Super Bowl Sunday

Traditionally on Super Bowl Sunday I am at someone's house watching the game, or at the bar, or pretty much anywhere but Hawai'i.

That being said, MC and I knew this Super Bowl Sunday would be anything but traditional. So we went all out and decided to go scuba diving. Neither of us had been before and it was one of those things we were going to do in Australia...ya know...THE Great Barrier Reef...hahaha

Sunday morning bright and early we loaded into a 12 passenger van to start our journey to scuba dive-dom with Living Ocean Scuba. Nate was our instructor and not only was he knowledgeable, he was super fun to hang out with, and made everyone in our group feel at ease. It helps that he grew up in the South and was a world traveler. MC and I had loads to chat with him about.

But less about that and more about how awesome the experience was. Nate had a camera and took pictures while we explored two different areas. One with giant sea turtles and the second was an old pipeline with beautiful coral and fish.

I'll just let the pictures do the talking. 

It was halftime in the game when we finished gallivanting through the sea with flippers and oxygen tanks so we hightailed it to meet the BIL at some of his friend's house.

We made it just in time for snacks, some beers, new friends, and to see that all important last play in the endzone...Go Pats!

New friends meant we had more fun things we could do. Starting with yoga on the beach....

I'm sailing away...

I've set an open course for the virgin sea.

By that I mean after a night on the town, a morning at the beach, and lunch at (you guessed it) Duke's, MC and I were off to set sail with the BIL and friends.

Now few people know this about me, but I read an article one time where this couple bought a sailboat and just set out to the open sea and sailed to wherever their hearts desired. Something about that article has stuck in my mind ever since and I can't shake the thought that maybe one day taking a boat and just seeing the world. Ideally it would be big enough for a motorcycle and you could dock the boat, and go explore towns not on the seaside (or on the seaside). The logistics escape me, but the idea is definitely there.

Back to the Saturday sailboat adventure. We drove out to the east side of the island armed with coconut water, beer, and chips. Perfect sailing food.

4 guys, 2 girls, a boat, and 24 beers. What could possibly go wrong?

For starters the east side of the island isn't very windy in the winter, but that's okay. Out we went to the sandbar to anchor in and play in the water.

I saw a giant manta ray (sting ray?) while we were anchoring in. And by that I mean MC was in the water digging us in. We all saw the marine life and I made the executive decision to tell MC about that later. Seeing as how she did so well with the birds at the restaurant and the guys were talking about how there are sharks at the sandbar, I thought it best to leave her out of the loop on that one.

The fun thing about traveling semi solo is that you get to meet all sorts of interesting people and hear all sorts of hilarious stories that you think might be tales to pull your leg, but the more they talk and the more beers get drunk the more fun you realize you are having and you could care less about whether the stories are true or not.

The boys were so welcoming and so protective of us while we were out sailing. It reminds you that you can meet people and make a connection in as little as five minutes.

After the beer was consumed, teeth were chattering, and the rains rolled in we made our way back to the harbor to pack it in for the night and figure out what we were going to eat for dinner.

Oh and also take some killer photos at the dock because I wasn't about to take any photos on the sailboat because all I had was my phone and I just didn't feel stable enough in my sea legs to not drop that puppy into the Pacific.

I took a serious power nap once we got back to the hotel and woke up to MC telling me it was time to walk to dinner. Korean BBQ to be exact.

Before we got our table for dinner we walked next door to this dive music bar. A band was about to start and we all loaded up with some beer and stood around to watch the show. And the show was amazing, but the people watching was spectacular. It was a serious hodgepodge of people. Old men wearing 80s rock gear, hipsters, hard core rockers, and just about everything in between. That was definitely worth the price of beer.

Our waiter was amazing. I'm obnoxious to try and share food with because I don't eat red meat and Korean BBQ is a bit centered around the cow....But everyone was happy to oblige and eat some pork, red meat, and some killer veggies.

