A blog about us (’cause it’s always about us)

So where’d I leave off? Oh yes, Monday.

Monday I tended to all that work I’d ignored the past week (you’ll notice work was barely mentioned in our last post) while Margaret was back in the office and Steph went to the beach. But Tuesday Steph and I hiked to the top of Diamond Head.

It was a fun hike and the view from the top was great, but I prefer hikes with more trails and less stairs.

Wednesday Steph and I rented a Geo and drove around the island, stopping at a flea market near the stadium, the previously fawned over Poke Stop (where I had two more lunches), and the North Shore, before returning to the stadium and joining Margaret and Wendy to watch the Pan Pacific Championships, which featured David Beckham.

Somehow I managed to refrain from swooning.

Or not.

Despite having played poorly and his team having lost, after the match Beckham came out to midfield, waved to the crowd, came to the sideline a few rows in front of us, and gave his shirt to a fan. And the fan was no wide-eyed kid; it was a wide-eyed woman in her 20s.

Steph and I went fishing off the shore of Diamond Head the next day. I regret to report that she caught more fish than I did (mostly trigger fish), but seeing as her job is to promote boating and fishing, I’m ok with it. Being on a boat, however, afforded a different perspective of Ohau—and we saw a whale and Molokai (the closest island to Oahu).

Steph, Margaret, and I had hoped to spend a weekend on the Big Island, but Margaret had to work one day that weekend. So instead, we hung around Oahu and had a laid back weekend.

As is Margaret’s custom, we’re hosting a party on April 27 at the Middleburg Point-to-Point Steeplechase. I think we sent the invite to everyone in the DC area, but if we neglected to include you it probably wasn’t intentional. Here’s the Evite:

Steeplechase Evite

And if you aren’t in the DC area, but want to join us anyway, we’d love to have you and have ample room for you to crash with us.

No need to bring food—Margaret prides herself on putting out a lovely spread. Actually, she prides herself on her hat, but the food is a close second.

Hope to see you there!

Ironic isn’t it? When not much was happening in Hawaii, I had ample time and inclination to blog. But our last few weeks in Hawaii, we had a lot going on and I didn’t feel like taking time away from the fun to write about it. (I’m much more likely to blog when the other option is working, which brings us to this post.)

Here’s a recap of what happened in Hawaii since my last post (which ended with me hanging out in the hotel, waiting for Carolyn and Chris to arrive while Jamie K. was off on the Big Island).

Chris and Carolyn arrived only a few hours late, but understandably exhausted. Their first day in Hawaii they relaxed at the beach and pool while I worked. But the next day we rented a Jeep Wrangler and drove around the island, watching 30-foot waves crash on the North Shore (the picture doesn’t do it justice—the bartender at our hotel, an avid surfer, said the waves were as high as they’d be all year).

We also went snorkeling at the previously mentioned Hanauma Bay, which was my favorite activity in Hawaii.

Later on in their stay, Chris and I took surfing lessons. It was surprisingly easy to get up on the board, but it was also exhausting. By the end of our two-hour lesson Chris and I were content to float on our boards rather than have to paddle ourselves back out for another run.

On Valentine’s Day Margaret was off in Midway, 1,100 miles further west of Oahu. Carolyn and Chris invited me to dinner with them, but I didn’t feel like being the third wheel. Plus, I reckoned with Margaret gone, I could have that special Valentine’s Day dinner I’d never be able to have if she were present: Denny’s Moons Over My Hammy®.

Margaret returned the next day as did Jamie. The following Saturday the five of us hiked to Manoa Falls.

After hiking Jamie and I climbed the Aloha Tower. Docked next to it was Paul Allen’s dinghy.

It’s named Octopus and is one of the world’s largest private yachts (you can get the skinny on it at Wikipedia). To take that picture, I had to use my camera’s panoramic mode.

Steph arrived from DC mid-afternoon that day. For dinner that night the now six of us found a restaurant that served half-priced sushi after 10 p.m. (hey, it’s no less fresh than what it was serving at 9:45 p.m.).

The next day, Sunday, was gorgeous. Most of us went to Kailua Beach Park.

(That’d be Jamie floating). There, one of Margaret’s colleagues and her family were gracious enough to let us borrow their kayaks and row out to a small island bird sanctuary.

Later that evening we dropped Carolyn, Chris, and Jamie off at the airport.

I originally intended for this post to be the last one from Hawaii, but it’s gone on for too long. I’ll cover our last two weeks there (which includes my trip to the Big Island and Pearl Harbor, as well as shopping and hiking and shopping and fishing and shopping with Steph) in the next post.

My latest Gridskipper dispatch from Hawaii was posted today:

The Brady Bunch Guide to Honolulu

Gerrit and I used to watch The Brady Bunch on WLVI 56 almost nightly. I usually skipped the Hawaii episodes, however, because Vincent Price and the cursed tiki gave me the creeps.

Margaret and I will have another post here in the next day or so that details what we’ve been up to recently. Ironically, when we’re doing a lot of cool stuff, we don’t have the time to write about it. But when nothing interesting happens, blog posts abound.

This week I finally got to downtown Honolulu to visit some of the attractions.

‘Iolani Palace was interesting, especially when compared to the palaces we’ve visited in Europe.

This palace, the only one in the United States, was influenced by European ones as the Hawaiian monarchy had close ties to England (the Hawaiian flag even incorporates the Union Jack). There were also some features, however, that were distinctly Hawaiian. Probably the most interesting fact about the palace is that it had electric lights before either the White House or Buckingham Palace.

After visiting the palace, I climbed the Aloha Tower. Located on the coast of Honolulu Harbor, it used to be the largest building on Oahu, and it was hit in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Afterwards Margaret and I went to Don Ho’s for some, yes, lava flows. We then went on a self-guided walking tour of Chinatown, which we cut short when some shady characters seemed to be checking out our electronic gear.

The Pro Bowl on Sunday was enjoyable; the related events that occurred during the week, however, were miserable. That’s good—it’s a lot easier to write a funny recap of terrible activities than fun ones.

Jamie K. arrived Saturday, but left Monday morning for the Big Island to camp by himself for a few days. He’s planning to emerge from the volcano and return to Oahu later this week.

Last night Diane and Stan had us over for dinner. It was a little strange going to my seventh grade math teacher’s house, but less so than it would have been if my mother wasn’t a teacher as well, showing me that teachers do in fact have a human side (usually). We had a fantastic time: the food, wine, and conversation were great. It was also the first time we saw the sunset in Hawaii.

Carolyn and Chris are en route for a four-day stay with us, but their three-flight trip from Massachusetts got extended to four flights. Not good times. Chris just sent me a text message; they were on a plane waiting to fly from Seattle to Maui, but had no idea of its flight number.

And finally, I just received this DC weather alert:

National Weather has issued a Winter Weather Advisory until 7AM Wednesday. Cloudy with periods of freezing rain. Temperatures will remain freezing and slowly start rising after midnight. Accumulations of 1 to 2 tenths inches of ice and the AM temperatures around 35 degrees.

We’d appreciate it if our friends in DC would make sure that ice is all cleared up by the time we return in two weeks. Thanks!