I go back to Hawaii for a visit every year, and I’d dearly love to manage it more often than that — and to spend more and more time there on each trip, so that they all sort of run together and become a permanent thing. Failing that, I try to make the most of every day while I’m there.
Eli and I just back from our latest trip, and we had a wonderful opportunity on Saturday. We joined our friend Donna and her beautiful little dog Ipo for a sunset walk up to Makapu`u Lighthouse, at the very eastern tip of Oahu, to see the full moon rise over the ocean near Molokai. (We had thought it might be a blue moon, but it turns out we were off by one.) The following isn’t much of a picture, but it was the best one I was able to get. The moon was clearly channeling the Potterverse in honor of movie 5 and book 7.
Oahu is small enough to drive around comfortably in a day, but big enough to have dozens of must-see natural formations — which always gives me a sort of “ant crawling on a relief map” feeling. Makapu`u Beach is my all-time favorite spot on the planet, but somehow I’d never gone up to the lighthouse before this trip. We actually went up twice — we all went the previous Sunday before sundown, when the light was a little stronger but the lunar-like landscape had cooled a bit from the heat of the day. You can see pretty much the whole eastern tip of Oahu from one spot here. Below, in the view to the southwest, you can see right into Koko Crater, as well as Diamond Head in the distance.
The lighthouse itself offers a more refreshing view next to all that parched lava.
Other special experiences on this trip… The opening of a new Starbucks in the lobby of the Hilton Hawaiian Village’s Kalia Tower, which included a traditional ceremony to bless the enterprise — I actually got all verklempt:
Your average sunset on boring old Waikiki beach, viewed while sipping mai tais at the venerable Royal Hawaiian hotel (helping friends Jill and Mark celebrate a very special wedding anniversary — hey, even people who live there go to these places!):
And last but not least, a stuffed-kitty-cat orgy at the Shirokiya department store at Ala Moana (anyone want to suggest a good lolcats caption for this?):
UPDATE: Because I can’t resist, and because we regaled Donna with a rendition of it on the way back down the hill… We Like The Moon!
