We awoke to rain this morning, and shortly after sunrise sailed into the port of Kona, on the western side of the big island of Hawaii.  Our ship, Pride of America, anchored in the bay since Kona doesn’t have a deep water port.  Anyone who visited the city went to shore via tenders, aka lifeboats, you see hanging from the ship.

Having originally signed up for a glass bottom boat shore excursion, we opted to stay aboard today and rest, though Kay did go ashore briefly in the afternoon.
As we have written previously, the entertainment on this ship has been\quite good.  Tonight, we listened to the cruise director sing the final installment of 3 shows featuring Broadway musicals.  His songs were from Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, and other Lerner and Lowe musicals.  A young magician/comedian performed in the main theater, and Toby Beau who sang from the Eagles greatest hits.  Toby Beau brought Angel Baby to the rock and roll world, and the song made it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  We also watched a No So New Newlywed game featuring passengers.  It was a hoot.
Kay’s Take:    Donald remarked that there were a lot of ‘old people’ who came to hear the Eagles tribute.  They were tapping their toes and clapping – and – we realized that many of them were our age!  Ha!  Oh, the power the see our selves as others see us.

I rode the tender in to Kona’s pier and walked the waterfront and wandered in and out of shops.  They all have pretty much the same thing.  There must be a vast warehouse/supplier for all stores catering to tourists.  There’s an amazing difference in prices, so one must shop carefully.  There were some cool flowers and trees in town plus a dog surfing with his owner.  It was quite humid after the rain.  I came back and read for awhile until suppertime.  We both have overdosed on food – so many selections – we’re to the point that nothing looks good anymore.  I think we’re both looking forward to our return to our spartan diet when we get home.

After cruising all night we harbored in Hilo on the east side of the big island, Hawaii, namesake of the archipelago.  The big island is known for volcanoes and black sand beaches.  Our focus today was on Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  There are three volcanoes with recent activity:  Mauna Loa at 13,677 feet, Mauna Kea at 13,796 feet, and Kilauea at 4,000 feet.  Mauna Loa, measured from its ocean base, rises over 30,000 feet making it the tallest mountain in the world.  Clouds shrouded the tops of both these volcanoes, making them invisible to us.  Kilauea, where we spent most of the afternoon, is one of the world’s most active volcanoes; the current eruption began in 1983, and no end is in sight.  While there are eruptions that explode upward, current lava flow is via lava tubes to the ocean.

The ferns are incredible on this rain forest side of the island, with some reaching over 20 feet high. 

After touring the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, we stopped at the Big Island Candy Company, famous for their chocolate covered, macadamia shortbread cookies, although they had all kids of cookies and candies.  After being on a cruise ship for several days, who could or even would think of buying food?

We’re still in Maui for one more day.  After breakfast, we caught a free shuttle to the Queen’s Shopping Center, then a public bus to Lahaina on the west side of Maui.  Including tips, our cost of transportation today was $7.  Public transportation really provides some aspect of an area’s culture, and we’ve found it to be more than adequate.  Arriving in Lahaina about 10:30 AM, we walked to view the world’s 3rd largest Banyan tree, taking up almost an acre.

The fishy smell of the boat harbor drew us there, where we observed a fresh catch of fish, and saw tourists signing up for snorkeling, surfing, boat trips, and fishing.

The beach at Lahaina is incredibly beautiful.

We did a walking tour of Lahaina’s many historic sites, and I returned to the Banyan tree while Kay shopped her way back.   Once again, we used public transportation back to the ship and a late lunch.

Tonight’s programs were equally as good as last night’s.  Once again, the cruise director sang Broadway songs, tonight was a selection from Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera.  He is very good, but missed a couple of notes on one song, and was beyond his low range on another.  The theater featured a touring group from Second City Comedy Company in Chicago, where most of the Saturday Night Live stars got their start.  The entertainment is definitely a cut above what we experienced on our previous cruise.  We also discovered that the buffet is much better and the service is faster than the restaurants requiring reservations, so we’ll begin eating our evening meals there.

Kay’s Take:  Lahaina is like an Hawaiian village of old.  It does still front the ocean and there are a lot of touristy businesses, but it is also a historical village that was the home of Hawaiian royalty for generations.  We walked about the old town and read the historical signs and toured the old areas.  The banyan tree in front of the old courthouse was incredible!  It occupies an area the size of an entire city block.  It was very peaceful there as we sat on benches and sipped a Coke.  There were many natives swimming, picnicking, surfing, and just sunning along the beaches as we drove the highway along the coast on the way to Lahaina.  We have noticed that there are also a lot of beach bums/homeless/brain-damaged druggies in each of these ‘beach’ towns.  On the bus, there was a young man with a guitar who sang his own songs he had written as we traveled to Lahaina.  I found some lovely sarongs as bathing suit cover-ups there.  We really enjoyed our ‘free day’, just moving at our pace, going and coming when we wanted  I went to the pool/hot tub area and laid out and soaked up some rays after we got back from our trip.  Donald did some computer stuff in the room.  We both chilled some.  We did learn that Oprah Winfrey has a large ranch (1000 acres + a large home) on Maui as well as Willie Nelson.  He can’t pay his taxes, but he owns a small Hawaiian town – how does that work?

