Aloha - day 2

Day two in Hawaii happened to be on Memorial Day. This means 2 things, 1) We felt obligated to go to Pearl Harbor to pay our respects and 2) the island was buzzing with holiday fun. We didn't end up going to Pearl Harbor, but did something very special, even more special in my mind. Here's how our crazy day unfolded:

At night the weather has been so perfect, we turn of the AC and leave the door to the balcony open, letting in the 70 degree night air. In the mornings as the sun rises, the birds sing sing SING their little hearts out and it wakes me gently. I think its the combination of letting a little bit of the outside in and the time difference here (4 hours earlier than CO, 6 from FL) that wakes me so early! I don't mind, but on this particular day, we woke, dressed, and hit the road by.... 7am!!! We didn't realize the time until we were in the car and boy, did we feel like go-getters!

Our morning plan was to get out of Waikiki and go to a more remote beach in the town of Kailua. We planned to rent kayaks and spend the moring on the water of Kailua Bay, touring the "twin" Mokulua Islands, two cone shaped, volcanic islets off of the coast. Unfortunately it turned out to be much to windy. Once we arrived in Kailua, about a 20 minute drive on the beautiful Pali Highway, we hit up a little market for breakfast called the Kalapawai Market. I love supporting local places, standing in line behind the local surfers and women with little hawaiian bebes running about, and avoiding chain places (which are SO abundant here!). I ordered a lox bagel and Geof got a breakfast burrito. Everything was so FRESH and yummy, even the homemade salsa and cream cheese spread. The Market had been around since 1932 and you could tell the customers were lifers. Check it out!

Kailua Beach was beyond lovely and there were only a handful of us there so early. We walked the long beach which was 3 miles each way, I think we walked about 4 miles that morning in the early sun and blustery trade winds. As lunch time neared, the crowds were growing and we decided to drive to the North Shore and continue our beach day. We drove through the countryside, past the many pineapple fields of Dole plantations, and hit the North Shore Memorial Day traffic just a few miles from Waimea Bay. I was starving so we took a detour and went to the North Shore Marketplace in the town of Haleiwa.

We stopped at a few of the famous shrimp trucks but were slightly disappointed in the prices ($12 per plate, a handful of shrimp and some rice, and no beer or wine?...) and we ended up at an outside table at the Breakers Cafe that served up seafood and $5 Mai Thais. Yesss please! The Marketplace had some cool local art, restauarants, and then we came across a REALLY FUN SPOT, the Ron Artis' Reserection City and the Ron Artis Family Band! Ron Artis is an artist who takes old surf boards that sacrificed their lives on the big waves of the North Shore and turns them into art. His family is a big one (11 children!) and they had an open studio that they rock out in all day, letting the public stroll through, buy some tunes and see the live sessions! Thats right, Jackson 5, meets Hindrix, meets Marley sprinkled with lots of Aloha and they were JAMMIN!

Having gone all the way to the North Shore, we had to stop at the beach for a dip and we went to the Haleiwa Ali' Beach Park. To my delight there were sea turtles swimming in the bay!!! We watched one sunning itself and I took a few photos. Then while we were in the water, they were popping their heads up just 10 feet from us, so neat! It was a perfect day in Oahu, but we still had quite the evening ahead.

Read about it soon, when I post Aloha Day 2 - ehu ahiahi – “the dust of the evening".