Hawaii - Day 1

Friday Jan. 21st 5pm: It has finally hit me that we are actually going to Hawaii. It actually hit me a few days ago when I saw a tv commercial about Hawaii. Now I’m totally excited. First off, however, I want to say that chances are very slim that Jim and I would have been able to go if I had not been selected by my work to go. It costs a lot of money.

6:30: We check into our hotel, The Wellsley Inn, in the city so that we can be closer to the airport in the morning and not have to drive an hour to get there. We both have our cell phones, by the way, and they will figure prominently later on.

7:00: We arrive at the mall to buy suit jackets. There is a semi-formal function on the last night and we want to look good. Jim thinks it is wrong to get so dressed up in Hawaii, by the way. Jim finds a sport coat (the first one he tries on) and takes it. I try on a couple of coats; while they aren’t bad, I decide I want something a little plainer. I go for a plain black coat. Nice & ordinary. The sleeves end up being too long and need to be fitted so the salesperson (how PC of me) takes us to the fitting area to get my coat fitted. As the tailor fits my jacket, he discovers that I’m wearing the exact same jacket as he is wearing. Now we wait an hour while the jacket is adjusted and they are both pressed.

7:15: I realize that I’ve forgotten my bathing suit (Jim ONLY reminded me to pack it 3 times that day). We walk to Sears and JCPenny and find nothing. Target must have one. First, however, we need to eat. We decide on Friendly’s (after finding that Common Ground has closed; we don’t get to the mall very often). Not a pleasant dinner but adequate.

8:15: We pick up our suits and head to Target where we do find a bathing suit.

8:50: We arrive back at the hotel and Jim watches a bit of 3rd watch then we turn in for the night. We’ll need all the sleep we can get for the big day ahead of us tomorrow.