Post-NY, this trip is much less thoroughly planned. After about a week from now, this trip is almost completely UNplanned. I have ideas about how that will play out, but rather than make bets on the future, I will wait for it to unfold.
My sister is a saint, so she gave me a ride to the airport today at 6am so I could catch a plane to the next stop on this trip - Hawaii!
Right now, there’s a pretty dramatic volcanic situation happening on Hawaii’s Big Island, but I’m happy to report that Oahu, my destination, is not blowing up. I had actually considered a lengthy stay on the Big Island at one point in my sabbatical planning, but opted for a shorter stay and only at Aulani, Disney’s Hawaiian resort. This will be one of two big Disney stops on this trip, but more on that later.
I’ve never been to Aulani or even Hawaii before (I blame me not coming here on my Dad who told me when I was little that there are giant cockroaches here who won’t let you squish them but will jump on your head from palm trees when you walk by, but I’ve decided it’s finally time to risk it). When I exited the airport, the air was heavy with humidity, but not suffocating. I hadn’t figured out transportation to the resort ahead of time and spent a few minutes on my phone looking into the shuttle situation to Aulani before I decided just to take an Uber. My Uber driver was a house painter from the Seattle area who has lived here in Hawaii for the past 40 years or something and is getting out of the painting game by recently transitioning into driving for Uber and Lyft. He hadn’t been to Aulani before either, so we were impressed together when we first saw the resort. It’s big and shiny and fancy in that heightened sort of reality that Disney does so well. I love it.
It was almost 12:30pm and I wasn’t supposed to be able to check in until 3pm. However, when I got to the desk, they were able to give me a room right away. So much better than killing time for hours in the lobby or a...lounge or something that they have for people who are early or late. My room is on the 16th and highest floor. That means that it’s the longest, and potentially most interrupted, elevator ride, but it also affords probably the best view. I oo’ed and ah’ed at my room as I explored it (I always LOVE the tiny Disney touches in Disney places) and then headed outside to do the same for the rest of the resort.
I was hungry, so I went looking for lunch, but found a donut and pineapple candy. Not exactly successful, but the candy is AMAZING. I’m pretty sure that there isn’t a non-artificial ingredient in it, but I love it anyway. I ate the whole bag, which I’m kind of sad about, because it’s much too expensive to justify buying it again.
(Side note: do they have panthers in Hawaii? I’m typing this up while sitting on the beach in the dark and there’s either a feral house cat or a baby panther stalking through the beach chairs. I think I’m probably in no danger either way. Unless there’s a mama panther stalking through here too…)
Now, here’s where the trip gets truly bizarre. I. Went. Swimming. Yes! Me! I went swimming. That’s just not something I do very often. Katrina highly recommends the ocean here, though. So I changed, got all sunblocked, and walked out into the ocean. It was fun. Floated around for a bit. Walked the length of the beachfront neck-deep in the water. After a while, I decided to go back up on resort and see about the pools and slides. Luckily, I found my flip flops where I had stashed them under a beach chair. One hazard of travelling alone is that there’s no one to watch your stuff. So, I abandoned my flip flops under a chair and hoped for the best.
I tried the big water slide. Twice. Also fun. Then, I REALLY wanted to go float in an inner tube in this lazy river sort of situation, but I knew I was right at the edge of when my sunblock would be wearing off. So. I was responsible and went back to my room to reapply. Then I accidentally showered and changed, so that was all of the swimming for today.
I decided that I would eat dinner off-resort at a place across the street called Monkey Pod. My Uber driver recommended it. I stopped by the lobby on my way out of the hotel and bought an Aulani Luau ticket for tomorrow night. I ended up leaving that ticket on the table after dinner (along with my leftovers) and it was thrown away. I’m sure they’ll reissue one tomorrow though. Dinner was fish tacos with a pumpkin/squash ravioli appetizer.
Dessert was pineapple and vanilla swirled soft serve ice cream on the beach at sunset. It was melting fast, so you just see an unappealing lump of ice cream by the time I was on the beach and had eaten half of it. I've included a picture of the original in it's full glory for your admiration.
It was SO nice. A bit after the sun had officially set, I was sitting on the grass above the beach. It was a perfectly comfortable temperature with a bit of a breeze. The ocean waves were waving. It was a moment.
Most of the rest of the evening was spent on the beach. Once it was dark and the stars were out, I just laid on a beach chair and watched the sky. Eventually, I fell asleep. Then, I woke up. Then, I went to my room. Then, I fell asleep again.
(P.S. I know that there are no panthers in Hawaii.)