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Grissom Band
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Grissom Band Hawaii TripWelcome to our web log for the band trip we took to Hawaii in 2004. To make the most of the trip, we took several extra days beyond what the rest of the band did, and visited the Big Island in addition to our time on Oahu. Use the links below to jump ahead on this page to specific days, bypassing previous log entries that you've already seen. Click on any photo or video thumbnail to see the full picture/video.
Thursday the 18th - The Long Day of Travel
After getting up around 2:30 AM, we left home around 3:30 and met my folks for
breakfast at the nearest Waffle House. Following that, we arrived at Huntsville
International Airport around 5:00. Check in went smoothly, although E in her
usual inquisitive way wasted no time in peppering the TSA agent searching our
bags with questions about how the equipment works and what they were searching
for with the wand they swabbed the bag interior with.
The actual travel went well, with departures and arrivals pretty much on
schedule, with the main exception being when we reached Honolulu. We were
scheduled to have around a 3-hour layover, but found upon arrival that our
original flight had been canceled and the one we were now on departed nearly an
hour later. Further, after standing in line for quite a while
(seating on this
flight was on a first-come basis)
, our flight was moved to a different
gate since there was apparently something wrong with the plane they were going
to use. We were among the last to discover this, and by the time we moved to
the other gate we found ourselves last in line.
We arrived in Kona around 7:30 and made it to the Keauhou Beach Resort to check
into room 317. All in all, a good day of travel, but a long one. I think the
picture below sums up how everyone felt about having to travel all day and stay
up for nearly 24 hours straight.
Friday the 19th - An Introduction to SnorkelingOur first order of business was to pick up some equipment for snorkeling since I felt that snorkeling on the Big Island would be superior to doing it off Oahu (based on what I'd read) . The big question was where to get the equipment. As one might expect, this place has numerous rental shops, but it's hard to know what the best ones are. In the end we opted for the one we found the most intriguing (and entertaining) based on ads we found in the local vacation guides, as well as information I dug up on the Internet before the trip. Our business went to Snorkel Bob's , who we found on Ali'i Drive down the road from our hotel. After obtaining some quality equipment, we moved on to a swimsuit shop to pick up a suit for S, who couldn't find his before the trip. We returned to the hotel, suited up, and then headed for Kahalu'u Beach Park next door to our resort. I picked the resort primarily based on its proximity to this park, having read that the park was one of the, if not THE, best snorkeling sites on the whole island, and even across all the islands. It's not a large area, but fairly shallow and plentiful with sea life and coral. We weren't disappointed.
As we began to enter the water and get our fins and masks adjusted, I took a
quick look under the surface to see if it was deep enough near the shore to
swim out instead of having to walk clumsily into deeper water. The first thing
I saw was a green sea turtle snacking on something growing on the coral. Our breakfast and dinner meals were at the main resort restaurant, an open-air setting with a great view of the ocean. This restaurant ended up being our choice place for breakfast each day in Kona, which was aided by a couple of free breakfast buffet tickets per day that came with our reservation. One interesting note about the resort was that we saw numerous wild cats and even several mongoose on the premises. These animals came to the island many years ago and have set up shop, foraging for themselves and keeping a healthy distance from the people at the resort. Still, they could be bold at times, and at one point we saw a mongoose sneak onto an unoccupied patio area near the restaurant and snatch something from a trash can.
Saturday the 20th - More Serious SnorkelingHaving gotten our feet (and everything else) wet the day before, today was the big day for snorkeling with two separate outings. The first was a morning cruise to Kealakekua Bay, a marine sanctuary that is only accessible by boat or kayak, although I think there may be horseback access too. We took the Fair Wind , a large catamaran-style boat that has a sail and appears to be a sailboat, but is actually engine-powered with the sail apparently just for effect. We had at least 50-75 others along for the ride, but it didn't seem crowded since the boat has 2 decks. The cruise out took a little less than an hour, and we then had around 2 1/2 hours for snorkeling and eating a burger & hot dog lunch cooked on the boat. While we didn't see as many types of sea critters as in the waters of Kahalu'u, the area was better preserved due to the lower amount of traffic, and it was much deeper, providing a different overall snorkeling experience. The big event of the morning was E and C deciding to try SNUBA, which is a cross between SCUBA and snorkeling that doesn't require certification. It uses compressed air tanks like SCUBA, allowing you to stay down for an extended period, but keeps you tethered to the tanks (which float on the surface) via an air hose. E absolutely loved it, and C seemed to enjoy it but stayed on the surface while E chose to spend a good bit of time on the bottom.
