A Room with a View

First, we've been taught to spell Hawai'i wrong our entire lives. The way we mainlanders spell it is without the apostrophe. No, I ain't a native but I'm making it a point to spell it the way the natives spell it. Get with the program mainland public school. Yeah, there was a pun there....

Remember I mentioned that having a husband who travels often has perks? I wasn't kidding. He travels so often for such long periods of time that he generally stays in a pricier hotel. Makes sense to have a kitchenette or fridge and microwave when you're gone for so long. His favorite place to stay is a Marriot hotel. He is an "Elite" member because he stays so often. He earns points for each stay as well. It's nice to have if there's a last minute trip either of us have to take off for whatever reason. Y'all know I don't leave the man cubs much but I used his upgrade in Nashville when I went to the Avon Repfest 2 years ago. ;) Anyway, Paul asked to upgrade our room when we checked in. They gave us a room with an ocean view. SO BEAUTIFUL! As far as the hotel amenities, there's a gym, 2 pools, a bunch of shops, restaurants, and 2 open courtyards in the middle of each tower of the hotel. You can feel the breeze within the courtyards. Amazing.

To recap our Sunday excursion, we drove around O'ahu island. That takes roughly 3 hours because the speed limit is 35 the entire way around. The scenery is phenomenal. The trees---I love trees. And chickens are wild here. Yes, WILD. We saw countless roosters and his hens following him along the road. Not a house in sight either. I laughed a little because I thought of Nolan in particular. Our man cubs all love our chickens but Nolan is more of an animal whisperer than the other boys. He'd probably have the rooster tame in a matter of minutes. And, funny thing, I keep singing the songs from Moana in my head everywhere we go here. What can I say except you're welcome......Yes, you're welcome. I hope you sing that ALL DAY!
The majority of the island drive is along the coastline. We saw so many rock formations--reminded me of Sunset Cliffs in San Diego. There's a dormant volcano on this island. Lots of volcanic rock is used throughout the park and stare areas. Park and stare is my term for the places to park, get out, and take pictures. The water is BLUE. The waves are huge. And from what I could see, the beaches and water are CLEAN except for the fish peeing in it...ALL DAY. Another Moana pun. Seriously, y'all better appreciate the Moana puns.

Paul took me to his favorite Shrimp truck spot to eat. So good! We had Shrimp Scampi with rice and lemon, and Spicy Shrimp with rice and lemon. BBQ corn Baja style which is basically Mexican style Elotes. Yum! The shops around the shrimp truck were colorful. I'm inspired by all the handmade items. Can I haz them all please and spank you? We did stop at one shop on the way back to the hotel that had handmade shell chandeliers, conch shells, and jewelry. I didn't get the big conch shell like I wanted because I couldn't bring myself to pay $50 for it alone. I had a nostalgic moment looking at them because Granny had a conch shell we played with when we were little. We never could get it to make noise. Dad could make a pretty blowing sound with the shell. I bought one of the smaller shell chandeliers and a smaller blowing shell for $50 instead. Things are definitely pricey here but for the work they put into making their products, it's well worth it. I would rather buy from small business owners everywhere I go.

I won't get too far into the near altercation that occurred after I bought the decor I mentioned above. A local man was not happy with us for parking in a place we weren't supposed to park in. We weren't aware we weren't allowed to park there, but the guy was not forgiving in our ignorance nonetheless. He called us several choice words and "privileged" which was far more offensive than the other things he called us. We may be white, but we don't believe ourselves to be better than any other race, or person for that matter. We could lose everything just as easy as another person could gain everything they've ever wished for. We all bleed the same people. Be humble and kind. After that stop we came back to the hotel and passed out. After 21 hours of travel and sightseeing, we were beyond exhausted.

When David and I went on walkabout yesterday morning, we explored the shops in the hotel. I discovered a gem next to Starbucks that was entirely hand quilted items. Every stitch was by hand. The owner of the shop told me this, but I could see before picking up any of her items that the stitching was by hand. My great grandmother hand stitched every quilt and piece of clothing she ever made. I'm pretty sure that woman didn't even own a sewing machine. I can see the difference between a machine sewn item and hand stitched one easily. I felt so nostalgic being in that shop. I insisted that the shop owner tell her suppliers how beautiful their work was. I didn't buy anything. Kinda wanted one of everything. Ha! My bank account wouldn't allow it (this time).

The highlight of David's day (and the absolute amusement of mine), was during our walkabout through the hotel. David got hungry. He does this little head banging thing on my chest when he's in the Moby wrap and drools, and it gets obnoxious real quick so I don't allow him to go too long searching for a nipple. We found a rocking chair in one of the hotel courtyards and got comfy. As he's nursing, I made eye contact with a man walking through the courtyard. He smiled, realizing I was holding a baby. I looked back down at David, and realized the man was walking towards us. He stopped next to the chair and leaned down to look at David. He did not care whatsoever that I was nursing or uncovered. Nope, I don't cover. I have a system of nursing where most people don't realize I'm doing it. I know this because I've been told so and I have 4 kids so the experience perk is there. Anyway, the man didn't care whatsoever. He kept smiling at David and was asking me questions. He didn't speak English at all, but he understood my answers. He gestured through most of his questions so I knew what he was asking.
After a few minutes, the man took a seat across from me. I finished feeding David so he stood up and came back to talk to him. The man was clearly looking for someone because he kept looking around himself several times throughout his fun with David. I was concerned at one point because of his age, if he knew where he was. His granddaughter showed up soon after I began watching him to make sure he didn't wander off anywhere. Turns out, they're Japanese. I thought so but I asked her to be sure. I learned that the man is 89 years old and the YOUNGEST of 14 kids. Y'all, I have 4. I'm good. Seriously. Also, the oldest of the remaining 6 siblings is 102 years old! WOW! David was absolutely infatuated with this man. In the past couple days, David has started smiling and cooing a lot. He made more conversation with the old man than he does with me! It was beautiful. I almost asked for a picture of them with David. Wish I had now.

