Hawaii Log (Part 2)

Beyond the Friday day trip to Kaua’i, which I summarily described in Part 1 of this Hawaii log, there is not much point in detailing the work I was doing on this trip. For one thing, it is premature. We were simply working on a training course that is still in development and previewed some of it at a day-long workshop at Pacific Risk Management Ohana (PRiMO) conference at the Hawaii Convention Center. The rest will become apparent when it reaches completion and NDPTC is prepared to unveil it. In the meantime, we are figuring out what works and why. Suffice it to say our trio of consultants spent Saturday morning shaping our presentations, and I spent my Sunday morning refining mine. Meanwhile, my wife and grandson were entertaining themselves at the nearby Ala Moana Mall, Hawaii’s largest. It contains, among numerous other stores, a Barnes & Noble, where they bought Angel some books to read on the trip home. Being ten, he chose a mixture of Goosebumps and Wimpy Kid, if I recall correctly.

While I worked on Sunday morning in our room on the 29th floor, Jean and Angel went swimming. They’re down there in the middle.

For those few elitist adults who may groan and grimace at those selections, I would note that he (a) reads books and (b) enjoys them. I cannot say that my choices were any more sophisticated at that age, and I doubt many of them can, either, if they are honest. The first step in developing a reading habit is to enjoy it. I might also mention that he has been reading Tom Sawyer lately, though a version adapted to his age level. But he at least knows about Mark Twain.I can thank our colleague Gavin Smith for recommending Saturday’s lunch, once we had completed our collective work. The four of us headed to Nico’s at Pier 38, just off the Nimitz Freeway along the waterfront. Nico’s has both a sandwich operation as well as poke, or raw fish, which I admit is not my thing, so I picked up a cooked ahi tuna sandwich and provided the beers. Hawaii, like most states these days, has its own brewery, Kona, on the big island, which produces a couple of brands including Longboard. I tend to favor local microbreweries when I can, and while I have not checked on whether Kona is actually “micro,” I will say it is not a bad beer (which is Midwestern for saying it is quite good). It is smooth, not too hoppy, with a mellow taste, worth a try. I found myself trying it again throughout the trip when it was available. Nico’s has the added benefit of outdoor seating and an open air atmosphere that lets you feel that you really are enjoying your Saturday afternoon yet away from the tourist traps. Not that we avoided all the tourist traps.

In fact, that evening I effectively insisted on finding one. On a previous trip to Oahu, I had learned about Duke’s, a restaurant named after Duke Kahanamoku, who in Hawaii was an almost legendary athlete, the godfather of surfing, and an Olympic swimmer who competed for the U.S. in the 1920s with Johnny Weismuller and won gold medals in 1912 and 1920. Duke was a great ambassador for Hawaii who effectively taught modern surfing to the Australians. Duke’s is a sufficiently popular outpost along Kalakaua Blvd. in Waikiki that our party of three had to wait about an hour for seating. That gave us time to browse the gift shops in the hotel hallway that leads to the restaurant, which backs out onto the beach. It also gave me time to show Angel the nearby statue of Duke in the park just to the west, where his beveled image faces the city amid sand and palms. It was installed in 1990 on the centennial of his birth.

Surfing had been a favored sport of Hawaiians long before Captain Cook stumbled into the place, followed by numerous other Europeans and Americans in the 19^th century. The newcomers heavily discouraged surfing, and it waned among the natives, as did hula, also discouraged by colonizers and missionaries. Duke led the resurgence for surfing; hula has also revived, which is fortunate for world culture because it is a uniquely Hawaiian art form that is in fact a form of storytelling. And surfing has become a worldwide water sports phenomenon, a Hawaiian gift to the world.

Dinner on the beach at Duke’s after dusk. (From a previous visit in 2012)

Eventually our hour approached, and we got seated. Duke’s has a very good salad bar, for starters, with a number of options, but it is the seafood that draws me back. I ordered their opah, Hawaiian moonfish, grilled in garlic and lemon butter, accompanied by asparagus and rice. I think it is remarkably delicious, soft and flaky but flavorful. The asparagus was nearly perfect, juicy but also crisp. I no longer recall what my wife and grandson ordered, but I do know that no one complained, even about our 20-minute walk back to the hotel on a beautiful night.

In the next part of this log, I will discuss our two outings on the ocean and other diversions.

Jim Schwab