That afternoon around 4 PM we began our 2nd outing of the day by
joining the nice folks at
Kona
Honu Divers
for an afternoon snorkel expedition to a spot further north
near the airport, followed by a night outing in search of manta rays. We had
two divers and the four of us snorkeling, which was a pretty small crowd for
the size boat they had. The idea is to put divers on the bottom in around 30
feet of water with powerful flashlights that attract plankton that mantas like
to eat, and then have snorkelers on the surface with another set of
flashlights. The mantas come in to eat the plankton and alternate between the
divers below and the snorkelers above. It was certainly an exhilirating
experience to snorkel in darkness with the ocean water around you largely black
except for the light from the flashlights.
Sunday the 21st - VOLCANOES!All day Sunday was devoted to visiting Volcanoes National Park , which was around a 2 1/2 hour drive from Kona around the south tip of the island. We spent several hours driving the Crater Rim Drive that encircles the Kilauea Caldera, part of the Mauna Loa volcano that is still active in some areas. We stopped at numerous spots along the way to view old lava flows, walk through rifts in old flows, and walk through an old lava tunnel that used to carry lava down the mountain toward the ocean. Near dusk we drove down the Chain of Craters Road that leads to where new flows are moving down the mountain, but the current active flow was a grueling 3-mile hike beyond the point in the road where we have to stop because a 2003 flow crossed the road. Instead, we and many others simply chose to sit next to our cars near the end of the road and view the red glow of the lava near the top of the volcano as it moved slowly down toward the sea. It wasn't as cool as seeing it up close and personal, but it was still pretty neat to watch it from a distance.
Video: Walking around the Southwest Rift (noise is wind blowing into mic) Walking back from the rim of the Kilauea Caldera (and possibly the beginning of S's sore throat) Monday the 22nd - Not Too Tired to Shop
By Monday everyone was snorkeled out and too tired to do much of anything, but
we managed to spend several hours walking around Kona and visting many of the
gift shops in the area. We had been invited by the Kona Honu folks to come out
for another attempt to see the mantas, but they didn't go out on Monday and
could only offer a Tuesday or Wednesday outing, too late for us to take
advantage of.
Tuesday the 23rd - Transfer to Honolulu
Sadly, we had to put the Big Island behind us and move on to our main
destination, Honolulu. I think everyone was genuinely sorry to leave, since we
all had such a great time there, but the rest of the band was due to arrive on
Tuesday and we had to be there when they arrived. Not much happened once we
reached Honolulu, but the main event took place just before leaving Kona. As we
boarded the plane, I let C get settled in a seat next to a window, and then I
bent over to put my carry-on bags down in the seat next to her. When I did, I
slammed my head into the overhead storage compartment, hitting a sharp corner
of the metal latch that keeps the door closed. For the first few seconds it
didn't seem like a big deal, but when I touched the area and examined my
fingers I found fresh blood. Within a few more seconds, I could feel blood
trickling down the side of my head.
The remainder of the day was spent walking down Kalakaua Avenue along Waikiki to
find some lunch, and to visit a local medical clinic to have someone check my
head and give me a tetanus shot, and to check S since his throat has been
hurting for several days now. The doctor confirmed that my head wound is mild,
and also checked and cleared S of having strep. The clinic is run by Japanese
folks, which doesn't surprise me given the huge number of Japanese tourists
that swarm the area. They were extremely nice and professional, though, so we
were glad to have the help. Coming here is much like going to a city that has a
large Spanish-speaking population, where many things are written in both
English and Spanish. Here, though, almost everything is written in both English
and Japanese. I was seriously frustrated by the number of people handing out
pamphlets to pedestrians along Kalakaua, and people trying to sell you vacation
packages or looking for donations. It was hard to walk along and enjoy being in
Honolulu while being constantly pestered by these maggots.
Wednesday the 24th - Polynesian Cultural CenterWhile S and the band took off in the morning to see Diamond Head, the three of us headed for a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center . Created and run by the local Mormon BYU campus, it features examples of buildings and culture from 7 different Polynesian groups. Our tickets included a tour guide who took us along with a small group of others around the center to see as much as we could during the afternoon. The people who work at the center are typically students at the university who gain tuition assistance and scholarships by working there. They come from the various areas of Polynesia and study at the university while bringing some of their culture to the center. I'm sure some of it is "staged" for tourist purposes, but I gather that most of what we saw was genuine demonstrations of Polynesian culture and not stuff made up for entertainment purposes.