Tonight we will go hear the cruise director sing some Broadway songs – he sounds even better than Robert Goulet (in his good days) and then we will go to a Second Stage comedy program after that.  We didn’t eat lunch until late so we will go light for supper tonight.  Neither of us has been impressed or really pleased with the food from NCL.  On a scale of 1-5, I’d rate it a 2.  I think the economy has affected how much help they have also because getting our drink glasses refilled is a major effort.  They remove used plates quite quickly, but refilling glasses is a low priority – probably because we’re only drinking ‘water’ and not charging another type of drink to our account.  We’re not really drinkers.  Go figure.

We sailed into Maui this morning, docking about 8 AM.  Our shore excursion today was to Haleakala National Park, site of the Haleakala crater, the rim of which is 10,023 feet above sea level.   The drive getting there was awesome as the road to the rim is considered the highest climb in the shortest distance in the US, with too many switchbacks to count.  We drove through sugar cane fields at the bottom, then ranch land, through the clouds, above the clouds, and finally to the rim.  Enroute we saw pheasants, avocado trees, macadamia nut trees, many varieties of tropical flowers, and a chukkar at the top.  After reaching the Haleakala Visitor Center at 9,740 feet, we climbed another 283 feet to near the summit at 10,023 feet.  The views were spectacular, reminding us of Kodachrome Basin in Denali National Park in Alaska.

While it seems that we’ve been on the ship for several days, this is only our 2nd day.  After long naps, we had a mediocre dinner and once again, service was less than desirable, particularly for the little things like re-filling our water glasses, bringing coffee to the table, etc.  We caught three shows which were very good.  The cruise director is a graduate of Julliard, and a former Broadway performer—from Glasgow, Montana.  He is an incredible vocalist and sang several Broadway show songs.  Our next show included several Polynesians demonstrating native dances from Hawaii, Tonga, Fiji, Tahiti, and New Zealand, and they were quite entertaining.  We ended the evening with an RCA recording artist doing a Beatles tribute.  He was just OK, but we sure enjoyed listening to Beatles songs from the 1960s and early 1970s—that was 50 years ago folks—we’re getting old!
Kay’s Take:  Those of you who have been following our travels may remember that I have agoraphobia (fear of heights).  Donald has been slowly acclimating me each trip we take.  This tour didn’t bother me at all.  Well,  I still won’t stand on the edge of a 3,000 ft. dropoff, but I think that is just good common sense!  Not even for a great picture opportunity.  Nosiree!!  Our driver and guide, Henry, was a native of Maui and he was wonderful.  So full of history, stories, and humor.  He made the 1+ hr. drive up and down very entertaining and educational.  I found out that the ‘private’ Hawaiian Island (long name and starts with an N) is owned by a family named Baldwin and they allow no visitors to the island – dedicated to preserving the natural resource that it is in its pristine & natural state.  Did you know there aren’t any snakes on any of the Hawaiian Islands?  My son would love this place! hehehehe!  They do have mongooses, though.  Funny, usually mongooses control the snake population; but they were brought to the islands to control the rat population that was damaging the sugar cane in the fields.  That didn’t work – mongooses hunt during the day/sleep at night; rats sleep during the day and hunt at night.  Never ran across each other!  Best laid plans of mice & men again!  Well, we both were exhausted and we crashed & burned this afternoon for a good long nap.  We’re going to a late dinner, then to a Broadway tunes show at 8:00 in the Mardi Gras theatre before proceeding to the Hollywood Theatre for the 9:00 production of the Polynesian Showcase.  May be a late night.  We’re thinking about renting a car tomorrow and touring Maui on our own before we sail at 5:00 for Hilo.  We’re hoping to see Lahaina and maybe Wailea and the great beaches on the south side.

We woke up early again, continuing our jet lag; we go to sleep on Hawaii/Aleutian Time, but wake up on Central Daylight Savings Time, negating a full night’s sleep.  After breakfast, we began walking along the beach only to be stopped by a light rain, spending the rest of the morning packing for the cruise portion of our trip, and suffering from a bit of Kamehameha revenge—must have been yesterday’s Denny’s breakfast .  We caught the shuttle at 12 Noon, arriving at the ship about 1 PM  and completing the boarding process in 35 minutes.

