I was looking through my pictures a little bit today and ran across some from my trip to Hawaii in 2002. I love Hawaii, but this wasn't the best vacation ever. Part of that was the weather. It rained pretty much every day we were there and the locals on each island all said the same thing: this is really unusual for this time of year.
The other reason the trip wasn't the best ever was the cruise line. Service was terrible. It was my fourth cruise and the only one where the service was lousy. I wasn't the only one that thought so either. Everyone I talked to on the ship who'd been on a cruise before this all said the same thing: Horrible! The only people who didn't echo this sentiment were the first time cruisers.
There were still a lot of fun moments, though. I got to spend time with family. I think there were 16 of us on the ship. I went whale watching and I love doing that.
Whale watching--that reminds me of a story. I got on board the boat and this couple gets on after us. The woman was all dressed up as if she were going to an expensive restaurant and looked totally out of place on the whale-watching boat. I was mentally rolling my eyes. Here's some chick who's just going whale watching because her date wants to do it. She's going to be a total PITA.
Yeah, don't judge people by how they look. She and I ended up being the two most avid whale watchers on that vessel, and while we only exchanged a few words, we developed a rapport and helped each other locate whales. That was a valuable reminder for me. Appearances mean less than nothing.
Anyway, Hawaii. One of my very favorite things in Hawaii is the Polynesian Cultural Center. (This is my own opinion and I have NOT received any money or gifts or anything else from them for this mention.)
A lot of people told me that the Polynesian Cultural Center was boring and that I shouldn't waste my time going there, but I went anyway and I love it! I've been there twice now and it still hasn't been enough time to go to all the islands and have enough time there to learn and watch. I wish they were open longer hours so that I could immerse myself in each of the island cultures, watch the really cool performance on stage after the luau, and still see the long canoe show, too.
I know, I'm a geek. What can I say? I like to learn things and I'm hugely interested in Polynesian culture. I'd like to go visit some of these other islands for real, too, but that's for some day.
