We're Off to Hawaii

We only have five summers left with Stephen until he's off to college or wherever life takes him so we made a list of the places we'd like to go each summer before he flies the coup. This year we chose to explore Hawaii! 

After talking with everyone we know who has been to Hawaii multiple times, it was clear that for most people their favorite location was Kauai. We wanted the Hawaii vacation you see in the movies…palm trees everywhere, super laid back, no high-rise condos or cars everywhere. I waited forever to book our flights because I knew Southwest would be flying to the islands and the prices would drop. I’ve never seen Mike so freaked out about my lack of planning. On the day flights for Southwest went on sale, we got tickets. Since they don’t fly to Kauai, we were only able to fly home on Southwest. We’ll be taking flights on three different airlines. Alaska to Kauai, Hawaiian between Kauai and Oahu and Southwest home. I found it was significantly cheaper to fly to Kauai out of San Diego so we rented an SUV and took off on our latest adventure. 

I’ve been known as the tour dictator for years. My family expects it and relies on me to tell them how we’re going to spend every minute of each day. Since this is a laid-back vacation for all of us, I decided to only book four excursions in advance. 14 days in Hawaii with hardly any plans. We’ll see how this goes!

After a quick stop in El Centro for some lunch at their #1 rated Mexican food restaurant, we arrive in San Diego in the early afternoon. We are all feeling lazy so we hang out in the hotel room. We’re staying at the Old Town Inn by the airport. As soon as we roll into the parking lot and Kyle sees the hotel sign, he started singing Old Town Road over and over again. We all wanted to strangle him! He knows every word and sings/raps his heart out so it is pretty entertaining but after the 15th time, we couldn’t take it anymore! I wish he would put that much energy into learning his spelling words. 

Here’s where the fun begins. My family was happy to know I would be making few plans for this trip but the first thing that Mike and the boys ask me when we arrive is, “Where are we going now?” I tell them I have no plans and they blankly stare at each other lost so we hang out in the hotel room longer. Kyle asks again what we're going to do and nobody answers. I suggest that someone go and check out a movie from the lobby since we’re feeling so lazy. Stephen comes back with the original Rocky. movie. He watched it for about 20 minutes and got on his phone. I looked over and all of us were on our phones. 

I couldn’t take our no plans vacation any longer today! I suggest that we get out of the hotel room and head to Mission Beach. It’s only a few minutes away so everyone agreed. We got there and I quickly remembered why I love Rocky Point so much and could care less to ever vacation on a beach in California. The wind was blowing, we were wearing pants and hoodies and we were freezing. There were people EVERYWHERE! The only highlight of our quick trip to the beach was that Kyle got to hop on a scooter bike and he pretended as though he rented it. He rode that thing all over the place. After realizing that we were all miserable at the beach, we began our hunt for some dinner. I was asked where we should go for dinner, I again reminded the family that I made no plans and I differed to them. I’m not a big hamburger fan so when I plan our meals, we never go out for hamburgers. They are now in charge…the three of them (Mike being the leader) so they decide we are eating hamburgers for dinner! They pick two different places that sell hamburgers and can’t decide which one to go to. It was a comedy routine listening to them try to figure out where to go without me interjecting. Finally, Mike settled on a bar/restaurant away from the beach. We drove there and found the place was a corner bar with no windows and did not look like a place responsible parents (ha!) should take their kids for dinner. 

Off we went to option #2, Hodad's. We waited in line for about 30 minutes before we were seated. I thought Stephen was going to eat his arm. He was hangry and was not happy to be there. We were sat and the life slowly started returning to Stephen's body. This place is so cool! Surfboards everywhere, super laid-back vibe and the food…the food was amazing!! The boys and I started off with a vanilla milkshake. Dessert before dinner is always the best! Then the food comes. I had the best hamburger I’ve ever had in my 41 years of life. The blue jay burger was amazing! I think the waitress thought I was crazy. I asked her to hold the onions on my burger then I ordered onion rings! I hate onions but these onion rings were delicious. Mike and the boys loved their oversized bacon cheeseburgers. If you are ever in San Diego, you must go to Hodad’s. Guy Fieri was right when he recommended this place. We rolled ourselves out of there and went back to our room. We plopped our fat, happy bodies on the bed and went to sleep. We have an early flight in the morning. 

Best thing about today: Stephen – “Hodad's”, Kyle – “Hodad’s”, Mike – “Hodad’s”, Amber – “Hodad’s”