The music was an eclectic mix of rock and new wave pop music. You could write on the walls and it was traditional Korean BBQ. There was a hibachi grill in the middle of our table, veggies along the side, eggs, and rice. Build you own rice bowls. The waiter cooks the meat for you in the middle and you munch along to all the add ons surrounding you.

So. Much. Fun. We signed the wall and set out for some more adventures.

The tagline does not lie. It was the best.

There are no pictures from the night, but we wobbled with the locals at a mall bar, created a new version of the Weekend at Bernie's dance (there is a video somewhere), took an uber in a throwback Lincoln Towncar, went to the bar by the hotel and got hit on by some weirdos before we danced the night away and went to sit on the beach and watch the ocean and the stars.

Okay, fine, you caught me, I lied about the pictures. MC may have some and she sent me one. And it was the Australian Ron Jeremy hitting on me. He was relentless. The BIL had to intervene. It was awkward.

We were at a round table and he managed to box me out from everyone and he would not leave...

Around 0430 the BIL bailed and MC and I talked life and strolled home in the dwindling nightlife in Honolulu.

ARTafterDark

One of my favorite things to do while out of town is try and blend in with the locals as much as possible.

Am I any good at it? Mostly no, but I've got enthusiasm and am not easily embarrassed so I never give up hoping that it'll work out one day.

MC and I found out about ARTafterDark by scouring the local to do list papers and because the allusive BIL told us he was going and it should be a good time.

We got dolled up...you know as dolled up as you can get when you are living out of a backpack...and ubered ourselves on over to ARTafterDark.

ARTafterDark

AaD is held once a month on the last Friday of the month and we lucked out that we got to attend. The exhibit while we were there was Modern Love. It's only $10 to get in (or you can buy a membership and get in for free) and you can wander around and see all the exhibits, drink a few cocktails, see a live band, dance in the back "room" (?), and get in some serious people watching.

ArtafterDark

Now if you are trying to meet up with someone who you've never met (and may be a few cocktails a head of you) you are in for some serious miscommunication. I am at the bar. Oh me too. I don't see you. I am at the bar on the left side. Left side like when you enter?...You get the picture.

The best part was when MC and I walked in it was like walking into the school cafeteria on your first day in a new school and everyone stops and turns to see who you are. Clearly we were outsiders. It's like we had stamped on our forehead that we don't live in Hawai'i nor were we born there. We clearly were from the mainland. IMPOSTORS.

a little bit like this. 

After some back and forth we meandered around and listened to a killer girl band with a 14 year old drummer and then meandered towards the back room. I call it a room, I don't know what it was. There was tree, a bar, and a crapton of people. We stood there a little doe-eyed because there was so much to take in. Almost too much to take in. We sat next to the tree and started talking about the people we had seen, what we wanted to do while in Hawai'i, if we would ever meet the famed BIL.

ARTafterDark

Then casually strolls over this guy with the worst pickup line ever. Well maybe not ever, maybe our answer was just bad. "Do you guys like cats?" Answered with a resounding "No." You would have thought that would have been the end of the conversation. Never fear it was not. Because he was in the military and if there is one thing I have learned about our servicemen and women is that they are resilient people. We kept chatting, he brought over his friends, and introduced us like we were fresh meat. Which to be fair we were. But mostly we weren't because we were on a mission. MC suddenly gets a phone call from her "sister" and vanishes. Uhm. K. The boys ask if it was really her sister and I said of course it was, she has 3 of them after all it could have been? But no it was the allusive BIL!

We finally met him and he was super nice and friendly and then he Weekend at Bernie's us and did the drunk walk to find his friends. Did you know that when you are sober it is surprisingly hard to keep up with a drunk person. The military tagged along with us and then all of a sudden it was just MC and the military and I. MC and I piled into an uber to party with the military. Let's just say the military won and we lost and scampered off with our tails between our legs to go to bed.

But the next day promised more tom foolery, but this time in the form of the west side of the island and sailboat. Count us in.

Skydiving

Drunken pacts have gotten me into some funny situations.

Friday morning was no exception.

