Day 9 - August 6

 Day 9, August 6, 2026 - 

Let’s see if I can re-create this whirlwind day. It began at 6:15 in the lobby, where we hailed a taxi that took us to the Molly Malone statue in the middle of town. Our bus, Paddywagon Tours, met us and we all climbed on as this was a group tour. Then at 7:00 AM we took off.

I was worried that with no bathroom on the bus, it could be bad. But Shay, our driver, stopped at a gas station a time or two, and enough restaurants that we were ok. Our first stop was Dark Hedges, rows of trees on either side of a road that were planted by King James I. While very cool, they weren’t very dark anymore as nearly half of them have fallen. The worst part of the stop and all the others was the lack of enough time to really soak things in. But that’s the problem with a long tour and several stops. So on we went. 

Our next stop which I really loved was Dunluce Castle. By this time we were far north in Northern Ireland and could see the coastline. A plus here was fewer tourists, so you could actually get good pictures with no people in them. I loved this stop. 

The castle was not far from The Giant’s Causeway. I don’t know of any way to describe this place. It was also on the coast. It is a natural rock formation of hexagonal stones, fitted together, that look like they just grow out from the earth. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was crawling with people so few good pictures.  It was impossible for me to clamber over the rocks because it made me incredibly dizzy. So I parked myself on a rock and watched the sea roll in and watch Beau clamber on the rocks. He went way up and sang his song of the sea that he performed at one of his recitals. Jack took off on his own and didn’t fall off anything. You had to go down a very long, very steep hill to get to the rocks, and luckily they had a bus we could pay to take us down and back up. Beau and I did that but Jack hoofed it.  Would I go back? Only if I knew nobody else would be there. 

The next part of the tour was just loveliness out the window. I can see why our ancestors landed in Kentucky; it is very much like what I was looking at today. So impossibly green. So many cute sheep and lambs. Hedgerows. And off to the left on our way South, the sky cleared and you could see the coasts of Scotland. That was so cool.  

We had a short stop in Belfast, where there was a massive music festival going on and the place was crawling with people. Shay said people come from all over the world to this festival, which was in Belfast for the first time. 

Two hours back to Dublin where Euros were good again, and Uberred to the hotel. Now Beau is trying to line out a restaurant for us for lunch tomorrow and then off for the airport. Twelve hour day but so worth it. I am incredibly impressed at Jack and Beau and how they can just talk to anybody.

Day 8, August 5

 Day 8, August 5, 2026 

Felt marginally enough better today to attempt getting out. The tour guide from yesterday told Beau he had another tour today that I could get on enough to see the Trinity Library and Book of Kells, so we were off at 10 am to do that. I had a decadent glass of OJ in the hotel bar waiting for him to come down. He left Jack sleeping and off we went. He dropped me off with Nial, the guide, and went shopping. I am so incredibly glad I got to see this set of Gospels that were hand lettered and illustrated by boys 13-16 years old. That was a requirement because their eyesight had to be pristine to get the amount of detail from the inked letters (using gemstone ink). Youonly saw one page, this one today was from John 6:28-42. Every month or so, the librarians turn to another page. This was wonderful, but the library upstairs blew me away. They are restoring the books but they left a few shelves filled so we could see what it would be like. Mercy. Mercy. I could live in this place. The wood is beautiful, and there is an art piece called Gaia, which from NASA is a suspended globe of the earth that rotates high up in the ceiling area. I’ve seen a lot of beautiful things, but this one made my librarian heart go pitter-pat. 

Beau picked me up and we went to a yarn shop I found. I’m working on a CAL making a scarf, and the 2nd week is before I get home, so of course I needed some yarn! and I found some! This shop was in a cute little mall in a very old building. Can’t say I’ve seen anything in America like it. Then we ate at the Staghead Bar, and went back to the hotel for some R&R.

I had booked a 45 minute boat ride from Howth into the Irish Sea to see some of the coastline, so we took a cab nearly an hour to get there. And the tour was cancelled. That’s what I get for not looking at my email all day long. I’m still glad we went though, because the Irish Sea and Dublin Bay were beautiful, we saw Seals sticking up their heads, and a lighthouse. Then we ate at Crabby Jo’s and cabbed back. Early call in the morning. 6 am in the lobby meet for a big day.

