That's what Hawaii Girls are made of!

Happy Mommy's Day to me! I got to have the best friends a girl could have, when they will take your ass on a trip to Waikiki, Oahu Hawaii. We had a blast and tore it up like we young again. Drinking, dancing and lots of beach time.
We departed on Thursday, they picked me up before 4am, a bit overly excited. We would have a layover in Oakland, and yes start our trip off right with a morning drink. Then shuffled ourselves around a bit on the plane to have seats together, but we made it work. Could the flight there BE any longer! Arrival we found ourselves a shuttle and off we went. Unfortunately for us the hotel we chose was a bit less extravagant than their webpage promoted. No drink or lea upon arrival. Then we get to our room and instead of the requested 2 double beds we expected, there was 1 full. Are you FREAKING kidding me! Lashelle did her best to complain, she's just not bitchy enough.... insert Carrie here. After insisting they had no other rooms, but would do their best to correct their error on Friday, we accepted free Starbucks for our stay and a rollaway. Don't ask how four grown woman can all sleep on 1 full size bed and a single roll away, just use your imagination and make it work. Or maybe we were just that tired after our trip and then exploring and drinking up Waikiki til late Thursday.
But we were on the move by 7am on Friday to hit the International Market Place, of course Starbucks run first. A shoppers delight. When we finally realized it was lunch time, and only halfway through the market with bags strung from our arms, it was time to break. Drinks it is! So we found a nice little place overlooking the market that had cheap Mia Tai's and yummy nachos and we were set. Drop our bags at the hotel and back to the market, no joke. By afternoon we were done shopping, so we popped into a little bar and had.... you guessed it. More drinks and a few games of pool. A few drinks later we made our way back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes and YES a new room. Complete with 2 beds and a BEAUTIFUL ocean view! We couldn't be more pleased. We dressed and hit a street fair going on right outside our hotel that offered samples of delicious food from Waikiki's finest restaurants, some hot Polynesian dancers, lea making, a live band, and shopping. We managed to find a great poolside bar at a nearby hotel to sit and chat at until we needed to move on. A band at our lunch stop for that day proved to be a good option so we hit it up. A few drinks in a nice and large gentleman made his way over to Lacy, layed a hand on her shoulder and swatted at her long brown locks. (Due to the fantastic weather in Hawaii just about everything is "open air" so all the "natives" can just wander in. No biggie to see a gecko crawling the walls, but a GIGANTIC cockroach nose diving into Lacy's hair was just excessive. Fortunately for her this nice man had her back. We felt the need to buy him and his girl a drink for being such nice citizens. The cockroach was 86ed for annoying other patrons.
So once we were kicked from that venue, they suggested we head over to a place across the way with a dj til 4am. Well why not? Some how my drink was always full when I came off the dance floor (thanks Shelle) and eventually Lacy and I had put enough alcohol into Lashelle and Lynn to get them dancing, err yeah dancing until the lights went up and the music shut down. As Lashelle was paying the tab she decides what the hell, a shot of goldslauger it is, ALL AROUND. So we four put down our shot and began the stagger back to the hotel. Good thing that the sidewalk was empty cause we were all over it. And once outside our hotel we needed to sit and have a break, or Shelle and Lacy needed to wander off with some strange rasta guy. SO I followed across the street to supervise, then decided a 4am swim sounded better, and it felt GREAT! We hung out beachside til the sun came up. As we giggled our way through the front doors of our hotel a nice young Hawaiian lad grabbed us some warm towels, sweet boy, and we made it back to our room. I hit the balcony to get some great sunrise shots to come back in to the others all in the shower, together, and not naked. They were giggling like kiddies. After havingly to strongly decline an invite in, I slipped out to grab some breakfast for everyone and returned to all of them sleeping. Sleeping, at 7am, in Hawaii?! Not me! I ate, showered, dressed and ventured out. I ended up getting some souvenir shopping done and wandered a few local shops on the off street. I talked with some local artists about Hawaiian history and culture. Took pictures of beautiful flowers, trees and architecture. Such a marvelous time, spent alone.
Returned early afternoon and awoke the girls for some beach time, which I retired early from to get some sleep that my body was calling for. How old am I? There was a time not far ago that I could go for an entire weekend without missing a beat. Man am I old. I got away with a few hours before I was woke up to head to dinner. We all were looking far from spring chickens through-out dinner, not even finishing our drinks. Nobody even suggested stopping for a drink or club all the way back to the hotel. By the time we were in our room the consensus was "Well guess since we're here......". I slept so well that night.
Sunday, my final day. Oh sweet bitterness. Oh how I miss my boys, oh how I LOVE Hawaii. We headed out early to hike Diamond Point; an extinct crater that offers a nice little hike to reward you with a superb view of Waikiki and the ocean. Exquisite!
We decided to walk the 3 miles back to our hotel, it was all downhill. The walk provided both a senic view of residential Waikiki, but the time to discuss and decide to get tatoos from Hawaii. Back at the hotel we called to find a tatoo shop open on Sunday and close to the hotel. After lunch we walked probably two miles to get there. (All the walking helped burn off all that good island food and eat more. =) We were tatood by Michelle, a local gal. She looked 22, and was in her late 30's! She said the island air keeps you young. Something about the moisture and salt in the air. I dunno, but her skin was lovely. She had a great laugh and put a just perfectly placed orchid on my right lower leg. Lashelle got a lizard on her foot, and Lacy a sea turtle with the Hawaiin islands within the turtle- the neatest design.
We had to hoof it back to the hotel so I could get packed and changed to catch a late jet plane. I had one last shot with my Hawaii Girls before they put me on a shuttle with a crazy, old polynesian, female driver. She drove like a nutt and told all of us crazy things about the island and local happenings. The drive took longer than anticipated and I was rushed through the line at the airport to run and catch my plane.
I was seated between a rather large gentleman that was passed out beyond his "sacred seat line" and a tall skinny guy who passed out shortly after take off. I was on the red eye and sleep deprived, but the stress of my 1st solo flight combined with my discomfort of touching strangers and I'm huddled in the middle of my chair, headphones in, watching the inflight movies. I actually cried during the end of Elizabethtown, but nobody noticed CAUSE THEY WERE ALL SLEEPING. I did catch the brilliance of day coming up over the large gentleman snoring. I knew I was close to home and my 6am arrival.
What a trip. And I got to come home to my guy. Who not only took care of our boys and made sure I had money to spend, welcomed me home to a clean home and a Mother's Day gift; adorable ruby and diamond earrings. I am so spoiled! Although I don't expect to get this every year, I will always remember that my guys think I am worth it.