My Last Day in Hawaii

I never got around to posting about my last day in Hawaii and I still want to talk about it. On my last day in Hawaii I had a tour of Pearl Harbor scheduled for 7:00 am. You can not take anything to Pearl Harbor that doesn't fit in your pocket, no camera, no delicious cookies from the pineapple cookie place, no iPad to look up info. No nothing. This meant I would need to pack all my everything and get it to the hotel attendant before I left on my tour at 7:00 am. When I arrived home the evening after my adventurous bus ride to the Laie temple and sat listening to the sounds of Hawaiian music filling the air on my balcony, I knew that I had made a mistake scheduling that tour. All I really wanted to do is lay on the beach all day. So that is exactly what I did.

I woke up early to cancel my tour and wandered out to the beach to watch the day arrive. It came slowly. The lights that decorated the pier clicked off as the light that decorated the day slowly clicked on. The morning progressed from no people to joggers and walkers to hustling and bustling and I watched it all. At about 9 am, I ignored the fact that I was wearing pajamas and no bra and wandered in to the nice restaurant to enjoy the breakfast buffet. I had yogurt and musliex with mac nuts, crasins, and coconut for breakfast. Along with a few pastries, mangos, and papayas.

I went upstairs and packed my bags, took them to the porter to store and rented a chair on the beach. I spent the day there only leaving my perch to order a final round of delicious noodles from the noodle house I had come to love. It was not a sunny Hawaiian day, but instead rain fell and the breeze occasionally picked up, but somehow knowing my friends in Utah were clad in winter wear made me grateful and determined to soak up a few last rays of sunshine even if it meant they came between predominant cloud cover.

With a few hours left I checked into a hospitality room to shower and change for the plane ride home. I had a few hours to spare so I wandered into Waikiki to find the night market. I wanted to find a Hawaiian quilt to take home and someone had recommended this place to me. I wandered in and there it was, one lone kiosk of handmade Hawaiian quilts. I fell in love with a green and white one and managed to get the price down about $25 dollars. I didn't really have a plan for getting it home, but I had traveled enough to know that if there is a will there is a way. I few merchants down there was a guy selling a giant Hawaiian bag for $10, perfect! Problem solved.

I decided to walk back to the hotel along the beach to hear the waves lap against the shore one last time. As I passed all the lovely beach hotels, night was coming on and there were various performers filling the air with music. I stopped to hear one group with a large base and a ukulele. The music was incredible and the moment perfect. I thanked myself for letting go of one last tour and instead having the perfect day in Hawaii. Pearl Harbor, I'll catch you on my next time around.


Breezy day on Waikiki Beach


My Hawaiian Quilt