Day 7, August 4

 Day 7, August 4, 2026

I finally got up around 12:45 today and took a shower. Now I’m drinking coffee and eating some little biscuit cookies that are in the room. Pretty tasty. The boys got up and found where to meet for the Skip The Line Tour today. They saw the Book of Kells Experience so far. It’s an ancient illustrated Biblical text. Because the Trinity Library is under construction they didn’t actually get to see the real book which was bad. Now they are off on the last part of the tour which is the Guinness warehouse. I hate missing all that, but I really don’t want to miss anymore so I have to stay in today and rest, rest, rest. 

One memory I do want to takeaway from this trip is how kind my grandson is to others. A couple of times he gave his food to homeless people, and he helped a man across a busy intersection by pushing his wheelchair. 

I’ll finish up so I can post this and go back to bed. The boys came in bushed from the 5 hour tour, rested awhile and went back out to a recommended pub for dinner. I hope they get to hear some Irish music.

Day 6, August 3

 Day 6, August 3, 2026

Today was travel to Ireland Day. I’m not feeling too chipper so I was pretty much a drag on the boys all day. Frankfort airport is so big they recently completed a third terminal, and that’s where we got on an AerLingus flight. It’s hard to follow the signage, so it took awhile to find customs, then security, then customs, fly over (I think I slept most oft the flight but I saw Ireland from the air and it is beautiful), then go through customs, wait on our baggage, figure out where taxis are, and such. But we finally got to the Ashling Hotel, which is like a real hotel with guys that open doors for you and flowers everywhere. Posh towels, and plugs in the sink, and a bath mat for the tub. We unloaded and went out to find a tram to go downtown and try to find the places we are to meet for our tours the next few days. Beau is a bar afficianado and Temple Bar area did him in. We ate at the Old Mill Restaurant there, where Jack had fish and chips and I had Guinness Stew - it was so good. But after that I was so wrecked, so I posted Gary what should I buy for my ailments and he responded. We went to a pharmacy (where those people are my new best friends) and loaded up with dope and came back to the room. I’m not sure if the boys went back out or not as it wasn’t all that late, but at that point I didn’t care. We never did get to those places so the boys will have to find them on their own tomorrow.

August 2, 2026

 Day 5, August 2, 2026 - 

Our day with M began late as I couldn’t get the boys to respond. Finally had to go beat on their doors. The weather on the other hand, was beautiful with lower temperatures. We finally got to M after 1 pm. She was SO excited and jumped up on Beau and then on Jack and gave me a great big hug. Gerda had pastries for snacks, so we ate and talked and the kids played. M let me read her a story, “How the Stars Fell into the Sky,” by Jerrie Oughten. And then she played the twins and triplets in the piano and I taught her “D is for the Doggie with the Two Black Ears.”

After this we went to the playground which is just across the street where Jack and Maddie played on the monkey bars and swings. Beau got them an icee pop. 

Then back to the apartment for a bit and time was done. We plan on seeing M again next Saturday. We finished the day at a sushi restaurant and back to the rooms to pack for IRELAND. 

August 1, 2026

 ay 4, August 1, 2026 - 

While Gary was going to the Harmon Reunion today, the boys and I got up in Strassburg, France, at the Hotel Rohan. Cute little place with ivy all over the front just steps away from the Cathedral. I opened the window and listened to the Cathedral bells ring for several minutes - so lovely. There are lots of pigeons here and I didn’t notice any bugs. Beau has been in Strassburg several times before, so he took us to some of his haunts. We hit a cheese store and a bakery, and got small portions of several kinds of really stinky cheese. Jack got a baguette. We sat at  a little table in the courtyard outside the bakery and tried the different cheeses on the bread and they were most of them surprisingly good. I only ate a tiny bite of each one, and paid for it later with a bellyache. Jack wanted to go to the Swatch store, so off we went. Then Beau wanted us to see the opera building where he auditioned once, and outside of it was a crepe stand. So Jack got a Nutella crepe in honor of Greta. (The baguette, too.) We meandered back over to the Cathedral because I wanted to see the flying buttresses that I failed to notice yesterday. Awesome, awesome place. 

By then we were pooped again (or I was) so we Ubered to the train station to take the train Beau reserved to Heidelberg, where we planned to see the Castle and ride the Funicular. 

