A Hui Hou

Packing for these two weeks was tight, but I managed to squeeze everything into my suitcases after working out at the hotel. All packed up, I drove to a nearby condo development to pick up the brother of the bride. He had asked for a ride to the airport as he is flying over to Big Island for some camping adventures and the bride knew my flight time was similar.

My plan this morning was to try to get into Star Noodle, a super popular oceanfront noodle restaurant. I had put myself on the waitlist and since it’s on the way to the airport, thought I would try. He was down for the chance as well. But conveniently enough, the bride had a reservation with her friends right at opening, so we were able to join them. A collage below of the experience, but with many dishes missing as we ate them too quickly:



Then the group parted ways and we were headed to the airport. On the way, we filled up the tank of the rental car. We actually spotted a chicken and it’s egg just hanging out on top of the fuel pump. I don’t know what comes first, the chicken or the egg, but always gas before returning the rental car:



The non-TSA pre-check lines were pretty ridiculous. I guess flying to Maui is super popular, but with people who don’t travel often. As such, I zipped through with my TSA pre-check status and was at my gate very quickly.

I breezed through some souvenir shops and didn’t buy anything. I think it’s because my shopping enabling enthusiastic friends weren’t around. I do miss their energy for retail.

Although I originally wanted to fly through Los Angeles, the flight that I had been tracking had skyrocketed in price. As such, I had to settle on a flight back to Honolulu and then through Minneapolis. I will arrive in NYC tomorrow on Labor Day morning and will hopefully use the day to run errands, laundry, and get settled back into routines and life.

The flight from Maui was around 30 minutes and I landed back in Honolulu for the third time in two weeks! In a short time, we had visited three of the eight main Hawaii islands (there are technically over 130!). As I sit by the gate and wait to hear the boarding calls back to the mainland, I think of “A Hui Hou”. It means “until we meet again”, because in Hawaii, they don’t like to say goodbye. So I look forward to returning someday to Hawaii to see friends and for some “Aloha Vibes Only”…