There are plenty of things to see in Waikiki, one of which is a zoo down the road. Yeah, a zoo! It's tiny from what we could see as we drove by but it's a zoo! There are several parks. Mostly full of plants and trees I've never seen before, places to throw down a blanket and picnic. The trees are something out of The Lion King. Good climbing trees. I took pictures. No clue what they're called, but I will find out before I leave.
The beach is awesome. Living near or in San Diego for the last 9 years has put me in the mindset of a beach being "eh." You get accustomed to having something nearby for so long and you take it for granted. Don't get me wrong, the ocean is beautiful, but knowing the amount of pollution within it directly surrounding the coasts of our nation is off putting.
The beach we walked on last night felt so different from the ones in San Diego. The sand felt different. I know, weird of me to notice the sand felt different. It felt softer. It didn't burn our feet--the temperature was low to mid 70s here yesterday. The ocean itself is bluer here. No filters on any of my pictures whatsoever. I don't generally use filters anyway, but these pictures I've taken don't need a filter at all.

Speaking of walkabout, Paul took me to Cheeseburger Waikiki last night. This is one of his favorite spots to eat and get drinks. He has a favorite bartender as well. His name is Roman. We were both hoping to see him last night but he was off. I guess when you stay in a place for so long, you develop relationships with the locals. I keep teasing him that he has a man crush on Roman. Turns out Roman makes some pretty good drinks.
Anyway, these burgers are huge and delicious! I ordered the "It's All Good" cheeseburger plus a fried egg. I ate the whole thing, plus my fries, and we shared a plate of Kahlua fries. Y'all, these fries.....I need a drooling emoji. I have never had a better appetizer! Kahlua pork, cheese, green onions, and BBQ sauce topped the seasoned fries. Wonder if they deliver to the hotel....I want another plate of that. Nursing moms can put the food away, lemme tell ya.
Oh, and the drinks we had were awesome as well. I don't drink often. I'm a wine person. A glass of wine after a rough day or simply social is about as far as I go with alcohol anymore. But after the raving Paul has done about the drinks he's gotten from this place, I had to try some. The first was a Sunburn drink. The description was hilarious. When we go back, I'll have to take a picture and add it to this post. I laughed at it. The drink itself had a great flavor but it wasn't strong enough. I don't play games when it comes to drinks. I'm one of the weirdos that likes the taste of alcohol. I know, I'm weird. This is a big reason why I don't drink often. I can drink too much far too fast because I don't mind the aftertaste of alcohol. This is why I stick with wine.
Anyway, I asked for a second drink. This time was Maui Thyme Lemonade (DELICIOUS). But I told the waitress to ask the bartender for a stronger liquor. I don't like Vodka and most mixed drinks in restaurants have Vodka in them. I'm not a fan and it's never strong enough. She came back with the requested drink and 151 Rum in it. If you don't know what that is, let's just say it is not for first time drinkers. Don't do it. Take my advice, seasoned drinkers only. Even seasoned drinkers know better than to wrestle with 151.

On our walkabout back to the hotel last night, we stopped at a few shops. There are moments you're thankful that your bank account won't allow you to spend much or any money and there are other times that you're cursing your bank account for being mature and telling you no. Seriously, it's a real thing. The handmade products in the malls here are phenomenal works of art. I should have taken pictures. I may have to ask Paul to take me back to the ones we stopped in so I can take pictures.
We saw blown glass artwork, jewelry made from shells, Abalone, pearls, coconut fibers--handmade wooden decor and ornaments, and jeweled animal figurines. Gorgeous. You ask yourself if you can have all of it because of how beautiful everything is. We stopped at another hand quilt shop too. Beautiful, beautiful work. Inspiring! Kinda makes me want to do more handmade items as well. I hand embroider. I love it. I should have the patience to hand quilt too, right? ;)

Between Sunday and Monday, we enjoyed some good food, drinks, a beautiful drive of the island, put our toes in the sand, and quiet! Don't get me wrong I love all my man cubs but they are truly overwhelming sometimes. It's much easier with one man cub that isn't mobile. Juuuuust sayin.....This is Paul's birthday week by the way so having some time with him after he missed everyone's birthdays and our anniversary last year during deployment is a bigger deal than normal. He's gonna be 30 FYI :) Make sure you blow up his phone this Friday. If he doesn't answer, don't worry, he's at work. Blow it up with well wishing texts anyway. ;)