We cut it close several times changing trains, but always made it. Trains don’t run so much on time here and sometimes even get cancelled. 

At the Heidelberg Station, we ordered an Uber to take us to the Castle. UP HILL, a very steep hill to the castle. Purchased tickets. Did I mention that I love how civilized this country is? Bathrooms on the ICE trains, in the cafes, and I only had to pay 1.50 Euro once so far in the train station bathroom. The castle was pretty cool although the weather was hot and there were WAY too many people around. Sorry tourists! 🤪We spent some time in the shade at the little cafe there and again, nice bathrooms. Bet they weren’t like that in the 1100’s! I didn’t get to see the big wine cask when I was here in February a couple years ago. That cask is bigger than some of the houses I’ve lived in. Jack went up to the top of it. 

I think he had a good time. We told him he could go off looking on his own if he wore the Apple Tag, but he wanted to hang with us. Making a Hana’s heart happy. We rode the Funicular down the hill to the town, mostly through a rock tunnel, so nothing to see. In town we walked down to the river and on the bridge a little. 

All so pooped by now, Jack picked a Thai restaurant by the river, which was great except for yellow jackets trying to drink Beau’s coke and Jack’s mango juice. Feeling better, we walked over to the Opera House where Beau auditioned once, and caught an Uber from there back to the Train Station. We spent more money on Ubers than we meant to, but Hana is old. And she appreciated it. 

Back on the trains to Frankfort which were a constant moving target. I’m glad Beau could decipher the DB app, and find the right places to go. Got back to the motel around 10 pm, so another 12 hour day. Did my laundry, as sweating like a pig makes my clothes stinky. I brought two dresses, wash one and wear one and it’s been working pretty well. 

I’m sorry for no pictures. I only brought my phone and it won’t let me post to Blogspot so I’ll have to put some in when I get home. 

July 30, 2026

 

Day 3, July 31, 2026 - today we got up and had a good breakfast at the Hampton hotel.  Headed to the European Central Bank to meet Beau’s friend Des from South Africa, who works there and gave us a tour of the building. It is a pretty incredible place. We had to go through Security, show our passports, get badges and then not take pictures of certain things and promise not to post anything on social media. But we got to go all the way to the top and see the wonderful view of the city. Beau showed us several of the places in town where he had lived before. 

After that we came back to the hotel for a bit and then packed to spend the night in Strasburg tonight. We caught the trains which were running late again of course! Went from Frankfurt down through Manheim to Offenburg. From Offenburg, we exited the ICE train which is the fast train, and then got on a regional train with crying babies and bicycles and crossed over the Rhine River into France and got to Strasbourg. I was really hoping to get to see some of the country west of here where Junior may have been during World War II, but that would’ve taken many buses and many more hours than this trip, which was two hours even so. Still, the terrain would’ve been about the same. It was only 94 or 96° here but we were sweating plenty since we were pretty pooped. 

We went ahead and got an Uber, which let us off actually a long way from our motel because apparently Strassburg has a great big middle area around the cathedral where cars are not allowed to go. But we eventually found where we were going and crashed for a little bit. Then we went to check out the cathedral, which is really amazing.  There are so many stained glass windows that you could stay a year and never see all the details. There are also so many statues inside and out that it would be the same. I bought a little book that talked about what some of it is and we’ll read it and go back tomorrow and see if I can find them again. One thing nice it is free to get in. 

After that Jack and I hit some of the little tourist shops that are around the Square of the cathedral, got rained on with a pop-up storm,  and then we all hit the motel to rest some more. Dinner time was at 8 PM at a very fancy restaurant with very fancy, and very tasty food. I had pork cheeks and noodles and Beau had an assortment of sausages, sauerkraut, potatoes, and escargot. Crème Brûlée for dessert (only two bites!) Jack had nothing because he crashed so hard at the hotel, we couldn’t even wake him up to go to dinner. This was all very late, a lot later than I normally eat. So before we got finished, it was after 10 PM and the Garcon at the restaurant told us about the light show that goes on after 10 o’clock in front of the cathedral. When we exited the restaurant there were people all over the place waiting for this light show. So we videoed until we were sure we could catch the whole thing. And it was REALLY cool. Red lights, blue lights, music and occasionally it would go black and a lady would speak French of some kind. I have no idea what she was saying. Then the music and lights would start again. This lasted for about 10 minutes. And now I’m more than ready to hit the sack. 

