Gidget Goes Hawaiian- Kauai & Aulani 8/2012 TR- 5/24 COMPLETE!!

[JKSWonder]

I also love to cook and I am definitely a food snob where Italian is concerned. Once you've stuffed yourself in Little Italy, you know the difference between Italian you can get in New York and Italian everywhere else.

I'll have to look up that cookbook..

[anewmac]

Well the food at least looked good.. The drink looked better tho lol. I'm not impressed with the 2014 Disney itineraries either. Nor the price lol

[podsnel]

Originally Posted by kid-at-heart

This is a GREAT photo of you and Pods. You should have it framed.

Awww...that's very sweet of you! I do like it of Pods, not so crazy about myself (I think I look kind of tired, and I remember I was tired, so maybe that's part of it) but Thanks!

After reading your report I immediately went to Amazon and ordered Ms. Hazan's cookbook. It will be here in two days.

Yummm....no pics, just recipes. Here are some of my favorites- Pasta sauces- Tomato sauce w/ onion and butter, Amatriciana,Tomato Sauce with Porcini mushrooms, Pasta and pesto with potatoes and green beans (not to mention her pesto recipe itself), Meatballs and tomatoes, Braised pork chops with sage & tomatoes, Modena style, Ossobuco, Grilled fish romagna style, Grilled swordfish sicilian salmoriglio style, fricasseed chicken with rosemary and lemon juice, veal scalloppine in parchment with asparagus and fontina....oh, there are just so many. I can't think of one thing in that book I have made that wasn't wonderful- I hope you enjoy it!

Sarah is the opposite of Tyler. She could hold a conversation with a doorknob - and the doorknob would talk back.

Kate

What a wonderful attribute!

Originally Posted by Wicket's Mom

Your meal looked really good, sorry to hear it was just meh.

I love Italian food, that's one reason we like Williamsburg, Va. Lot of ex- New Yorkers have restaurants there, especially Italian ones.

Yum! I will keep that in mind- that is on my list of future long weekend trips....

Originally Posted by MEK

That cocktail you had probably eased the pain at the time.

Hah! You are right! It did!

I wondered what was going to happen with DCL and NYC. Too bad that didn't work out.

That's ok- I'll probably go on again with just Timmy or Pods or maybe some nice DISers would want to cruise with me again! I just booked the Norwegian Breakaway for 8/3/14 to Bermuda- the kids like the looks of the ship (or they like the computer generated images of her, because that's all there is yet. She hasn't been "born" yet- her first sailing is in April, I think, and from NYC in May. Fingers crossed people love her!!

Can't believe Tyler is already pushing 18. NCL sounds like a great alternative.

UGH. It is the WORST and I HATE it.

Originally Posted by franandaj

What an awesome update, I loved the sunset pictures. Sorry that it is going to end soon. That's too bad that the restaurant didn't live up to what it should have. We are very spoiled here in the greater LA area. There's lots of crappy food, but there is also lots of really good food too.

Yea- I think California has some amazing food- I can't wait to chow down in San Francisco and Anaheim!!

I hope you are planning on visiting Napa Rose when you come to DL. There's lots of other great places nearby too, but not enough time to eat at all of them!

Well...DUH! Of COURSE Pods & I are going there! Kids will be having something else that night. I would like to sit at the counter (chef's table? What do they call it?)when we go- really, I am so, so excited I was able to book GCV. I am getting psyched for all of it! So different from WDW- I like that I can pick my restaurants 2 months ahead instead of 6 (which I find insane!).

Originally Posted by englishrose47

Sorry you didn't enjoy the meal that much!!! Here in The Falls, we jhave a couple of awesome Italian restaurants and I am sooo leery of ordering Italian anywhere else !!!

Yea, that's what happens- when you can get good Italian near home, it is very hard to eat Italian that is so-so elsewhere. We are spoiled!!

[podsnel]

Originally Posted by JKSWonder

I also love to cook and I am definitely a food snob where Italian is concerned. Once you've stuffed yourself in Little Italy, you know the difference between Italian you can get in New York and Italian everywhere else.

Sad but true!

I'll have to look up that cookbook..

I hope you love it- I just named a ton of recipes I love from it for Wicket's Mom in the above reply, if you are interested....

Originally Posted by anewmac

Well the food at least looked good.. The drink looked better tho lol. I'm not impressed with the 2014 Disney itineraries either. Nor the price lol

I will agree there- it DID take a pretty picture!

