Day Four

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How is it that I am consistently the last person to go to bed and the first person to wake up in this house? It's 10:30 Hawaii time and everyone is asleep after a long and grueling day of...yes, shopping!

We returned to the Aloha market mid-morning today to finish exploring. Grandma also wanted an opportunity to enjoy the market since she wasn't able to come with us on Saturday (she wasn't feeling well so we left her propped up at the beach house with a newspaper and a good view of the surf).

I won't bore you with more of the same since I described the market yesterday, but I will say that traversing the stadium and seeing most of the 700 vendors with an old lady in a wheelchair is an adventure in itself. The crowds of shoppers and tourists parted like the Red Sea when they saw her coming, and the merchants were immediately and unfailingly gracious and attentive when I wheeled her up to their booths. I told Grandma that I plan on taking her with me anytime I travel or shop for the foreseeable future just so I can enjoy the peripheral perks of being accompanied by a senior citizen.

We all bought more aloha shirts, board shorts, bags, jewelry, and trinkets. I purchased two more of the cool tie-dyed pants from the same merchant I visited yesterday. Mason has an affinity for knives (which is sometimes troubling, because he also has an affinity for slasher films and horror movies, ha ha) so he talked us into buying a few daggers with ornately decorated sheaths for his birthday. And yes, we finally gave in and bought two extra suitcases ($20 each at the market) to bring back all the assorted and sundry loot from our shopping expeditions.

I was footsore by the end of the day, but a little pain was definitely worth all of the fun we had today. Tina and Mason both got sunburned, while I was relatively unscathed, except for the tips of my ears, which stick out and as a result got singed. Who knew that you had to apply sunscreen to your ears? I sank my feet into some cool, moist sand when we got home (which feels absolutely delightful after you've been on your feet all day -- I highly recommend it!), then prepared a dinner of oven fried chicken with Ozark seasoning, garlic mashed potatoes, and fresh greens.

Tomorrow we're going to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Grandma is old enough to remember Pearl Harbor so this part of the trip will be especially meaningful for her. We'll be leaving Ewalani early to avoid the crowds (the memorial receives as may as 4,500 visitors a day), so I'd best wrap this up and get to bed. I'd also like to see Waikiki Beach and the Alamoana mall in the afternoon if my traveling companions are feeling up to it.

Good night everyone! And thank you for all the kind public and private comments about the blog, I appreciate all of them! 😊

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Photos

Aloha Market
Gili, the guy who sells the tie-dyed pants

Aloha Market
Disclaimer: I was not a party to the taking of this photograph. The photograph was entirely Grandma's idea (note the top of her head in the foreground) and my only involvement was to facilitate posting of said photograph on the internet.

Comments

[Denise]

yay shopping!
I can hear Grandma Rose now..."handsome tan fella at 11 o'clock...quick with the camera!" I am glad you are having a good time, and doing exactly what I would be doing: SHOPPING! Try some interesting food for me, and yes, you must put sunscreen on your ears. LOL They are terribly hard to scratch if they get burnt and peel! Do be cautious of sand on sunburned skin, tho...abrasives do not make the healing process any more pleasant... :) Keep having fun!