SeaTac Airport's relatively new Terminal A is nice. I was irritated by wi-fi problems, but impressed by all the shops, cafés, power outlets, and comfy chairs and benches. Wow! Long, flat, padded benches... perfect for sleeping during a long layover. I've never seen such a thing. I'm sure in my pre-9/11 youth they created all those awkward rows of chairs with armrest dividers to prevent transients from sleeping in the airport... for better or worse, that's not an issue in today's permanently secured areas. And the guy ahead of me in line at the x-ray had to throw away his tube [View Full Entry]

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My Timbuk2 tote bag (highly, highly recommended as a travel tote) still smells like the beach. Mmmm. I've still got a backlog of Hawai'i stubs to be written and published, so do stay tuned.... [View Full Entry]

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Today the folks headed out to other islands. They'll continue on in Kaua'i, Maui and the Big Island for another week. We all suited up and devoted our morning to "better beach": pails, chairs, umbrellas, towels, boogie boards, and not really enough sunscreen. We Continentals have to make a conscious effort not to need to be running off to do the next thing, but it was well worth it! We spent a good several hours with the surf and sand. Of course, there was a next thing to run off to eventually, and a next thing after that. The owners of [View Full Entry]

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Must resist corny post title... must... resist... argh, can't resist. Sorry, y'all. Today we visited the USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor. We left extra-early to avoid the scary crowds we had read about, but it's the off-season and we had nothing to worry about. (In fact we've had plenty of elbow room at all the tourist sites we've visited so far. This is a great time to be here!) I found the Visitor Center to be simple and understated, and I couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or an indictment of the Bush Administration's [View Full Entry]

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I felt like a lot of Sunday was wasted shopping and navigating Honolulu, and today ended up being similar. Some people look forward to shopping while on vacation. Not me! The owners' literature at the house said that they also own Bad Ass Coffee Company, located in the Aloha Tower Marketplace downtown. The house was stocked with badass Bad Ass goodies, like Kona coffee and pineapple-coconut pancake mix. The 15% discount sounded good, and we liked the idea of throwing the owners some extra business. We made a special trip to the Tower, and had already established significant rapport wit [View Full Entry]

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The Polynesian Cultural Center in Lā'ie is a complicated and totally postmodern experience. Out of the four major lū'aus on O'ahu, the PCC's seemed like a no-brainer. It's not the cheapest, but it isn't the most expensive either, and for the price you get a full day at a 42-acre living museum, a buffet and dinner show, and an evening auditorium show. They showcase six distinct Polynesian cultures in addition to Hawai'ian. When I was a kid, some friends of mine studied Polynesian dance, including Tahitian and Tongan, so I knew this was something I wanted to see and share [View Full Entry]

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Golf day! Today Greg and I got up early and headed to Olomana Golf Links for our 7:40 tee time. I was extremely apprehensive since I haven't touched a golf club in about three months and my knee is acting up lately. We made a pact in advance to ignore our scores and concentrate on the amazing experience of golf in Hawai'i no matter how play goes. This was, of course, a good idea. Objectively, we really didn't need it; I played quite well enough considering the aforementioned circumstances, and I think Greg plays pretty well, period. Bu [View Full Entry]

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According to Wikipedia, Waimānalo is Hawai'ian for "potable water". I can confirm that the tap water here is not only potable, but tasty. We're refilling our store-bought bottles. (If you're still seeing "Waim 257 nalo" for the location of this post, that's my fault for getting cute with the "ā" when I added the location to the database. Fix-request is in.) This town is absolutely the perfect place for us to stay. It's tiny, quiet, and out of the way. We've got public beach access about 100 yards from our front door. The beach itself, about 200 yards further, is a [View Full Entry]

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We arrived at the [url=http://www.beachhousehawaii.com/beachhousehawaii_c/index.cfm?fuseaction=sitecontent.default&objectID=323]Sea Breeze beach house after dark on Saturday night, having discovered why it takes 45 minutes to go less than 20 miles. It's a small island and they're all residential roads. The house is simply amazing. We initially couldn't find the third bedroom (honestly, how hard should it be to find a bedroom?) but discovered that it's a semi-detached master suite with separate entrance, private bath, private lanai, and separate kitchenette... perfect for my folks. [View Full Entry]

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It's almost embarrassing the gadgetry I'm taking with me to O'ahu: *Cell phone *Phone charger *iPod *Headphones *iPod cable *Digital camera *Mini GPS *Camera/GPS USB cable *Camera battery charger *CompactFlash cards *Mini tripod *Laptop *Laptop power cord *Wireless mouse (Plus Laura's portable DVD) Good thing we've got a house for the week; no need to travel light. Hope TSA agrees with me. [View Full Entry]

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