Traveling with Jack

Day 1, July 28-29, 2026 - Travel to LEX after picking up Jack at his Uncle Dan and Aunt Emily’s house. All went well. Chagrined that I worried about Jack’s big luggage, when my little pink rolling suitcase would not fit in the overhead bin. I guess if that was the worst of the stress, it wasn’t too bad. United Airline planes are TINY but the men and women running the show were wonderfully helpful and friendly. The layover in Chicago was already long, but a 2.5 hour delay made it a lot longer. Jack seemed happy enough with his Switch and his phone with his girlfriend on the other end! 

We finally boarded on a 9-seat-across, bigger plane, but not much seat room and very skinny aisles. My hips and legs gave me fits a lot of the way there, but I believe I did nap some because I remember waking up about 3 times. Getting into Frankfurt without knowing where we were going was an adventure, and we got in lots of extra steps as we kept going the wrong way and had to turn around. When we finally got to EES (always head towards Baggage Claim) it was a breeze for Jack, and the machine made me try several times to scan my passport and fingerprints. But finally took it! I have rarely been through such a fast and easy border patrol. 

Beau found us at the airport using WhatsApp and the location feature - something else new for me. So we are using WhatsApp for that. 

LOTS of walking today. As it was too early to check in to the hotel, we took the train over to the finanacial district and looked at the bull and the bear and the CEB Building, and stopped for a Starbucks. The bathroom was upstairs and you had to have a code for it. VERY hot today, but the outside sitting area was very nice, with overhead awnings and the breeze helped. Once we checked into the hotel, our first order of business was to find Jack some shoes because he had only brought his Doc Martins and they were starting to chew up his feet. Then we got on a train to cross the Main River to Beau’s haunt to see where he spends a lot of time with friends. We ate at his friend’s restaurant and had a real German meal of Schnitzel and potatoes. Again, the outside seating under shade was very nice. 

After dinner we walked down toward the river, taking pictures and headed toward the little bar on the River Beau goes to. Met his friends Diana, who runs it, and Leopold, who mans it. Still pretty hot, but nice breeze on the river. Jack found the hammock set up on the deck, and enjoyed that while we all talked. The only thing I don’t enjoy about these places is the cigarette smoke that I have gotten used to being without. 

A very nice but tiring walk back to the motel over the river; we got some hopefully lovely night shots of the City line, the full moon and a spider on the bridge. Whew, I should sleep good tonight.

Day 2, July 30, 2026 -

Last night Beau used the DB App to get train tickets for Cologne. I’m trying to decide if the stress of pre-purchasing train tickets when Beau gets  behind is worth it.

Yes. Barely. Because as the trains were always delayed it worked out. It was an overcast day all day, with some sprinkles, which were actually welcome in the 96 degree heat.  The Cologne Cathedral is indescribable.

Huge, ornate, awesome. Full of tourists but still very quiet inside. We could have looked at the stained glass windows for a week and not noticed every detail. I think there may have been three sets of organ pipes. Beau said the Cathedral was the only thing that was not bombed in WWII. 

I must still be pretty tired, because I nearly lost it when we had to pay to get in the Cathedral and we had to do it online. So, standing there outside, Beau was trying to do that but my Visa card got denied. Then my Master Card got denied. Angry and evil is not the way I want to feel outside of a church!! We finally figured out that Beau would pay for it and I’d pay him back. 

The train ride back to Frankfurt was long, 2 hours, but much prettier than the one to Cologne. I saw bunches of castles on tops of hills, and the ICE train followed the Rhine River almost all the way to Frankfurt. Where it was only 100 degrees. We had gotten food at a little grocery store at the train station in Cologne, so we picknicked on the train. In Frankfort we walked around some more, looking at the Dom Cathedral a little, walked by the big Euro Sign and the Old CEB Building, and rode some more regional trains. We ended up at the Kleinmarkthalle where there are lots of booths of food, meat, spices, fruit, etc., but many booths were already closed up for the day. We stopped by a sausage shop run by a 93 year old lady who makes the sausage. I can’t tell you how amazed I was at her. She ran the business with her husband who made the sausages, and then took over making them herself when he passed. They were wonderful! I want to go back before we leave and get some more. Came back to motel for shower and rest and then back out for pub fare. The fountain in front of Alte Oper was gorgeous in the sun and I got a slow shutter speed shot. Planned for tomorrow’s Strassburg adventure. 

