Hawaii 2011 (Day Nine)

Nine days seems like a long pause between arriving and doing one of the things you most want to do on vacation. When it comes to surfing, though, that which most attracts also most repels. You see, surfing scares the sea foam out of me, which is approximately 75% of its attraction. Surfing in Hawaii scares me doubly, because of the treacherous coral outcroppings and shallow surf breaks.

Despite the horrific story 'Ito told us about his surf instructor friend almost dying at this Waikiki surf spot, I decided to get past my fears and sign up for a morning surf course/session. I chose to have my surf lessons with the recommended Hans Hederman Surf School (yes, that was who Ito's friend worked for).

As you can might guess from the photo, we had to paddle out past coral during low tide. I didn't wonder why we went over how to both get up on our boards and to crawl back down without actually falling onto the coral. I have not had a lot of long rides on a surfboard, and the prospect of not only popping up and sticking usually doesn't require the added difficulty of crawling back down.

Fortunately, the added fear factor helped me have my longest rides. In fact, I had to come in a bit early because my legs and arms were completely wrecked from successfully catching and riding waves (sadly, being out into the low-tide distance meant that my weak camera couldn't capture any of these rides respectably). I will have to wait for a future surf session for that, sadly.

When we got back from the surf session (and post-surf nosh), LK and 'Ito hosted a party for us (to both celebrate and meet more of their friends). Nothing compliments a morning surf session like pre-party mojito.

Miriam's lei had survived the 9 days with the aid of refrigeration.

A trip to the local Whole Foods netted us this piece of New Mexico. Yes, we had a bit of adult beverage variety going on here. It's Hawaii!

Of course, you know that wherever members of Supper Club™ meet, good food is sure to follow.

Miriam are a little enamored with this zucchini pesto salad (serving the raw zucchini in thin ribbons with basil, cheese, pine nuts, olive oil, and lemon is pretty much my definition of a perfect food). When we got back from Hawaii, we ate this every week.

The party guests did impressions of their drinks. Here we have the dread of an Irish Guinness.

The casual friendliness of a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Hanging loose with nary a glass or tumbler.

LK and 'Ito not only organized our day and evening, they made us feel like honored guests. Thank you for the hospitality!