I am impressed with the Disney itineraries- I just can't afford to fly 4 of us to Italy! I did just book this NCL cruise- looks like it will be fun!

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by podsnel

Snow is great as long as we don't lose power or miss school!

You should definitely do the Menehune Trail- it does really cool things, I enjoyed it and wish I had done it all the way through! I also think you are like me, and as a Disney Geek would HAVE to do it!

You may have a point there.

Sorry dinner was so meh, especially for the price. It will not be on my list of places to go for sure. I am definitely checking out that cookbook, I could use some expansion in that area. I love good Italian and there really isn't that much in Seattle. And, while I cook quite a bit, I don't make as much Italian as I should beyond the basics (aka Giada) so expanding my horizons would be a good thing. Mario Batali annoys me, partially from an ingredient standpoint but he is generally more labor intensive than I want for how good whatever it is sounds as I read the recipe.

[Wicket's Mom]

Ellen those recipes sound delicious! I make my own pasta. I love to eat in Williamsburg there are such good restaurants there!

[englishrose47]

Originally Posted by Wicket's Mom

Ellen those recipes sound delicious! I make my own pasta. I love to eat in Williamsburg there are such good restaurants there!

I am looking at a Free Trip next year to Colonial Williamsburg, maybe you will be able to help me with places to eat!!!

[podsnel]

Originally Posted by eandesmom

You may have a point there.

Sorry dinner was so meh, especially for the price. It will not be on my list of places to go for sure. I am definitely checking out that cookbook, I could use some expansion in that area. I love good Italian and there really isn't that much in Seattle. And, while I cook quite a bit, I don't make as much Italian as I should beyond the basics (aka Giada) so expanding my horizons would be a good thing. Mario Batali annoys me, partially from an ingredient standpoint but he is generally more labor intensive than I want for how good whatever it is sounds as I read the recipe.

It is about $20 on Amazon- I just looked, it has 5 stars (of course). One of the first reviewers mentioned the pork roast cooked in milk- I forgot about that one! TDF!!!!!

Originally Posted by Wicket's Mom

Ellen those recipes sound delicious! I make my own pasta. I love to eat in Williamsburg there are such good restaurants there!

Originally Posted by englishrose47

I am looking at a Free Trip next year to Colonial Williamsburg, maybe you will be able to help me with places to eat!!!

Yes Mother of Wicket- please tell us your favorites!!

[podsnel]

I thought I would post the Daily Iwas that I have (not sure where Monday's is) so they could all be together in one spot. After the first I willnot be posting the last page, because it was the same always.

Weekly overview-













Weds-









Thurs-







Fri-







Sat-







Sun-

[podsnel]

On Sunday, we were scheduled to be at Pearl Harbor for our boat to the Arizona at 10:30 am. I had reserved this ahead of time (thank you, Saintstickets!) on the National Park Service website, thus saving all the lines and waiting of doing it in person. Here is some info, you can book 3 months in advance- http://www.recreation.gov/tourParkDe...O&parkId=72369 . Anyway, after I had showered, I ran down to Olelo to grab breakfast, the usual for me, that luscious, OMG-I-would-kill-for-one-right-now almond croissant, fruit and breakkie sandwiches for everyone else. No pics because I already posted them earlier on. So we programmed the GPS, and headed out.

Uh-Oh. Seems that was not such a great idea. When we put in Pearl Harbor, it took us....to the other side of the bay, as the shore that was east of Pearl Harbor. Why??? Who freakin knows.



So we backtracked, and the GPS got us closer...THIS time, we created a near lockdown/ breach of security/ national incident at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor/Hickam kiosk, where a VERY unamused officer of our military defenses strictly and severly demanded I put the camera DOWN and state our purpose of business IMMEDIATELY. Umm...we're sorry- just trying to be good Americans and visit Pearl Harbor, Sir. But our GPS has a mind of it's own, apparently WE are complete IDIOTS, and we have ended up here in error (which I can PROMISE we did NOT intend to do!). He told us this was a naval base and we had no business being here unless we were military personnel. Are you military personnel, Ma'am? Well, not me, Sir, but my sons play some COD on the weekends, so they might qualify- umm, I mean, no, Sir. He explained where we were supposed to go, so we turned around and with HUMAN directions this time, we actually found Pearl Harbor, Historic tourist sacred place version. PHEW!!! (As a side note, we did feel VERY,VERY secure in knowing that there was NO ONE going to breach our military security at Pearl Harbor any time EVER with said officer in charge!). We were supposed to have arrived I think an hour or so prior, but we ended up checking in right before 10:30- however, there was NO line, and the woman checking us in said no problem, you still have some time before the movie to visit the museums. We purchased the headsets, and proceeded with the self-guided tour, which was fascinating.