Sourdough English Muffins

 So easy! From: healthline-store.com/sourdough-english-muffins-recipe/

Notes: this made 13 with my biscuit cutter. I skip the active sourdough ingredients and just use my own that I have activated at half water half flour. I can’t believe how easy these were. 
ACTIVE SOURDOUGH STARTER INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon sourdough starter
⅓ cup 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 ½ tablespoons water
DOUGH INGREDIENTS:
½ cup active sourdough starter
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup milk
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ cup cornmeal

Steps

Combine the sourdough starter, milk, (I used oat milk), sugar, (I used Honey), and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Mix well.
Gradually add the flour to the sourdough mixture, stirring until a soft dough forms. The dough should have a slight stickiness, but be manageable.
Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours. (Took mine all day to rise) 
Sprinkle a clean surface with flour and cornmeal.
Turn the dough out onto the surface and sprinkle the top with more flour.
Roll the dough out to 1/2 inch thickness.
Cut out circles from the dough using a round cookie cutter or English muffin rings.
Place the cut dough circles on a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet, cover lightly, and let them rise again for about 30 minutes.
Over medium heat, heat a skillet or griddle.
Dust the surface lightly with cornmeal.
Place the dough circles on the skillet and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked through.
Remove the cooked English muffins from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.
They are best served toasted with butter, jam, or your favorite spread.

Notes

Handling Sticky Dough: If the dough is too sticky to handle, add a little more flour as needed, but try to keep it as light as possible to ensure soft, fluffy muffins. 
Cooking Evenly: Make sure the skillet or griddle is not too hot as the muffins need to cook slowly to allow the insides to cook thoroughly without burning the outside. 

Day 9 - April 8?, 2025

 After the luau, I just fell in the bed and did not get today’s blog done. So now that I’m semi-conscious and ready for a 26 hour day (I think) I’ll talk about yesterday. Gary & Claudia’s cousin Jill and her husband Eric picked us up at the hotel after 9 am, and drove us to a cute little restaurant for breakfast, called The Gazebo. It was a tiny place on the beach, a real gazebo, and we waited in a long line for awhile to get in. Very popular place with the locals. They have umbrellas to keep the sun off of you while you wait. The food was good and plentiful, and for where we are, the prices were good. They had Oma coffee, which I thought was great - much better than Kona. When Claudia went to the bathroom, the little sparrows attacked her leftover macadamia pancakes! We really have to watch the birds as so many restaurants are open-air and the birds like the leftovers.

Rainforest tree with dragon fruit plants.

Breadfruit tree.

At the luau.

Poi on pineapple. The taro that poi is made from is purple. The rolls were purple. And the fried taro I had a different night was purple.

Jill took us to a beach that had a rain forest next to it, and we walked through it. She pointed out trees like the ones our Kona nut necklaces come from, breadfruit trees, Hala trees, the ti plants that hula girls make their skirts from, and the dragon fruit plants that are like orchids growing in other big trees. We saw many mango trees, and papayas - just growing wild. I could get to like this place. We talked about prices and Jill sent me the picture of milk below. After they dropped us off, we went exploring the Whaler’s Village again, and I ate some Tapioca pudding from the ABC market while Claudia shopped some more. I found a cute pair of pants on sale for me - $12.40!! 

Claudia found the trolley for us and we rode back to our room to get ready for the luau. We dressed up as Hawaiian as we could manage and the lei they gave us helped a lot.There was all kinds of Hawaiian food, and I tried poi for the first time, over pineapple. LOTS of pineapple here. I had Kalua pork, P.O.G. chicken, teriyaki beef, noodles, fried rice, a taro roll, some salad, and a Pina colada. No dessert for me, but I didn’t need it. We were entertained by Hawaiian stories, music and dances - some with fire. The cliff-divers dove off the cliff at sunset, and it was a beautiful sunset. All in all, a very good day!

