9th day of our vacation - 12-24-15

Thursday, December 24th, 2015

It is evening and we are in the hotel. 

The day started with Gregg waking early and he was hungry. He walked down to McDonald's for breakfast. It is right next door to Tropical Tribe and he will bring me the acai bowl, and a latte from the Starbucks across the lobby at our hotel.

9.30 a.m. and NO acai bowl.  

Yes I am kidding.  Gregg just loves to take photos of me, especially when I am saying for the umpteenth time, well maybe not umpteenth times but at least once daily and usually at the end of the day, "Good grief I'm hot and a wee bit tired!  Have I said that before?" I'll ask.  I am a girl of repetition.  No, I'm not really a whiner but I was hot and tired when this photo was taken. Click, click, "Are you hot and tired Denise?"  "How did you guess?" says I not looking up.  "Oh I don't know, the multiple shades of pink and purple is a great weather vane look for you, and your head in your hands is a good clue", says he.

Gregg brought me proof and showed me this photo as he handed me an Apple Danish and a Coffee from downstairs, not that he needed it, the proof I mean.  Tropical tribe is closed for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  I should have realized.  No acai bowl but the Danish and the coffee is a nice consolation prize, and thank you Gregg.

So here we are back at the hotel and it has been another perfect day.  

We went to the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden.  This will also be our third visit, another favorite memory.  It is towered by the amazingly breathtaking Ko'olau Mountains above Kaneohe, and is Oahu's largest botanical garden at 400 acres.  

Ho'omaluhia means "Peaceful Refuge", a perfect name to be sure.  Plants are grouped to represent major tropical growing regions which include Polynesia, Melanesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Africa and tropical America.  

There are trails and a 32-acre lake which we couldn't get down to this time, as it had rained heavily that morning (the day before and when we were at the visitor center) and was too muddy to traverse safely.  Several of the trails had been blocked off for the same reason.  There was still enough of one trail to capture our interest and we were completely enthralled, surrounded with all this marvelous nature.  

We started off at the visitor center and there were also two large rooms all connected with covered walkways.  In the two rooms were artwork and photography exhibits, also flower arrangements which were lovely.

Even though it poured with rain while looking at the displays, by the time we made our way to the open trail, the rain had stopped. 

We thoroughly enjoyed taking in all the fauna, and it didn't rain for the rest of our walk.  

Ho'omaluhia still remains my most favorite botanical garden on Oahu.

Later we drove to the North Shore. We took the road next to the ocean, and with the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, it was enthralling.  

We head to Haleiwa Joes for a late lunch/early dinner, as we had enjoyed it so much the other day and wanted to repeat the experience.  

I ordered the coconut shrimp again....

but Gregg had to order a fish sandwich as he was told they were out of fish tacos.  He enjoyed it just as much.  

I also ordered a Mango Margarita and in place of the salt on the rim they added a cinnamon-sugar mixture.  It was very good.

We were seated outside this time and the weather had cooled enough to make it very pleasant.  A mesh-type curtain had been drawn down as it was breezy, and this Zebra Dove was enjoying being sheltered and wasn't too far from our table.

There was a man and woman seated on one side of us.  We didn't want to be too nosy but we couldn't help but hear from their conversation, which was a bit loud, that she had lost her cell phone.  Her companion loaned her his phone and she made several calls to places that they had been, presumably.  Her companion left and she stayed to keep their table.  Eventually he returned with her phone.  Gregg and I were very happy for her as I know how we would feel if we had lost ours.

We had another nice waitress.  I asked her if she had been brought up in Hawaii.  She said she had, then went on to say she had moved to Washington State but returned three years ago, and was very happy to be back.  A very nice young lady and was busy but stopped long enough to satisfy this nosy-parker's curiosity.

Too many reflections in the glass but I liked this print of the hula dancer near the exit.

Before leaving we bought another glass with the name of the restaurant on the side, and the sand and shells in the bottom.  I told Gregg they were for the Mai-Tai's I was going to make for us at home, to remember this holiday.  (He is still waiting but one of these days he will get his Mai-Tai.)

I decided to stand outside while Gregg was settling up, and a young lady came out of the restaurant and wished me a Merry Christmas.  I smiled back and wished her the same.  Hard to believe it is going to be Christmas Day tomorrow.  The time is flying by.

Before we got into our car we walked over to the water's edge, near the bridge we had crossed on our way to the restaurant.  

Under the bridge and beyond there was a place to rent kayaks..... 

and the kind of surfboard you stand up on using a paddle like you would a rowing boat.  

There was a steady stream of people floating past us, making their way to the ocean.....

and a few coming back.

They were fun to watch and we took our photos.  I wondered how on earth they could keep their balance on those surfboards.  Isn't it wonderful to have a great sense of balance?

It had been another lovely day having fun and watching people having fun.

Now to more mundane but necessary matters.  Gregg did the laundry tonight.  

One more day left before before the second part of our vacation in Kauai. 

If you missed the previous posts and would like to read them, you can click on the links below.

Part 1

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8