Luau: Immediately after Megan got off the plane, Gary offered us the chance to go to a Luau. Karen had asked me the week before, and although I was interested I had said probably not because Luau's are really expensive. Gary however, has gone to this particular Luau so many times that he gets an excellent discount. Megan and I jumped at the opportunity (when were we going to get an opportunity like this again?!) and went. It was so much fun! It was totally touristy, totally cliche and cheesy, but it was a giant party with amazing food! I have to admit, I am becoming more aware of things since my time at S.I.T. and I was more analytical of what type of people were in attendance, how they acted, what cultural things were represented and just how they were represented... but it was still a great time!
Pearl Harbor & the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial: Since arriving here in Hawaii, I've learned (not right away, but over time) that people here don't refer to the memorial in Pearl Harbor as "Pearl Harbor" as the rest of the world does, but rather the "U.S.S. Arizona Memorial" as it properly should be called because that is what it is. Megan and I went down there first thing in the morning because it is first come, first served for tickets to the memorial (it is a free attraction, but seats on the boat to the memorial are limited). Even though we arrived at 8:00am, we ended up with the last two tickets on the 10:00am boat, so we walked around the park taking pictures with old boats, missiles, guns, subs, etc, and watched the 25 min documentary provided. It was really surreal, but I was a little annoyed at how touristy the place felt... I know I was a tourist, too, but I wanted to feel the realness of what had happened there, but it felt more like an amusement park.
When we finally got on the boat and went to the memorial, it was well worth it. The memorial still had a bit of touristy feel, but it was easier for me to block that out and focus on what the memorial stood for. I was in awe for everything and was having a hard time wrapping my head around what happened there 69 years ago. I highly recommend this experience to anyone interested in history.
Swap Meet: Okay, so I've been to the swap meet a couple times before, but Megan never has! And the swap meet is an awesome place to get beach dresses and Hawaiian souvenirs, so I took her there for the experience and to shop! We made away like bandits, only with lighter wallets. I'm really glad I got to have that experience with Megan... it made me realize just how much I miss my friends, and it made me happy because I was having a "just hanging out with a friend" moment even though we were in Hawaii. :) I also got a couple of really cute dresses (as did Megan)!
Dole Plantation: After driving around looking for the correct exit (we were not lost, I knew where we were the whole time, but was just having a hard time getting turned around to go in the right direction on the freeway), we finally made it to the Dole Plantation! It wasn't as big of a deal as I was hoping, but it was still fun. We got to take a ride on the "Pineapple Express" (I kid you not, that is what it is really called) around the fields of pineapple, bananas, coffee, and other flowers. We thought about completing the "Pineapple Maze" (the largest maze in the world), but figured if we wanted to get to dinner at a decent hour, beat the "parking lot" (the H1 during rush-hour), and save some money we'd pass on doing the maze. We did have some yummy pineapple and pineapple soft-serve ice-cream, though!
La Mariana: La Mariana Sailing Club is an amazing little out-of-the-way restaurant located in Honolulu's industrial area. It's one of those "if you don't know where it's at you'll never find it" type of places. Gary and Karen had taken me there once before (so I knew where to find it) and had told me about how Anthony Bourdaine's show "No reservations" came and did a piece on this restaurant. They call this place "the last original tiki bar" so of course I had to take Megan! I also loved the food and drink the first time I went so I figured it'd be a great place for dinner after such a whirl-wind of a day! I was right... the food, atmosphere, view, EVERYTHING was amazing! If you are ever in Hawaii, I highly suggest hunting down this restaurant and grabbing a bite (plus - it's got an amazing story, too)!
Movie Night: After our long day exploring, we headed back to Gary & Karen's (our amazing hosts) to relax. Once there, we were asked if we wanted to watch this movie called "The Ride" that Gary had seen on his last Hawaiian Airlines flight. It's a story about Duke, the famous Hawaiian surfer... only with a twist. It was a pretty cheesy movie, but it was really good too! It was the perfect topper to Megan and I's whirl-wind 24 hours in Hawaii. It also set up the precedent for when I took Megan to Waikiki and Duke's restaurant later during her stay (more on that in a future post).
It was an AMAZING day(s)!!!
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