Hawaii
As Mike is wont to do, he got a bunch of us to tag along on with him and his family on one of the Lee family vacations, this time to Hawaii. With our former coworker and friend Bernard newly moved there, it was a good excuse to visit. While Bernard slaved away at his new job, Tim joined us out of retirement, Joe and I took some vacation days, and Allison promptly offered up a packed schedule of island activities.
Joe, Lulu, and Lulu's cousin Yin Yin joined the Lee family-planned activities about half the time, opting to do their own thing (including some reportedly very intense shopping) the other half. Having not done all the classic tourist stuff in a long time, I signed up to do everything with the Lee family the two full days I was there, including a 17-stop island tour, Hanauma Bay, and Pearl Harbor. Made for some long but fun days; it was with mixed regret that the last day I was there that I was leaving just a bit too early to join them for a morning cruise to snorkel with turtles.
Day 1: worked the morning and then took an early afternoon flight to Honolulu, then headed to dinner at a Hawaiian classic, Chef Roy Yamaguchi's Original Roy's Hawaii Kai. Might have had some birthday, anniversary, and new job celebrations in there as well.
Day 2: Uncle Dee and Nui Island Tours does a great tour, with a free bonus stop making it 17-stops total. Sadly food today was a miss, with a terrible lunch at the Polynesian Cultural Center and a dinner where we all left hungry at Yakitori Hachibei.
Day 3: Hanauma Bay first thing in the morning, lunch at the award-winning Paradise Poke, and the afternoon at Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. Fooding included cute themed cupcakes at Honu Bakery and then the best dinner of the trip at Restaurant XO.
Day 4: The Happy Hawaiian Cafe and Laihana Chicken Company on my combined morning walk/morning errands, then a smooth ride back home.