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Published: April 13th 2008
Today was a day to feast and a day to shop!
We all slept late and awoke to welcome blue skies. It's been a bit cloudy and drizzly on and off since we arrived because of volcanic activity on the Big Island-- it causes something called
'vog'. In fact, Honolulu looked very much like Portland with palm trees when we first flew in because of the drizzle and overcast skies (we asked the captain if he'd just flown full circle and taken us back to Oregon 😊).
Anyhow, we slept late, me in particular. I usually have difficulty sleeping in any unfamiliar place for the first few days, and last night was the first night I slept soundly since arriving. I prepared a huge breakfast to fortify everyone for our shopping trip -- freshed brewed Hawaiian Kona coffee, toast with butter and coconut-guava jam, quartered oranges, pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs.
After lazing about the house for a leisurely breakfast, we left for Aloha Stadium at around 12:30. The
Aloha Swap Meet is only open from 6:00 AM - 3:00 PM so by the time we found the stadium we only had a few hours to explore (we are
so going back tomorrow).
The market is absolutely huge and the selection of merchandise eclectic -- I saw everything from cheap, kitschy tourist trinkets to hand-made Hawaiian garments and bags, rows and rows of inexpensive t-shirts (8 for $5?!), hand-carved Indonesian masks, jewelry fashioned out of whale bone and on and on.
I bought a a very cool made-in-Hawaii shoulder bag to carry all of my loot from the market, a few pairs of garish board shorts to wear around the house and at the beach, and assorted gifts for friends and family. My favorite purchase is a pair of 'chillpants' which are hand-made tie-dyed and embroidered cotton pants that are deliberately oversized. They're tied at the waist almost like a sarong and they're super lightweight and comfortable in the hot, humid weather.
We were back in Ewa Beach by 4:00 and met Dan on the way there. He did indeed grill up the promised steaks and we had our second feast of the day -- steak, potato salad, fruit salad, and salad salad. We dished up a black forest, triple layer chocolate cake for desert since Mason and Dan are both celebrating a birthday in April.
Tomorrow we're staying fairly flexible in terms of the itinerary -- we're definitely going back to the market, where we could probably easily spend an entire day, and will play it by ear otherwise.
Good night everyone!
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rinbob
non-member comment
re Honolulu
Thanks for the reminder of where we were last year, great stories and pics. We had 2 days and no car but do try Pearl Harbour (if not done so) and the USS Arizona, a credit to the USA! happy travelling bb