We boarded and were sent up to the dining room for lunch with the rest of the crowd.  The rest of the afternoon saw us participating in a mandatory safety meeting and some much needed rest.  Our luggage arrived about 6 PM, and we watched the ship depart from Honolulu at 7 PM.  Dinner was okay, but significantly less than spectacular as the wait staff was spread too thin causing us to wait almost endlessly for food.  We did make it to the 9 PM show which introduced most of the entertainers performing this week. 
As this is being written about bedtime, the seas are pretty heavy, and we’re rocking and rolling.

Kay’s Take:  I am disappointed in the hot tubs/pools on this ship.  Only two of the four hot tubs are operational and the one ‘adult’ pool is quite small – much smaller than the hotel pool.  There are two children’s pools that are ‘dry’.

At the variety show tonight, my favorites were the comedian and the crew’s act.  The crew/chorus act was called “The Fountain” and it was very funny.  Our food was quite good at dinner, but the waitresses were spread too thin.  Service was slow and the wait staff didn’t have time for visiting.  We’re traveling tonight and will be doing a dormant volcanic crater tomorrow morning at Maui.  Good night all.  K

Today marked our first full day of sight-seeing and our last full day on Oahu.  An early start saw us boarding a tour bus at 6:20 AM headed for a trip and tour of the USS Arizona Memorial.  Designed for less than a million visitors a year, the memorial is visited by some 3.5 million people each year.  Work is underway to accommodate the visitors, but waiting is definitely the name of the game.  Our tickets for catching the launch to the USS Arizona was for 9 AM and the time passed quickly as we saw a great film introducing the memorial, and very up front regarding Japanese aggression at the time.  It was interesting to note the high number of Japanese visitors, and wonder what they were thinking.  We took lots of photos, and saw and smelled the oil still leaking from the USS Arizona.

I shed a few tears of thanks for what the sailors, marines, and soldiers did to protect our freedom, and couldn’t help but think of my dad who was seriously wounded, both physically and emotionally, at Okinawa after being hit by friendly fire—and left for dead for two days before someone found him.
 
After our tour of Pearl Harbor, we visited Punch Bowl Crater, home of a large military cemetery.  It was quite impressive.  For those of you old enough to remember Ernie Pyle, he is buried there.

We were driven through Honolulu’s version of Chinatown on our way to the only royal palace in the US.  Many of Honolulu’s buildings and churches date to the early 1800s, and have been well preserved.  After lunch, we caught a taxi to Diamond Head, and climbed to the top of the now inactive crater.  The climb consisted of a paved trail, a gravel trail with many switchbacks, 200+ steps at a very steep angle, tunnels, and a very long spiral staircase, all rising some 700+ feet in elevation.

The views from the top were breathtaking.

After a brief rest, we hiked back down, caught a city bus to within a few blocks of the hotel, and rushed to the hot tub and pool for muscle relaxation.  It was a glorious day.

Kay’s Take:  I was somewhat disturbed that people didn’t behave in an appropriate manner at the Arizona Monument in Pearl Harbor.  The guide explained that it isn’t a tourist attraction; it is a cemetery – burial spot – a final resting place for over 1000 servicemen.  Some tourists (foreigners, to be exact) were climbing on torpedoes, etc. for picture making even tho signs all around warned not to get on or close to displays.  Of course, this was ignored.  Mostly by Oriental tourists.  Our bus guide said “Excuse me” to one of them; they didn’t move out of the middle of the walkway and he just said “Move” and they did.  Rudeness is very irritating.  I’m a softie and cried several tears at the displays about the lives lost at Pearl Harbor and WWII.   Plaques were displayed with the names of crew members lost on all military ships during WWII as well.  The large wall on the Arizona memorial was totally awe inspiring  – over 1000 names of those lost.  An additional 43 names have been added to the deceased since Pearl Harbor.  These are ‘survivors’ of the Arizona, who elected to have their ashes buried with the crew when they died.
I have a blister on my right foot – my little toe is rubbing against the next toe in my tennis shoes.  We took a taxi out to Diamond Head Park and hiked to the top for some magnificent views.  The hike was 1.6 miles round trip, climbing in elevation over 700 ft with at least 240 stairs to traverse.  We stopped and rested several times!  We made it and took some fabulous pictures.  Looking down below we could see the old volcano ‘bowl’ and the rim all around it.  When we got back to our hotel, Outrigger Reef Waikiki, we went to the hot tubs & spas to relax and soothe our weary legs.  On Friday nights, there is a fireworks display in Waikiki off the beach.  There was a much larger amount of people out tonight in Waikiki – of course, it’s the beginning of the weekend, and Friday night – it’s the place to go and be. re
We’re looking forward to getting on the cruise ship tomorrow.  We need some rest!! hehehe!

