I'm back in Atlanta this week, trying to keep that “aloha” feeling. I just spent a week on O'ahu and Hawaii . . .
Hawaii's wild flower -- the Bird of Paradise I've never been to Hawai'i before, but of course I'd heard all the hype—and couldn’t wait to go! Promises of lush foliage, lovely strangers handing out alohas and leis, white and black sand beaches, warm tropical breezes . . . all that stuff. We landed on O'ahu around 8:30pm island time and descended the stairs of the plane to the tarmac. We could feel the warm winds, but thanks to our paranoid pals at Homeland Security, no friendly welcome or tropical flowers greeted us. But the warm weather was heavenly; especially since we’d just left the frozen wasteland of Atlanta (I can hear my MN friends rolling their eyes). Out on Waikiki beach, everyone's out--shopping, walking, and being seen. Except for the lack of casinos, you'd have thought we were on the Las Vegas Strip! Hotels, bars and shoppingshoppingshopping are crammed into just a couple of blocks on the beach. Lots of international visitors, particularly from Japan (it’s so close). There are so many Japanese visitors to Waikiki that everything is translated--except for the street signs. All visitors have to learn a little Hawai'ian . . . On Saturday we picked up our bike rentals, at a little spot not far from our hotel. This is the second time that I’ve had a mountain bike to use on city streets, and I’m beginning to think this isn’t a bad idea. It's a little heavier than my own touring bike, but when you inadvertently ride over curbs or hit a patch of uneven asphalt, the suspension fork and seatpost keeps you from feeling like you’re riding European pave’. Besides, I’M IN HAWAI’I! I don’t want to go fast—I want to soak this all in. For the first few days here, I actually don’t get to play. I’m here for work (!) and duty calls. It’s about a 10-minute ride to the convention center, but I have to go around back to find bicycle parking. And that's where I find the charming, tree-lined, 10-foot-wide path along the Ala Wai canal. (and another warm, tropical breeze)
Ala Wai canal path I enter the convention center from the back, and have to traipse through a long corridor to get to the lobby. And again I come upon a hidden treat! The corridor has been embellished by a local artist, stamped with Polynesian petroglyphs in a multitude of colors. Marching along in a straight line down the concrete block wall is a row of stick figures. Just when you think they’re all identical, you spot one trying to crawl out of line. ~Line Dance~ Then you see the one that’s been turned into a sea turtle, or is transformed into an island lizard.
Leapin' Lizard! The piece is entitled “Hā (Breath of Life)”, done by Brendt Berger in 1998. This corridor is rarely seen by visitors to the convention center—it’s a back hallway that the staff use—so I’m feeling particularly lucky this day. Once I get free of my work responsibilities, we can explore the island. O’ahu isn’t very big, and easy to get around on bicycles. In fact, I’d recommend it. The city is very bike-friendly, and there are bike racks every few feet.
the future of bike parking We left Waikiki behind (all shopped out), and cycled through Ala Moana park (and beach),
Ala Moana Park (and beach) University of Hawai’i, downtown Honolulu Kamehameha III (and friends) (aren’t they a handsome group?) the Foster Botanical Garden (don’t miss the Cannonball tree), and Chinatown. If you go to C-town, don’t miss dim sum at Legends Chinese restaurant. If you’re feeling adventurous, sit so you can watch the staff maneuver the rolling food carts. We sat at the intersection of two aisles and caught the whole show. Much of the food had unfamiliar names, and so I was amused to find myself eating (and enjoying) what by any other name would be a BBQ pork sandwich! There were a couple of young women sitting next to us who spoke to each other and to the restaurant staff in both Chinese and English—sometimes in the same sentence. They said they were “starving”, and proceeded to have one of just about everything on the menu—-dim sum’s nice that way. Nuulanu River view in Chinatown There's no way to really capture the beauty of the Hawaiian islands on film; it's best seen in person. That said, I couldn't stop taking pictures--but I also plan on going back--as soon as possible. There's a lot more island to discover. Aloha. Gonecycling.
Kona coffee plantation dolls
View from the Honolulu Convention Center