I was in charge of creating the itinerary for the Oahu leg of the trip, so naturally, Sunday had to be Don Ho Day. Lori and I were up early, but Linda was a little difficult to get out of bed. Linda is definitely not a morning person. In college on weekends, I frequently had to wait until noon or 1:00 PM, if I wanted to go to breakfast with Linda. But we finally got her up, and she decided to go for a run. Lori went for a walk. I waited patiently for them to return. We were doing enough walking over the course of the day, without wasting time walking nowhere in particular just for the sake of walking. We went to breakfast at the Wailana Coffee Shop around the corner. It has the atmosphere of a diner, with fast-moving waitresses who call you honey and serve you mouth-watering food at cheap prices. Lori and I had eaten there a few times last year, and it quickly became our breakfast routine on this trip.
After breakfast, we drove Linda around the island, stopping at places that we had seen last year: National Cemetery of the Pacific, the breathtaking views of Nuuanu, and the Na Pali Lookout. Oahu was everything that we had remembered and Linda was very impressed. We went shopping at Hilo Hattie’s (the Wal-Mart of Hawaii), and then Linda and I spent some time at the Ala Moana mall. I found a Hawaiian shirt at Hilo Hattie’s that I thought would be appropriate for the Don Ho show.
The excitement mounted as we drove to the Waikiki Beachcomber for the Don Ho show. We all had our picture taken with Don after the meal, before the show started. I requested that he sing Kanaka Wai Wai, my favorite song, and he agreed. The show was wonderful. Linda was entranced by Don as well, and Lori thought we were both nuts. At the end of the show, I bought more CD’s, including one for my three-year-old niece Courtney, whom I have converted into a Don Ho fan. We stood in the autograph line, letting other people get ahead of us, so we would be last in line to see him. Poor Don had the flu, so there were no kisses this year – only hugs. He seemed to like Linda a lot (maybe I won’t let her come next year!) and she joked with him. I got a long hug, and a "Love you, honey" from him, which will have to last me until next year. Linda and I floated back to the hotel, with Lori in tow, scoffing at us.