Mahalo!: Honolulu, HI

The Yoshida Family

The first time I visited Honolulu I was nine years old. I have vivid memories of the Polynesian Cultural Center, snorkeling in the waters off of Waikiki, going to a luau, and shopping. This time around I specifically told my good friend Mimi (she was my college roommate at Colorado School of Mines, but she ran off to Hawaii and married the TA. Now she has a cute family and is still in love… Another story, another blog), “It would be a travesty if I ended up on a tour bus with a bunch of folks from Nebraska and Texas, especially since I’m staying with a REAL Hawaiian family! I want to go where real Hawaiians go and eat what real Hawaiians eat.”

Nico's Pier 38 - Fresh Tuna

So, off we went to Nico’s for lunch. Nico’s Pier 38 is a Hawaii favorite and it was showcased on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. I like to watch DD&D, so I immediately knew that I was in for a disgustingly unhealthy, ill proportioned, and ridiculously good meal, prepared with the sole intent of making you salivate for more. Of course, I wasn’t disappointed. We sat, ate, listened to music, ate some more, and concocted a plan of action for my five days in Hawaii.

World's Largest Maze

Days one through four were filled with family outings to Waikiki, Honolulu Zoo, Turtle Bay Resort, Dole Plantation, and to Haliewa.  In between and during all of those outings, I ate a lot! I ate Poi, seafood chowder, pickled Mango, Matsumoto’s shaved ice, Zippy’s chicken and chili, and fish steamed in spinach and wrapped in Hawaiian leaves. Hawaiians are serious about their food! By day five, I figured that if I didn’t roll away from the table, someone was going to have to cut a hole in the wall and come in and get me. So, I rented a car to do some exploration on my own and that’s when things got interesting…

A Hawaiian Plate! YUM!!

Let me preface the rest of this story by saying that I’m very aware of the fact that if I die or get arrested doing something out of the ordinary, while travelling somewhere outside of the continental U.S, black folks everywhere are going to read the story in the paper, shake their heads and say, “her black ass shouldn’t have been doing that anyway.” So with that in mind, you’d have to wonder how I ended day five strapped into a plane with no engine and flying through a rainbow.

Let’s start at the beginning…

Byodoin Temple - built without nails!

My initial and sane plan was to rent a car and drive the entire perimeter of Oahu, stopping wherever I liked. I ended up visiting the Valley of the Temples (Byodoin Temple), Diamond Head Crater, Hanauma Bay, and the Halona Blowhole Lookout. As I made my way to the most western part of the island, Ka’ena Point, I saw a plane dragging (seriously, dragging!) another plane behind it with what appeared to be a double dutch rope. Then the “operational” plane dropped the rope and I stopped the car waiting for the “lame duck” plane to fall. Physics took over and the plane sailed out over the ocean and up across the natural reserve. I immediately pulled my car into the hangar at Dillingham Air Field and asked how much and where do I sign up. It seemed like such a fantastic idea until the plane landed, skidding to halt, and the lady in charge said you can go next.   

Halona Blowhole Lookout

I won’t tell you how a freak storm came out of nowhere and I had to refrain from puking on the back of the pilot’s neck. I’ll simply tell you that, hands down, this was the best ride of my life! If I had balls before coming to Hawaii, they definitely grew hair and became gnarly while strapped into this two person glider plane. The view was magnificent, the experience was fantastic and when the storm passed, we flew through a perfectly arched rainbow. This was definitely a trip to remember!

Mahalo Hawaii and thank you to the Yoshida Family, who were excellent hosts!