Day 8-April 6, 2025

 Today began with an early and all day long bus ride on the Road to Hana, which stretches from the west side of Maui to the East, and ended with seeing the spume of whales out in the water as we drove back. In between was just beauty upon more beauty. We saw some huge rainbow eucalyptus trees, many beautiful waterfalls, gorgeous and strange flowers, lots of pounding surf in several places, lava tubes (I went in one) and blow-holes (I got drenched by one of those). It rained on us in the rain forest, and on the other side of the island, the sun shone brilliantly. We saw nesting Hawaiian green turtles, and a couple of mongoose. And of course, the ubiquitous chickens. The tour guide who drove our bus was a clone of Joey - looked like him, talked like him - made me think of him all day! Claudia and I ate at the beachfront Monkeypod Restaurant late tonight, and I had saimin (sigh-min) for the first time. It’s a Hawaiian ramen soup that is so popular, it is even on the menu at Mcdonalds. I loved it and now I have to see if I can fix it when I get home. 

Day 7 - April 5, 2025

 On today, Mom’s birthday, I think about how she would hav loved to be on this trip with me. I know she is seeing more beauty now than I am, but this place is sure glorious. We are on Maui now, after an early and quick flight. We immediately did a bus tour to Iao Valley State Park to see the Iao Needle, a tall pointy mountain in a group of majestic mountains, It’s in a rainforest that gets 386” of rain per year. We walked up 134 steps to the top of a knoll so we could see the needle better. Beautiful place! There is lava rock everywhere. The airport is built on it. People don’t have to mow their yards! The beaches are black with it. And still flowers and trees grow in it, and the flowers are vibrant colors. The birds here are gorgeous colors, too. On the way to the hotel, we passed the town that got burned so badly last year, Lahaina. There is a whole long memorial fence going into town for the over 100 people that died in the fire. We got to the hotel, and unwound for about an hour before we bussed to our restaurant for the group dinner. As we de-bussed, we saw our first Hawaiian rainbow! Our dinner was good - a restaurant right on the beach and the kitchen was great about fixing me food. I had grilled mahi mahi, and an amazing dessert made out of Breadfruit called Lilikol Pono Pie.  It had macadamia and coconut crust and topped with strawberries and honey. Slurp! And then since the restaurant was on the beach, I walked down and finally saw a beautiful sunset,  This is one of the beaches you could walk on with real sand, instead of lava rock. 

Day 6 - April 4, 2025

 Today began with a tour of a coffee farm. About 25 minutes from here, in Captain Cook, HI, sits one of 600 coffee farms in the Kona Valley, a small strip of land where coffee grows well on a volcanic base. Bay View Farm will ship you their Kona Coffee, but does not sell it in any stores. I got to taste the medium roast, dark roast, and flavored, and I liked the dark roast best. Our guide took us from pruning the trees, to picking the berries, and doing the many iterations of sifting to finally get the beans to the roasting stage. It explained a lot about why coffee is so expensive!

We next visited PU'UHONUA O HONAUNAU National Historical Park. I got another stamp, and a patch. I did not expect this place of refuge to be so beautiful. The park, as is most of this island, is built on lava rock. The beach is mostly rock, fringed with palm trees, breadfruit trees, and beautiful water. It got hot there and we were all sweating.

Next we stopped at the painted church, a little Catholic church perched high on the hill overlooking the bay.

We got back to the motel for a late lunch, and a short rest. I went to a ukulele class, which was fun. We then headed out to town on the bus for a group dinner, which was the least favorite thing of the day for me, since something I ate made me sick. Anyway, all packed up now for the early airport run tomorrow - Maui!

Had to share a pic of the beautiful plumeria. 

Day 5 - April 3, 2025

 I do not deserve the wonders and amazing sites that I’m getting to see. I don’t deserve the new types of food, like taro and breadfruit and Dole Whip that I’m getting to eat and the people who are waiting on me to make sure I can eat it. I don’t deserve the ability to get some things that I want and to buy gifts for people I love in a place that is so different from where I live.

So I praise the God of Heaven Who is giving me the opportunity to do these things, and hope that I am living His light to people I meet in this place. Today we only went shopping, made beautiful leis from orchids, had an excellent Hawaiian meal of shrimp, taro, breadfruit, and purple sweet potatoes, and watched the surf beat and raise high above the lava beach of this resort. I am beyond happy.