But let's first reverse this train back to Thursday night. MC and I had been day drinking which turned into Happy Hour drinking in the hotel lobby. If that's not a terrible rap song I don't know what is.

MC started talking politics to this nice lady and I started talking lumber, beer, and diesel engines with her boyfriend. Because those are things I know about. Politics, not so much.

They turned out to be really nice and super fun and as the Happy Hour progressed MC and I told them how we ended up in Hawai'i. This led to the conversation of making drunk pacts. We told  them how we were super devastated that we didn't get to Australia, but that while we were out one night in San Diego we made the pact that we would figure out when and how to get there and sealed it all with a cheers. (sensing a theme here yet....)

Naturally because it is an amazing idea they told us about scuba diving and then we booked a scuba excursion right then an there. Scuba diving led us to talking about jumping out of airplanes which then escalated into reserving a jump for the next morning on the North Shore. All sealed with a cheers of course.

We went our separate ways for dinner, met up in a bar later, talked nervously about how this was great idea, and got asked some super uncomfortable questions. Like super uncomfortable.

Bright and early the next morning we jumped in a VW bug with basically complete strangers and set out to hurtle ourselves out of an airplane. I had my reservations but I was more excited than nervous. Once we got to the place the jitters really started. The weather was overcast, the building was little more than a shack, and then we watched the dreaded video about what to do and not do when jumping out of airplane.

Then the reservations about what we were about to do starting rolling in. First they had a plane to catch (a real live jet plane), he had a bum knee, the sky was overcast, and then the two death knells (quite literally).

1.

Just take a gander at the photo that comes up when you google the company. 

2.

Thus we thought maybe we should just get some breakfast and then go see Pipeline and hang out on the North Shore for a little while.

That was a much much much better idea.

MC and I did decide that maybe when we actually get to Australia we should go skydiving there....

The Volcom Pipeline Pro was going on while we were in Hawai'i but that Friday the waves weren't firing so it was put on hold until the next day. That was kind of a bummer, but still pretty awesome to go and see.

Then we just sat and watched the water for a while. Absolutely amazing.

The drive back into Honolulu was equally awesome. Island countryside is pretty spectacular.

Hawai'i

Sealed with a cheers and some baller seats we were headed off to Honolulu.

Our flight may have been delayed but we were excited to go play ultimate tourists in Hawai'i. We thought about island hopping and made plans to do to it. And by made plans we did some research and that was it.

After our late arrival we were a little tired and haggard from flying and traveling non stop for the past 5 days....so naturally we crashed immediately after we got in our hotel room. Even though the guy that rode the elevator with us said that our room would be loud and good luck getting to sleep. #rude

We managed and I woke up silly early again because hellllo it's the beach. We ate some lackluster breakfast and then set out to the beach even if the skies were overcast and MC insisted the beach was one direction when in fact that was the canal and we had to turn around.

But when we turned around we decided to buy some beer and fireball. And a cooler. All these things seemed like a great idea at the time. The beer was clutch, right up until I had to pee and got to experience on the finer things in Hawai'i known as public beach bathrooms. They have stalls but no doors. That was exciting. Makes you pee really quickly.

Because MC knows people everywhere (ahem Gina in LA) we made a new friend while in Honolulu. He is the brother in law of one of the girls MC worked with. If that's not a Ferris Bueller reference I don't know what is.

voodoo economics. 

After a little Facebook stalking and a text later MC and I waiting on baited breathe for our response from the mysterious BIL. We didn't really. Only kinda. But mostly we just drank our beer and watched the ocean. We became voraciously hungry and wanted tropical drinks and set out in search of a way to cure those problems. Enter the restaurant where we ate way too many times.

source

Duke's is totally a chain but without the chain vibe and they are located directly on the water and serve hilarious drinks and flights of beer. The one downfall was there are a lot of birds that hang around and MC hates birds. So it was more a problem for her and a hilarious calamity for me.

 that night we made friends in at the happy hour at our hotel bar and we decided to meet up after dinner and then somehow (because when you make pacts when your drunk you must follow through) we all decided that in the morning we should all go skydiving....