The Vacation That Used Up All The Karma
It started with a gift. My parents gave Tom and I airline tickets for Christmas - first class domestic or coach outside of the US - and we were thrilled to try to pick a destination. One month after Christmas, Sam was born, so that became a new variable. Tom suggested we look at Hawaii, because we could probably get the best bang for the buck, and although I never really wanted to go there, we agreed to start the plan. Hawaii just seemed so tourist-y.
Once committed, we discovered that there was a planned optometry conference in Honolulu that we could use to defray costs. My Dad had mucho business credits from being in sales forever, so our hotel near Waikiki Beach was upgraded to a suite with access to free food! His generosity also garnered a free car upgrade. Things are looking pretty sweet so far. My folks found out that they have friends that own a condo in Maui, and although it would not be free, they would give us a good deal, and they supplied us with a huge list of restaurants that ensured we never had a subpar meal and the insider tips on the area made life very easy.
At dinner with friends discussing our trip, they reminded us that they grew up in California and knew friends and family with an ‘in’ on the islands. Through them, we contacted their old high school buddy that was the concierge at the Hilton in Maui, and he set us up for a free luau and beach scuba dive to look for sea turtles. One of their dads worked for Kraft and set up a large company golf tournament every year at Kapalua Bay in Maui, and that contact with the pro gave us a free day of golf with free clubs, cart, the whole shebang! Uncomfortably, a local that played with us who worked as a tourist activity sales director said the only problem with Kapalua was how long it took to get a tee time. I think he said it took him three months. I reeallly didn’t want him to ask, but he did, and I said we called yesterday. It’s not what you know . . .
The only perceived down side was Sam. We just weren’t going to take him with us, and I weaned him at 5 months so my Mom and sister could take care of him. Again, things were easy, because after I had returned to work, I couldn’t keep up the breastfeeding and had to supplement his bottles. The transition was good for both of us. He was also the right child to handle it, because he was happy and loved everyone. We never could have pulled that off on Molly. Lord, she still wouldn’t be over it.
Let’s tally the karma: free airline tickets, tax write off, free luau, free scuba dive, upgraded hotels and cars, free golf, and the hospitality of others. Plus a happy baby. Good karma, stars aligned, smiles from the heavens - whatever guided us was definitely on our side.
Kelly Spetalnick 7.1.20
A MEMORABLE FAMILY VACATION TO HAWAII
As a family, we have been blessed to visit many cool places. I choose to write about our trip to Hawaii today.
In 2003, we went to Hawaii. It is kind of hard to plan a trip to Hawaii,i I found when I read through Fodor’s, because the names of most places are quite different from names we are used to in the other 49 states and they all have lots of a’s and I’s and o’s and u’s, all of which are separated by lots of apostrophes. So, it is hard to keep track of. First stop was going to be Waikiki because it has to be and that is easy to remember.
We packed up swimsuits, snorkeling equipment from Target, sunscreen and lots shorts and tee shirts and headed west. It takes a long time to get there, so that when we arrived, we had had major jet lag. We checked into the Hilton and then headed straight to the beach.
We explored Honolulu the next day and found that there is a park and an arena and a few other things named after Neal S. Blaisdell, who was the mayor of Honolulu from 1955 to 1969. In case you don’t know, that is my mother’s maiden name and Blais’s middle name. I need to have my sister do the genealogy work on that one. We also took our snorkeling stuff to Diamond Head, which was so crowded that the snorkeling was not so much fun and there wasn’t much room to put our towels, but it is a very cool landmark.
While we were in Honolulu, we also took a trip to Pearl Harbor. We learned a lot about WWII in the museums, but the most solemn and poignant time was when we visited the museum over the USS Arizona. No one speaks, recalling what they learned about that awful day that would go down in infamy. It is a very solemn thing to be standing above a graveyard.
After spending a few days in the Honolulu area, we headed to the North Shore on the other side of Oahu to stay near the Polynesian Cultural Center. The center is run by the Church of LDS, as they have a very large presence in the Polynesian Islands. We learned from my brother in law that the Mormon Church had a hotel right outside the Center and it was reasonably priced. We shall refer to it as The Pink Hotel. We arrived at The Pink Hotel and Duffy got out to check in. He took a while and then came back and said, “I’m not sure you are going to like it.” “Show me,” I said. We went by a pool that had green, not in a good way, water, and trash cans filled to overflowing. He took me to our room. We had two saggy, queen beds, a formica table attached to the wall for eating at and for ants to travel back and forth across with whatever it was they were taking back to their nest, wherever that was, a dripping noisy AC window unit and no view. So, I say to Duffy, “Don’t unpack the car yet.” Duffy got in the car and drove back the way we came while the kids and I waited at the pool…more time to check out the algae in the water. He returned to say there was nothing back the way we came. They hotel manager had told us of a place to eat, so I suggested we just go eat first and see if there was anything in that direction. Of course, as we drove down the highway, my eyes wandered over to the water. I noticed a large piece of property with lots of palm trees behind a stucco or seashell or whatever it was wall. Then, to my delight, appeared a sign stating Turtle Bay Resort. Oh, yes, Duffy, let’s just go down this long road and check this out. It was majestic and made of granite that was reflecting the sunset in a beautiful way. The check-in counter was open air and the breeze off the water was more than refreshing. The manager asked if we would like to see a room and of course, I said yes. The rooms looked out over the Pacific and did I mention the sun was setting and reflecting off the highly polished granite floors. The beds were luxurious, kids were having a grand time in one of 3 pools. People were learning to surf below our window. “We’ll take it.”
