Wednesday December 22, 2010 - Saturday Jan 1, 2011

Bob and Nancy's Christmas and New Year's Holiday started at 0445 on Wednesday December 22, 2010. After the alarm we headed downstairs because we had to shovel the drive and walk of last night's snow. It took about 30 minutes. Kim, the cleaning lady, had picked up Ms P on Monday, we had also stopped the mail and GRP. The taxi arrived at 0530 and we headed to the airport. The flight to Chicago was uneventful. We were boarding the flight to LAX when we were notified that our status had been upgraded to First Class. Needless to say we enjoyed the flight. While boarding the flight to Honolulu we were again told that we had been upgraded to First Class. Merry Christmas. We arrived in Honolulu about 1800. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach. We were on the 8th floor and the room was very large. The temperature at the time of our arrival was in the 80s. We were very tired but we did take a walk along the beach before going to bed. We encountered gentle trade winds and a gentle pounding surf.

So that I won't get too maudlin I will just say that during my stay in Hawaii I was always flashing back to my time on Midway Island in 1962. Remember I stayed 1 year, two weeks, 3 days and thirteen hours on this island. In fact my stay on Midway was interrupted in October 1962 when I spent a week's vacation on the same Waikiki Beach. I stayed at Fort DeRussy which is right next door to the Hawaiian Village. In 1962 it cost $5 a night to stay at Fort DeRussy. You were given a small room with a cot and a towel. The bathrooms were down the hall. The famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel was next door. I even remember taking a Navy nurse to dinner at the Royal Hawaiian during my week's vacation. An old radio show called Hawaii Calls originated from the Royal Hawaiian. The show was on about 2000 on Saturday nights. I remember lying in my bed on a cold winter's evening and listening to the show.

Hawaii is very expensive. In fact a bowl of oatmeal at the Hotel cost $12. We found a Denny's down the street that had breakfast at a reasonable price. There were 2 Starbucks within the hotel complex. The one disappointment we had was the lack of a free wireless connections The hotel charged $17 per day and we could not find any coffee shop that provided free access.

During the day Nancy liked to sit by the pool and read her book and I liked to go swimming and on long walks on the beach. I tried to spend about 60 minutes swimming in the ocean. The water temperature was always in the low 70's. I also liked to have a beer at a hotel bar during Happy Hour. Of course I read the DFP and WSJ on my Kindle. The Hawaiian Village was very crowded and I was surprised by the number of young families with children that were staying on the beach during the holidays.

The Hawaiian Village had live entertainment on Christmas Eve. After the live shows they had a great fireworks display. Nancy and I still Oh and Ah at a good fireworks show.

I spent 3 hours walking the beach on Christmas Day and I could not get over how crowded it was. I think every surf board, kayak, paddle boat and beach chair was rented. I had read that Waikiki Beach had experienced some serious beach erosion and they had to import sand. During my walk it was easy to identify areas that had imported sand. Beach walking is a great people watching experience.

For our 6 evening meals Nancy and I ate at an Irish Pub, a NY Deli, a cafeteria on Fort DeRussy property that catered to service men and women and at a Hawaiian Village restaurant. One night it was raining hard so we purchased a sandwich from a local grocery and ate them in our room. We did not starve on our holiday.

The only downside to our trip was Nancy's injury to her toe. The toe was on the foot that Nancy has no feeling because of the 1991 back surgery. On Sunday she visited a Med Center and was told the toe was not infected. They gave her some pills and dressing for the toe. She took it easy for a day. The toe was given a clean bill by her GR doctor.

On Tuesday morning we had to leave. The bus picked us up at 1030 and we headed to the airport. We flew coach from Honolulu to SF. However our luck returned when we were upgraded to First Class for the trip from SF to Chicago. We got into Chicago about 0500 on Wednesday and arrived in GR about 1000. We took it easy for the rest of the day.

Thursday morning our first full day back in GR. I walked to the MAC and did my normal routine at 50%. I also stopped at the Starbucks in Breton Village to read the DFP and WSJ. In the afternoon I stopped by the office to get a bottle of Carol Smith's homemade wine.

We were both suffering from jet lag so It was early to bed. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve and Ms P returns.

Friday morning and it is warm and raining. I drove the C2 to the MAC. Ms P arrive about 1400. Nancy spent a good part of the day making her world famous chili for tomorrow. We are having the Moleski's and Tim over to watch the ball games. At 1600 Nancy and I started getting ready to go downtown. At 1730 we met the Horlings at Leo's for a New Year's Eve dinner. It was great. After dinner we headed to the concert at DeVos Hall. After the concert we walked around downtown. The paper said 20,000 people were downtown to celebrate the new year. It was 56⁰ at 2200. The rain had stopped. Bob and Nancy were home by 2300. We were exhausted so we headed to bed.
New Year's day and Nancy is busy getting ready. She did not want to go out for breakfast so I got in the C2 and headed for Bill's. Bill's was closed so I ate at the Brandywine. When I got home I brought the TV from upstairs down to the living room. We had three TV for watching football. The Big Ten had a disastrous afternoon. The Michigan teams got blown out. However, the chili was great as was the other food. Right before we were ready to eat we had several surprise visitors. Missy and AJ surprised us with their visit. They were welcomed by all and they had chili with us. Our guests left about 1700. It was great having Missy and AJ. We all headed to bed early.

Nancy and I think we had a great holiday season. The holiday started with warm breezes and ended with a surprise visit form Missy and AJ. Guess what I only gained 2 pounds! I hope everyone has a great year.