After awaking at 2 AM, suffering from jet lag, Kay read and we both worked on the journal until daylight, then enjoyed the sand and surf of Waikiki Beach.

After breakfast, we did a walking tour of Waikiki and part of Honolulu, logging about 5 miles.Beautiful flowers were everywhere.

We were ready for the hot tub when we returned to the hotel.  The pool and spa area was really packed, including lots of young couples; where do they get the money?  We tried to nap mid-day but the maid was cleaning next door and was almost as noisy as Kay.

Afternoon and early evening were spent walking through Waikiki’s notable shopping areas, all replete with T-shirts, Hawaiian shirts, dresses, jewelry, and other touristy junk.

We had dinner at one of the hotel’s restaurants, watched the sun set from Waikiki Beach, and listened to some music near the pool.  

Kay’s take:  I’m not always noisy!  hehehehe!  This afternoon we walked around Waikiki business district.  We visited stores in Waikiki Beach Promenade; Royal Hawaiian Center (which was 3 floors over 2 blocks long) and then the International Trade Market.

Everyone wears the same thing down here – guys:  Hawaiian shirts; girls: sleeveless short shifts or strapless long dresses, all Island wear, etc.  It all begins to look the same.  We ate at the Ocean View restaurant in the hotel – it was very good.  We both had salads and shared an entree.  It was plenty.  We then went to another restaurant near the pools and I had a pina colada as we listened to two male entertainers.  I better get to bed!  We’ve got an early (6:20 a.m.) pickup for a tour of the city and Pearl Harbor tomorrow morning; then we’re going to Diamond Head and hike up it.  Aloha!!

How do I love flying, let me count the ways.  First, seven hours of flying directly behind a screaming and coughing toddler; next, flying in the seat behind the toddler’s mother who kept the seat leaned back to the maximum the entire time (nothing like a seatback tray in my gut for 6+ hours); then the young, large mother constantly getting up and down from the seat incessantly, dragging suitcase after suitcase from the TWO overhead bins her stuff occupied over our heads; and lastly, both the mother coughing almost the whole trip.  Hawaii never looked so good!

We left Little Rock about 8 AM, flew to Denver where there was snow on the ground, left Denver about 12 noon, and arrived in Hawaii about 3:30 PM.

 Our transfer to the hotel went smoothly, as did check-in.  We dropped off the luggage, changed into swim suits and headed for Waikiki Beach, directly behind the hotel; Kay’s swimsuit is under her other clothes!

After a short stroll, the time differences became relevant as it was near midnight Central Daylight Savings Time.  After sharing a light meal, we returned to the hotel to briefly catch up on email, and get some sleep.


Kay’s View:  Waikiki is very congested with hotels and shopping.  The Outrigger Reef Hotel is lovely.  There are at least two outside spas, one hot tub, and a large pool here besides walkout directly on the beach. Our room has a balcony overlooking the pools and spas.  Our room is very nice! We can see Diamondhead from the hotel beach, and the tropical plants here are incredible.  Hibiscus grow and are used as shrubs.

Thursday, very early.  We’re experiencing ‘jet lag’ – we managed to stay awake until 1:30 AM our time, 8:30 PM Hawaii time, and after sleeping almost 6 hours we woke up – it’s 2:00 AM Hawaii time/7:00 AM CDST.  We may have to have a nap today!!  Another plus is that almost everything in Waikiki is within walking distance and the weather is beautiful.  Trolleys are available to ride to get around Waikiki and also Honolulu.  We’ll probably go out exploring today.
Stay tuned for the further adventures of Kay and Donald. 

ARKANSAS TRAVELERS RALLY, VIDALIA, LA – Day 3  We toured Frogmore Plantation and Gins today, a surprisingly good tour.  Frogmore Plantation and Gins are located just a few miles west of Ferriday, LA.

The tour was given by the wife of the plantation owner, and she did an excellent job of providing historical facts and figures, and cited her sources.  She has a degree in English, and has apparently studied the history of the Natchez region extensively.  We believed she presented both sides of the slavery issue fairly and objectively.

Original Cotton Gin, Frogmore Plantation

While not all of the buildings of the early to mid-1800s plantation remain, many do, and have been restored.  We toured the original cotton gin, and most of the outbuildings including share-cropper’s cabins which were much better furnished than slave quarters from an earlier period.

Interior of a share-cropper’s cabin, Frogmore Plantation

Slave quarters, Frogmore Plantation