The hotel had just been renovated and reopened, so the room was unbelievably well priced. We hit the jackpot. It was a wonderful place to stay and as an aside, we went there for a few days again when we flew back from Japan for a layover. Another story another time.
The Polynesian Cultural Center was very interesting. We learned about six south Pacific islands from the native Polynesians, who were students at BYU Hawaii, and we experienced a luau and performance called “Ha: Breath of Life” with hula and fireknife dancing.
We left the Turtle Bay Resort and headed back to Wakiki. On the way we stopped at the Dole Pineapple plantation on the north part of the island. We took a hike which was right of Jurassic Park. We were supposed to be able to see waterfalls, but it was way too misty. Misty and jungly and we thought we would hear the dinosaurs roar at any time. It was beautiful but disappointing not to see the famous Hawaiian waterfalls.
We flew that afternoon into Hilo on the Big Island and drove to the Kilauea Lodge where we were staying. They had an overflow of people so we stayed in a wonderful small house in the mountains there with a huge deck and Jacuzzi with clear starlit nights. It was so dark and the stars so bright. The first day, we walked the rim of the inactive volcano and then through the center of it, which was a long, hot walk. During the rim walk, Robert got ahead of us. He called out in panic and we ran to see him hanging from a tree root over the side of the volcano. We panicked but as we got closer, we saw he was standing on a small ledge. We grabbed him and brought him back to safety. Years later, we have learned that it was all staged, but at the time, we were certainly panicked.
That evening, we went out to the active lava field to take a guided walk. As we drove to the field, we drove between two large piles of lava on either side of the road. The lava almost reached the numbers on the speed limit sign. Blais asked how in the world the lava managed to skip the road and just flow on either side of it. Uh…. Blais….. We walked through the lava field and could see the lava flowing underneath the hardened pumice. The pumice is very sharp and pointed, so we had to pick our way through. As it got darker, the flowing lava appeared redder and redder underneath our feet. We went to the edge of the field and to see where the lava falls into the ocean making a huge plume of steam. The lava is growing the island. I think this part of Hawaii is no longer accessible as there was a huge lava flow several months or maybe a year ago and people who lived there had to flee for their lives, leaving their houses and the jungle to be consumed.
We moved from the Kilauea Volcano to Kona and stayed in a very cool house which was one big screened porch with rattan curtains for privacy. It was built on a rock so there was a lower part and a higher part. Blais and Robert slept on the higher part and Duffy and I on the lower, that is until Robert became so frightened of what he could hear all night outside the screened porch. I think it was wild boars and iguanas and whatever else. So then, Duffy and Blais slept on the higher part and Robert and I slept on the lower part. There was an outdoor toilet and outdoor shower and a pool made of slate that was in a jungle setting. Beautiful. Near there was Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. It had abundant sea wildlife, including sea turtles which I love, and I think legend has it that it offered sanctuary to a young prince who was fleeing for his life, but I don’t remember the full story. Near there was also a black sand beach and a great place for snorkeling and swimming. Duffy wanted to take the kids way out to swim with some wild dolphins that were swimming with an older couple. I nixed that of course. Too far. Too unpredictable. My nephew had swum with dolphins once and they were butting him to find out where he fit on the hierarchy of sea animals. Nope. Nada. Not happening. It was also about this time that Robert decided he did not like salt, sand or sun. I think the sun had baked the salt water on his skin one too many times for his liking and he was ready to swim in that gorgeous pool. Duffy’s patience was wearing a little thin by then but hey, I can swim in a beautiful, jungly, slate pool!!
The last day, we stopped on the way to the airport to see cliff divers. Except Robert was done, fried, a pill refusing to hike anymore. Duffy’s patience wore very thin at that, but, we had a hamburger instead, drove to the airport with plenty of time to spare and flew home.
It was such a fun vacation. Hawaii is beautiful. I cherish the memories.
Robin
July 1, 2020
Hi kids.......Emily, Robin, Kelly and I are staying in touch regularly during this pandemic, and we also set small weekly challenges for ourselves, just to amuse ourselves, to get to know each other more deeply, and to free our minds of anxieties for a awhile. This week we are writing, in a letter format, about a vacation. My letter goes out to you kids, but I hope my BFFs will like it too.
No comments:
Post a Comment