Waikiki Beach and Luau

We took a stroll to the beach- as it turns out, the part we went to is part of the military recreation area. Fort Derussey includes the Army Museum, and goes over to the Hale Koa Hotel, which is a military-owned hotel. (I tried to reserve a room there about 10 months ago for this visit- already totally booked.) Wayne had his ritual touching of the water. Sometimes he wades in, but not this time. I, on the other hand, did get my feet in the water, but only because a wave caught me. Luckily I was wearing my Keens, but the socks got soggy.

After a brief rest, we were picked up by our driver, Dave, for a trip to our luau. Fellow travelers in our van were Melissa and Kevin from LA. Experience Nutridge is in the Puu Ualakaa State Park. On the way we were treated to a beautiful rainbow- a nice gift after an intermittently rainy day.

The Nutridge property was so named because it was the site of a Macadamia nut grove- the first commercial Macadamia grove. Experience Nutridge is a unique experience- lots of cultural information and demonstrations, and a delicious luau dinner which included kalua pork, turkey (not standard fare, but offered specially tonight in honor of Thanksgiving,) barbecued chicken, purple sweet potatoes, salad with pineapple dressing, and a really good wrap of sweet potatoes and pork wrapped in leaves and cooked. Our host told us that the wrapper tasted like spinach. I thought it tasted more like green beans-- at any rate it tasted really good. Dessert included pineapple, a yummy coconut pudding, and chocolate cupcakes- not worth the calories to me after the first bite, but I ate the macadamias on top. There were Hawaiian dances, and a hula that we learned, followed by Elvis singing "Falling in Love With You," and topped off with the Cupid Shuffle.

And then back to the hotel, grateful and thankful for so much in life, including our new Ohana from tonight.Read more