Getting here is a hassle, though. With flights from the east coast, I travel about 18 hours. I had a leg from RDU to JFK, then into Honolulu and lastly into Hilo. My Christmas Eve was 29 hours long! I know I have nothing on the big guy in the red suit, but I feel his pain!
Most of the time when I get together with my friends Julie and Candance for the holidays, we have a sloths-fest. Mostly we lay around all day watching Netflix, eating and napping. This holiday hasn't proved to be much different-- but I am NOT complaining! The only request that I had was that we spend some time on a beach Christmas Day, and my Christmas wish came true!
But first, I crashed for about 12 hours. Candance and Julie were convinced that I would be up about 4 am on Christmas Day, but the only thing that woke me up that morning was a call from my sister at 5:45am local time to wish me a Merry Christmas. I got up and drank some coffee for about an hour, then headed back to bed for another 2.
We finally headed out Christmas Day around 1030 to Richardson's Beach. It is a neat spot down in Hilo with black sand and lava rocks. We walked out about as far as you can on the sand and then braved the lava in our flip flops to get a view of the ocean on the other side. We found a pool with four sea turtles just hanging out in there enjoying the low tide. We sat down and watched them and the ocean move in and out. Candance decided that the water wasn't too cool and waded in up to her waist, but the current was a bit too strong, so no real swimming. The sun was out so we were able to get a little bit of sun for awhile.
Breakfast of papaya and sugar cake had worn off, so it was time for lunch. Not much was open on Christmas Day, but we did find a neat little restaurant we passed on the way in called Verna's. This is known as a local fast food joint with pick-up windows and one picnic table to eat at. We decided to get it to go and head over to picnic at Coconut Island instead. One of Verna's specialties is the teriyaki burger, so we all tried it and the famous macaroni salad. It was fantastic! And Coconut Island is also a neat little park with great views of Hilo Bay and downtown Hilo.
We headed back up the hill to Honomu to finish Christmas with some slothing and hulihuli chicken. I was able to stay awake until 10 while we rented movies on the Apple TV.
So, not too much excitement on the first day here, but the great thing about Hawaiian life is that no one really seems to be in a hurry to do much. Plus I think we all needed some down time. I know I did.
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