Aloha

Hawaii
The only place on earth that smells of pikake and plumeria flowers. Their scent lingers in the air and flows down the beach along with the waves. Honolulu is probably one of the only cities that it is acceptable to walk into a store without a shirt and shoes. A place where you will stand on a street corner with a man in a suit and probably a man with a surf board.

They have their own language. All words start with K and it is hard for the out of towner to get used to, but since the life style is so laid back you soon learn it doesn’t make much difference if you go to the wrong street or town for that matter, it will be awesome where ever you go. They are on “Hawaiin” time. A schedule all their own.  They speak a different language. You hang loose, hang low, hang tight and chill. Bleached hair tanned skin and general coolness is a way of life.

It’s a place where you eat coconut syrup in the morning on your pancakes and drink your coffee on a pierre…all the while watching the locals bring in their catch.  You drink mai tais with your salmon for dinner.

It’s a place where chickens sometimes roam free. And the pigeons look like chickens. (We called them pickens)

It’s a place where worries fade. A place that brings perspective to the rest of your life…that in the grand scheme of things, the memories that are made here…. are the important ones.

We arrived at night and promptly checked Into the condo, walked across the street, got a sandwich, ate and went to bed. It wasn’t even 8:00 at that time. But were on vacation so felt it was appropriate to sleep as much as we wanted. And of course…in true Stacey style…woke at 3am. For the next five days.

It was raining a bit the first couple days, but warm rain as compared to snow, really it’s something that doesn’t slow us down. We spent the first day just kind of exploring. There is always a lot to take in when you are in a new place. The smell was almost overwhelming to me. Most seaside towns, especially big ones and ones with marinas surrounding them, smell of fish. Hawaii….has then most beautiful fragrance in the air, it is honestly worth the trip just to smell it.
We were close to a little marina, we walked around it several times when we were there, and found out later on the trip that it was the same marina where Gilligan and his crew started their three hour tour.

Later in the afternoon we thought it would be nice to get a little exercise…..so we hiked up a mountain. We hiked up Diamond Head mountain.

“The most famous volcanic crater in the world is Diamond Head, located on the South-east Coast of O’ahu at the end of Waikiki overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was originally named Laeahi by the ancient Hawaiians. The name meant “brow of the tuna” and looking at the silhouette of the crater from Waikiki, you can see the resemblance. The current name came was given to the crater by British sailors in the 1800’s. When they first saw the crater at a great distance, the calcite crystals in the lava rock appeared to glimmer in the sunlight. The sailors mistakenly thought there must be diamonds in the soil. Diamond Head is a crater that has been extinct for 150,000 years. The crater is 3,520 feet in diameter with a 760-foot summit. When the United States annexed Hawaii in 1898, harbor defense became a main responsibility. One of the major defense forts, Fort Ruger, occupied the Diamond Head Crater. A battery of canons was located within the crater providing complete concealment and protection from invading enemies. An observation deck was constructed at the summit in 1910 to provide target sighting and a four level underground complex was built within the walls of the crater as a command post. A 580-foot tunnel was dug through the crater wall to provide easier access to the Fort.”

We try to take public transportation or walk as much as possible on vacations, as to keep costs lower. The bus dropped us off at the bottom of a hill and told us to follow the road to the Fort Ruger. Not until you reach the summit do you see that you’ve just walked into the center of a crater.

When you get to the top you can see two sides of the island. One side of the city. One side…part of the crater you just climbed. The wind blows hard there, as it should on any mountain top. But it’s a refreshing wind. Salt and sand get in your hair, but it just doesn’t matter. There is a light house below and waves crashing hard against it. It was an amazing view. I try to make it come alive in pictures, but nothing beats seeing things like that in person.