One of my joyful responsibilities on our trips, as it is at home, includes fetching breakfast. It’s one last thing JD has to worry about and I find pleasure in knowing that’s the case. Fortunately, we have a Starbucks below our room. What do you think of my new cuffee design? Maybe when we settle down for a few months, I'll start selling them - along with some other items I've been working on - in an Etsy shop. :)
This morning, JD had to leave early because the roads near the hotel would be blocked off for the annual Aloha Festivals Floral Parade. I, on the other hand, simply had to enjoy the festivities without my sweet husband. I took tons of video footage, enabling JD to kind of experience the event with me. I hated that he missed it.
When the first band started playing, it took me back to the Auburn football games (even though I only went to a few) and it brought wonderful memories along with the fight songs.
Aloha for Bikes
The
representatives were most certainly the liveliest of the groups. They clapped, yelled and danced around each other with Energizer Bunny stamina.
One of my favorite parts of the parade: floral-embellished old school Volkswagens.
Most of the floats were carried by 18-wheelers. I've been to quite a few parades in my lifetime, but I must admit that I've never seen anything like this. It's a pretty smart idea. Most of the people on the trailers were having mini-luaus.
The princesses of Hawaii left me a bit bewildered because when I went to research about them, most of the sites I visited said that the last princess ruled in the late 1800s. Does anyone know what the role of being a princess in Hawaii entitles?
These aren't just cute wagons... They serve as fancy waste baskets for the stinky gifts the horses left behind. The wagons are judged and tallied with the scores for the various groups' floats.
THIS is the "Largest Aloha Shirt" created.
After the parade and some early Christmas shopping around at the Village, JD made it home and we left for dinner at Shorebirds with a few high school friends of mine.
Lindsay and her husband Kent live on Oahu, as Kent is stationed there for the Navy. Luke, the brother of Kent who has been a friend of mine since elementary school, was visiting Kent and Lindsay the same time we were there so it was nice to catch up with all of them, and to introduce them to JD. Lindsay has a fantastic blog that you should check out at Tails to Tell. She also has an Etsy store filled with some sweet crocheted goodness and lovely paintings.
Shorebirds was a definite favorite of the restaurants for us in Honolulu. They bring you your choice of raw meat to the table and you grill it yourself. The guys stood at the blazing hot table grill inside while Lindsay and I chatted on the porch with the view of the beach. It was much cooler out there! The salad bar had some great choices as well. This is also a recommended restaurant from yours truly if you venture to the island.
Though Lindsay and I weren't very close during school (due to age difference), I have always admired her classiness and her kindness to everyone around her. God truly blessed our time together and I was grateful to reconnect with such a wonderful lady!
