By: Marcia Abramson
I was looking forward to presiding over a conference as president of the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association in Hawaii, but not to the 11-hour flight from New York to Honolulu. Prior to leaving, I chose to go for a relaxing day at the Capellini Salon and Day Spa in Woodmere. In retrospect, the Swedish massage by Heather really put me in good stead for the first lap of my journey via San Francisco. Actually, Heather has no equals when it comes to administering a massage in my opinion. Donna, the pedicurist, did a fine job as well and made walking a good deal more comfortable for me on the sands of Waikiki. Of course, I was the best coifed passenger on the plane and could have had the best "made over" face after the full hair and makeup session at Capellini's, if I did not have to sleep the night before taking off. But nevertheless, I do recommend above all else the Heather massage and the Donna pedicure in preparation for a pleasant vacation experience.
The flight on Delta Airlines went off without a hitch and was non-eventful until I arrived in San Francisco and made my way to wait for my Hawaiian connection. I then learned, that like many other plane passengers, my flight had been canceled. I had the option of leaving the next evening or making a 6 a.m. flight the next morning to Los Angeles and then catching an 8 a.m. plane for Honolulu. Throughout this ordeal, Delta's personnel were very helpful and did provide me with overnight lodging at a Ramada not too far from the airport and vouchers for dinner and breakfast in the sum of $18. Just one problem, I had to get to the airport by 5 a.m. when no restaurants were open. However, these were just minor frustrations, except for the fact that the Ramada personnel were so efficient that instead of a 4 a.m. wake-up call they decided that a 3 a.m. call was a better way to make certain that I did not miss my 4:30 a.m. bus to the airport. But I did take off on time and arrived at our beautiful 50th state without further mishaps. There is the Waikiki Shuttle which took me to my hotel, the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, after a few stops at other skyscraper hotels. Quite frankly, I was not prepared for the ultra-modern city of Hawaii with its tall tower-like buildings, Costcos, McDonald's and Home Depots, particularly after brushing up on the early history of Hawaii by re-reading James Michener's great book, "Hawaii," before departing.
There were other surprises in store for me, like not finding any authentic Hawaiian ukuleles for less than $300. Most of the reasonably priced ones are made in China. Interestingly, these four- stringed guitar-like instruments actually were Portuguese in origin and were introduced to Hawaii in the 1880s. The same is true of the grass Hula skirts. But everything else in Oahu met all my expectations and then some. The balmy climate, the swaying majestic green palm trees, the exquisite continental gourmet cuisine, the chocolate covered macadamia nuts and above all the beautiful people all added to a very pleasurable sojourn of 12 days visiting the islands of Oahu (Waikiki), the Big Island of Hawaii and Maui. What a wonderful day it was in 1959 when President Dwight Eisenhower declared Hawaii part of the United States. This South Sea Island has its Polynesian culture, Hawaiian Pigdin and English official languages, its own state flag of eight stripes of red, white and blue representing each of the large islands with a design similar to the British Union Jack.
The hotels are luxurious with excellent restaurants, spas, sandy beaches and pools. My stay at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki was very pleasant with the presentation of the ubiquitous flowered lei upon check-in. In addition to the Hawaiian Kono coffee, and Green tea, I found instant packets of Japanese Miso soup a helpful pick-me-up after a day of sightseeing at the hotel. After a restful afternoon, I went off to Sam Choy's restaurant and with the members of IFW & TWA had a wonderful reception with a fabulous buffet of pressed duck, foie gras, coconut dipped prawns, scallops, beef and chicken kabobs and a luscious chocolate dessert.
The next day my group went off to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. A free Navy shuttle took us over to the memorial. We saw a historic film on that fateful day, December 7, 1941, proclaimed as "a Day of Infamy" by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was the day that the Japanese staged a sneak attack on the American Navy. I had a sense of the solemn atmosphere of this place which is the tomb of the 1,100 crewman who lost their lives that day. The 1,760-pound bomb exploded into a huge fireball and downed the ship within nine minutes. The deck of the ship lies six feet below the surface. The U.S. flag flies from a pole attached to the severed mainmast of the Arizona. I saw a bubble of oil which I was told comes from the watery grave of the U.S. S. Arizona.
My next column will deal with the other attractions on Oahu. You can contact me with questions on this popular destination at mascribe@aol.com.
Copyright by Marcia Abramson.