We followed our tour guide Nik around to see the different Polynesian areas
represented at the center, and paused around 2:30 for a canoe pageant featuring
each Polynesian group performing dances aboard the large canoes. We paused
again around 5:30 for the Ali'i Luau dinner buffet, and we ended up with seats
close to the stage to watch the music and dance performances while we ate. We
shopped a bit afterwards, and then attended the evening Horizons show at 7:30
that again featured all Polynesian groups performing music and dance
representative of their individual cultures. Our reserved seats were in the 3rd
row at center stage, so booking early really paid off.
The only thing I regret was not video taping the guy from Samoa who did the fire
building demonstration, showed us how to crack open a coconut, and climbed a
coconut tree with nothing but his bare hands and feet. The video would've been
nice since he was an absolute HOOT. We laughed the whole time he gave his
demonstration.
Video: Tahiti in canoe pageant knocking one of their guys off the canoe A stick dance during the Horizons evening show Thursday the 25th - Time Out
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We missed being home for the holiday, but I
guess we couldn't have a much better alternate location than we do now.
When we finally mobilized, we once again took to Kalakaua Avenue and walked down
to the
International
Market Place
, now otherwise known as the Japanese Market Place. Later in the afternoon we linked up with the band at Kapiolani Park for their last rehearsal before the Friday performances. They practiced in the open field of the park from around 5:00 to 6:30, then headed out in groups for dinner. E, C, and I chose to spend our Thanksgiving Day dinner in the hotel restaurant that was serving a special buffet that included many of their regular buffet items but also had some customary Thanksgiving foods like turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie. It was good, but not like being at home.
Friday the 26th - The Big Day
This was the day that was supposedly the main reason why we all came out here.
This evening was the local Waikiki Thanksgiving parade at 7 PM, but the day
started with a trip to the USS Arizona Memorial
in Pearl Harbor, followed by a tour of the
USS
Missouri
on display at Pearl. We traveled separately from the band and
arrived at the Arizona around 8:30, shortly after their doors opened to the
public. By that time countless others were already in line, so by the time we
got inside we found that we'd have to wait until 11:30 before we could travel
to the memorial.
My big frustration of the day came after we finished the Arizona tour and got
ready to transfer to the Missouri via shuttle bus. When I called one of our
band parent friends, I found that the band was already lined up to march into
the area and begin their performance, and it was only 12:30. The original
information I saw before the trip had them playing at 2:00, but I found after
returning to the hotel this afternoon that the itinerary had been updated to
have them playing at 1:30. Even so, they went in earlier than that and we had
no chance to see them.
Determined not to miss the parade, we headed down Kalakaua around 6 PM to find a
spot to hang out and wait for the parade to begin at 7:00. We picked a spot in
front of the Waikiki Beachcomber Hotel and waited there until the parade
started. It wasn't a huge parade, and was completely over in less than an hour,
but they had several bands in addition to GHS, along with the usual Shriners,
local fire department, etc. One really cool thing they did was have several
Pearl Harbor survivors drive through in Corvettes. That generated much applause
from the spectators, as did several Purple Heart recipients that had served
recently in Iraq. Of the bands, I thought GHS did the best job. Am I biased?
Yes.
Video: GHS band in the Waikiki Thanksgiving Parade Saturday the 27th - Sunset on the Beach
Today S and the band made their pilgrimage to the Polynesian Cultural Center,
and we spent another afternoon wandering the Waikiki area and shopping. We're
not due to rent a car until Sunday, so today was best spent finishing our
business in and around Waikiki so that we can spend Sunday driving to other
attractions. We shopped a bit and ate lunch at Jake's, a restaurant on the
beach near the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel. They had the best key lime pie that
I've had in quite a while, perhaps ever.
The main event of the day was something called Sunset on the Beach.
Starting around 4 PM, food vendors set up shop on Queen's Beach, across
Kalakaua from Kapiolani Park, and a huge outdoor screen was erected on the
beach. We arrived around 5:00, found some seats, got some food, and hung around
eating and watching the sunset while listening to live bands play until the
main event, an outdoor FREE movie. Tonight they showed Chronicles of Riddick,
a movie I'd wanted to see but never got around to while it was in the theaters.
The whole thing was somewhat reminiscent of watching movies at the Richardson
outdoor theater on Kwaj, only with a LOT better sound system. Sunday the 28th - Driving to the Dole Plantation
Today was the day to pick up our rental car for a little driving around Oahu
before our Tuesday departure, so I took a shuttle to the airport while E and C
lounged at the hotel pool. Upon return to the hotel, the three of us piled in
to the Buick Rendezvous that I upgraded our mid-size rental to
(a mid-size
wouldn't have accommodated all of our luggage)
and headed northwest to
find the Dole Pineapple Plantation.
