Hawaii, The Final Day

I knew it had to come, my last day on the island.  But due to the fact that it takes a whole day to travel from Hawaii to Kentucky, I had decided to take a late flight home, maximizing my last day.  

After coffee, I left Rob to study and walked to Mass at St. Augustine by the Sea.  I had discovered this church, across the street from the beach, while we did our walking tour a few days ago.  I love to go to Mass on vacation, although the service is "universal" you really get a glimpse of the local culture.  For example, in Paris we celebrated Mass in Notre Dame.  How cool is that?

Oh yeah, it was tropical storming out, which forced me to buy an umbrella before I walked the half mile to the church.  I arrived only a little drippy and had such a fulfilling worship.  Everything was a little livelier than we do things back home and I really enjoyed singing along to the ukulele.   Interestingly, before Mass there was an announcement to visitors that only practicing Catholics should partake in communion.  I wonder if they have had tourists try to do it? And instead of alter servers, they had a nun who was barefoot, how's that for culture?  After the service, the priest made an announcement that the assistant priest for the Mass was a visitor from the Canadian National Guard, who was a priest chaplain in Hawaii as part of RIMPAC.  

It never fails that Mass gives me just what I need, and St. Augustine by the Sea was no exception.  The exit hymn was "Your Grace is Enough," which just so happens to be Anne's favorite.  She sings in the car all the time at full volume.  Yup, it's time for this mama to go home and see her ducklings.  

But first, I had one last date with the hubs.  The other day while we enjoyed our coffee at the Manoa Surfrider, we noticed that they do high tea.  Since this is something we don't get to do with the kids around, we made a reservation.  Again, if you ever have the opportunity, I suggest you give this a try!

The Surfrider is a cool, old building.  It's actually on the National Register of Historic Places and is referred to as The First Lady of Waikiki. While we were there we saw more than one bride taking photos.  So of course, I started planning a wedding for Anne at St. Augustine with a reception at the Surfrider.  Rob should start saving now.

Back to tea... we were seated at the best table on the verandah, fortunately there was a break in the rain.

Isn't that menu fancy?  Part of this tea service that we have never experienced before was this tea box.  The waiter brought over samples of each of the teas for us to smell while he described them.  It was really cool and helped us pick the best ones, although they all smelled delicious.  

I ordered the First Lady Tea, which came with a souvenir fan and a glass of sparkling wine.  Of course I enjoyed these like a true southern belle.  

There's just something about a three tiered tray of goodies that makes me feel happy and fancy.

I love clotted cream.  It's a good thing it isn't readily available at the Hebron Kroger, or else I would be in trouble.  Clotted cream on a berry scone? Thank you, sir, I'll have another!

Rob's tea came with an extra dessert, which was a mini pot de creme and ginger biscotti.  

Then, there was the dessert course.  The lady bug thing was odd, because the lady bug was a different consistency than the cup it was sitting on.  We took the two apart and it was delicious.  The macaron was mango and very good.

When tea was over it was time to pack.  The whole gang had an early dinner at the Shore Bird. I had to leave early to get to the airport, which turned out to be a good thing because everyone else got soaked walking back to the hotel.  Of course, that means we were driving to the airport in the worst rain I have ever seen.  I think Hawaii was crying because it was sad I was leaving.

Tropical storm aside, it was an amazing trip.  It's sometimes a challenge to go places with Rob when he has been there many times and I never have.  Most of what we did this time was new to him.  We look forward to going back in a few years when the kids are older and can deal better with the time change.  Maybe RIMPAC 2018??

Oh yeah, one more thing.  I took the picture below as we were boarding our 6 hour flight to Salt Lake City.  They were making announcements about needing people to check their carry-ons for free because the flight was full and there wasn't enough overhead storage to accommodate everyone.  And I looked over and saw this woman getting on with this floral arrangement.  What was she planning to do with that for 6 hours?  Hold it in her lap?  Put it under the seat?  Maybe she bought it a ticket?