Click to play-


I think we made it through about a museum and a half before it was time to go across...



We watched a brief movie about Pearl Harbor before boarding the boat.



Click to play-



Our sons (in case you have not picked up on it) are very active boys who are NOT into museums, historical tours, etc (Tyler barely survived a brief stop a couple of years ago at Mount Rushmore on the way to HHI. Oh...the memories of THAT one....). So, before we got here (inbetween military inquisitions and de-briefings) I explained to them that this was a sacred place- that too many men and women had lost their lives here long ago and were buried here, most of them just a couple of years older than Tyler, and that this was to be taken seriously. I am proud to say, both boys really got that, and they were extremely and appropriately respectful and reverant throughout our whole visit.

Here are our photos from the Arizona Memorial-









The oil never stops-





Too many names-





We had been told on more than one occasion since arriving on Oahu (this was one of the things my favorite fireman and I talked about when I was supposed to be surfing) that very often the survivors of Pearl Harbor request to have their ashes interred with their crew when they pass on-





Cont'd next post-

[podsnel]

What was below us-



And what was above us-



There was no set time to leave, you just got on line for the next boat when you were ready.



Click to play-


Back on land, we continued our self guided audio tour-





After I took that photo, a lovely Japanese woman approached me and communicated she would take a family photo of us- and I somehow communicated I would take one of her's in return (they were a group of 12 at least).



I really liked that moment. A lot.

A naupaka flower- the flower that appears to be half a flower.



Many Hawaiian legends exist to explain this half flower, but they are always around a central theme- lovers that are separated forever, one banished to the mountains, the other to the beach. These were what my earrings that I can't find (packed too carefully) looked like, made out of Ni ihau shells. I love the thought that the two lovers, or two flowers, are whole when they come together.











Back soon with more-

[jedijill]

Pearl Harbor is a very sacred place. My next door neighbor growing up was like a surrogate grandmother to me. Her brother went down on the Arizona and his name is on the wall. It was very moving to not only see the entire list of names but to have somewhat of a personal connection to one name in particular.

Jill in CO

[podsnel]

Originally Posted by jedijill

Pearl Harbor is a very sacred place. My next door neighbor growing up was like a surrogate grandmother to me. Her brother went down on the Arizona and his name is on the wall. It was very moving to not only see the entire list of names but to have somewhat of a personal connection to one name in particular.

Jill in CO

That must have made your visit even more meaningful than most, and that is really saying a lot.

By the way- VERY sad jenseib met you in the hallway at AKV and I didn't!! Next time I hope I'm the one who runs into you in the hallway!

[jedijill]

Originally Posted by podsnel

That must have made your visit even more meaningful than most, and that is really saying a lot.

By the way- VERY sad jenseib met you in the hallway at AKV and I didn't!! Next time I hope I'm the one who runs into you in the hallway!

I know! I'm sad I missed you too! I recognized Jen's hair! I was hoping she didnt' think I was a stalker.

Jill in CO

[podsnel]

We continued touring and learning, but took a short break for a snack-



Wow, are they good chips!







Then we went back into the second museum to finish up our audio tour in there-







After we finished up, I perused the gift shop like a speed demon and purchased a few Christmas ornaments as momentos. Then it was time to hit the road....



I did have plans to stop along the way and have some lunch at a place called Taniokas that seemed to be a local favorite, but, unfortunately, all the GPS issues of the morning were everlasting, and we decided to just head back. We did make a stop, though, at the Kmart- I wanted to visit there to buy some Mac nut Hershey kisses- lots and lots of them, to give as gifts with other things when I got home. FWIW, I ended up ordering even MORE of them after I got home along with some other trinkets that I was jonesin for a few months after leaving Hawaii. Very easy to order stuff online from the ABC store, keep it in mind if you run out of room in your luggage or you have to shop with a bunch of EXTREME non shoppers and the pressure to buy it in 60 seconds or less is just too much! Anyway, at the Kmart, I also bought a hula dancer doll (battery run- plays hula tunes while she dances ) that is thoroughly obnoxious for my cousin's daughter- my littlest cousin, who is 1 1/2, absolutely LOVES her (even if her mom & dad do not), so it was REALLY worth the kmart stop!

Back to Ko Olina-



Where we changed into our bathing suits and headed down to the pool to enjoy our last sunset.....next