I thought I'd read or heard before the trip that the Dole Plantation no longer
actually grew pineapple, and had just become a tourist stop with a big maze to
run around in and a small train tour around the property. I was wrong, though,
as we found that the plantation is still very much in the growing business.
Sadly, I have only one picture from the visit since it became very rainy for
the first time since we arrived in the islands, and I decided to leave the
camera in the car after taking a quick snapshot of the visitor center. C, on
the other hand, kept her smaller camera in her purse, so all but one of the
photos posted below are hers. We took the train tour and did a little shopping
in the visitor center, but had little time for anything else since we wanted to
get back to Waikiki in time for the next installment of Sunset on the Beach.
We managed to get back in time, but the rain was fairly intense on the way
back, and was strong enough in Waikiki that they canceled the movie.
S and Co. spent part of the day snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, although they had so
many people that they did it in shifts. The band has been broken into three
buses during the entire trip, so each bus took turns going to the bay for
snorkeling while the other students huhg around the hotel or did stuff in
Waikiki. We found out from S later on that the snorkeling trip was fairly
dismal compared to the excellent outings we had on the Big Island. I expected
that, but wasn't sure things would turn out that way. He went on to say that
some students became timid after entering the water and decided not to snorkel
after all, which he found perplexing. Monday the 29th - Kayaking in KailuaWith the band supposedly packing up to go home today, I had made arrangements for us to drive to Kailua on the east side of Oahu and do some kayaking courtesy of Kailua Sailboards & Kayaks . The info on the web looked promising, so I'd planned for us to spend the entire day kayaking in the area, including visits to the small uninhabited islands offshore. We retrieved S from the band, and found that they would still be in the Waikiki area until after dinner since their flight doesn't depart until very late tonight. S came with us for the kayak trip, with the intention of coming back to Waikiki in time to catch a surfing lesson (he and some of his friends have already been surfing at least a couple of times, but none of them had any instruction beforehand) and eat dinner with them before they left. When we got to Kailua, we found that the wind and waves were much stronger than usual, and the rental folks suggested that we check out the conditions on the beach before we rented anything. S and I decided to give it a go, but E and C chose to stay on the sand and hang out until we were done. After renting the kayak, we pulled it on a cart to the beach, drug it down to the water, and launched it. It wasn't difficult to get into or paddle, but we were initially going directly against the wind and waves, and made VERY slow progress. The closest island offshore was one they called Flat Island, which is a small bird sanctuary with only a small beach on which to land. What would've normally taken 10-20 minutes to paddle to under normal surf conditions took us close to an hour. Once there, we stopped on the tiny beach front and hung around a bit while we rested and drank some water, then set out again and headed back to E and C. The return journey was much speedier with the wind and waves at our back this time, and the whole outing was done in less than 2 hours. We had the rental for up to 4 hours, but we decided we'd had enough and returned it early. After lunch at Big City Diner in Kailua (per recommendation from a local who works at the kayak store) , we returned to Waikiki but, due to road construction as we left Kailua, didn't get back in time for S to have a surfing lesson. However, he did link up with the band for one last dinner, and will try to squeeze the surfing lesson in Tuesday morning before we check out at noon. NOTE: With this being our last night in Honolulu, I am running out of time to make these web updates, so I won't post anything further until we get home. That includes the few pictures I have from Saturday through now and whatever we manage to get Tuesday before we leave. Tuesday the 30th |
Railfanning
Too Good to Ignore
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He seemed happy to answer her questions, but the woman behind the X-ray machine
checking our carry-on stuff wasn't as enthused when she tried to walk behind
the machine to where the woman was sitting. 
Fortunately,
we found 4 seats together near the rear of the Boeing 717-200 and were able to
ride together on the short flight from Honolulu to Kona. It was a fairly new
aircraft, but I couldn't help but worry a little when they wheeled it up to the
gate and informed us that we should use the bathroom before boarding since the
one on the plane was out of order. Sounds too much like some of the old band
buses we used to travel on, and that didn't inspire much confidence. 
Instead, we visited a local candy
shop that makes their candy by hand, and spent way too much money on sweet
treats. 
The
flight wasn't actually delayed more than 5-10 minutes, but it seemed like a
LOT
longer. Upon arrival in Honolulu, we boarded a Roberts Hawaii
shuttle bus from the airport to the Waikiki area, and checked into room 2514 at
the Radisson Prince Kuhio hotel.
