, I'm just interested in how you're going to make this up to us and save our business." (Stephanie Wieland, 2007)
I love my wife. And you should know that Hawaii had an effect - no raised voice at the fool manning the phones back at Hertz central. Just calm, collected customer dissatisfaction. Ah, the islands.
Plus, you gotta figure that losing the Magellan is the Universe's way of telling us to be a little more adventurous. OK. Game on, Universe.
Sans Magellan, we made our way up the coast to Lahaina, home of The Feast of Lele, infamous luau. Such a beautiful locale. We were super-psyched to have our own table and from the very moment that they slipped the leis around our necks, it seemed like it would be a magical night.
Then . . .
Quote of the Day #2: "You can take the lei off if it's suffocating you." (Chris Wieland, 2007)
Our Woman in L.A. was a sport. She wore the flower lei through at least two of her tropical drinks, until I noticed her eyes watering.
"Aw, honey, are you crying?" I asked.
"No," she said. "I'm fine. This is really beautiful." Insert sneeze here.
"Seriously, are you OK?"
"Um . . . I think the flowers in this lei are making it hard for me to breathe. But it's cool."
Yeah, she had an allergic reaction. But she really wanted to wear that lei. We compromised. She could take it off and drink more frozen/tropical/rum-filled drinks. This is why I'm a sensational negotiator.
At the luau, you dine on five courses - each one native to one of the South Pacific islands - Hawaii, Samoa, New Zealand, Tahiti and . . . uh, another island. A tropical one. We really liked this course, which might be Samoa. It's hard to say. There was a bit of alcoholic beverage served . . .
Of course, one of the reasons you go to the luau is to see the entertainment - traditional island dances and customs, including hula and fire dancing. Hold onto your hats (if you have hats), this is pretty cool. I want to pause here and recognize Our Woman in L.A. for her fabulous photography skills, especially during the luau performance. We both really enjoyed the entire performance.
Take a look . . .
Truly a great way to spend Day 2 in one of the most beautiful places we've ever been.
Post-script: First, a disclaimer from Our Woman in L.A.: "It may look like we were drunk off our asses the entire time we were in Hawaii. We weren't. Not the entire time. And we really were careful about not drinking and driving. That's one to grow on, brought to you by Kona Beers, makers of Longboard Lager."
Post script 2: Here's another picture of Our Man in L.A. getting his drink on:
Tomorrrow: Starfish, sushi, spa, and a man with no name.
Comments:
<< Home
The infamous red convertible!! It's either that or a Jeep, because that's all we saw for a week!! And the Feast of Lele is just great. POI baby!! Soooo good on that pork (I think it was pork). Looks like you had many colorful and fruity rum drinks!!!!
Post a Comment
# posted by 
: 12:51 PM
: 12:51 PM << Home
