Week 25: Oceanfest at O’ahu

My apologies: My post for this week is a bit late. Hubby and I took some well-deserved R&R along the coast. We also almost bought a new T-shirt, but I resisted, at least for now.

Summer is at its full swing, in most places, at least.  It’s unseasonably cold where we live, and it almost feels like fall or winter.

With this cold weather, it would be appropriate to think warm thoughts. Also, since its still vacation/road-trip season, I thought we’d take a trip (again) to the Hawaiian Islands.

This shirt is probably the first t-shirt that Hubby bought for me in Hawaii. It was my first time to the island of O’ahu, and we were strolling along Waikiki and sightseeing. We saw some festivities in the lobby of the Outrigger, where we were staying, and decided to check it out. There were several booths about ocean-related activities, shopping, and entertainment. Unfortunately, we were not able to see much of the surfing (which this T-shirt features) because of timing. Hubby bought me this t-shirt as a souvenir of that occasion and our trip to O’ahu.

It looks like that now, OceanFest is a big event in O’ahu. It is “dedicated to promoting Hawaii’s ocean sports heritage.” It also commemorates Duke Kahanamoku, who is considered to be ”The Father of International Surfing” and probably “Hawaii’s greatest athlete.” For more info, check out OceanFest’s festivities from last year.

A final note: We had a lot of fun that trip and greatly enjoyed what the island had to offer. Before this trip, I thought O’ahu was just “the big city,” but I was very much mistaken. Not only did we enjoy Waikiki Beach, but we also snorkeled at Hanauma Bay, windsurfed and kayaked at Hale’iwa and Kailua, enjoyed a stroll to Waimea Falls, devoured shaved ice on the North Shore (also at Hale’iwa), enjoyed the Byoodoin Temple, and lastly, enjoyed a truly fabulous luau at Germaine’s. As we visit this island more, one can see that there is so much more history and culture about it. It is a confluence of the many cultures that make up Hawai'i. As the nickname implies, O'ahu is truly The Gathering Place.