Hawaii 5-0

I have a really erratic work schedule. The first two days of this week started with an early morning assignment followed by another assignment in the early evening. In between my three assignments on Tuesday I found out that I was going to Hawaii the next morning. Do I have any clean underwear? I love that part of my job. The going places, not the worrying about underwear.

Anyway, Obama is heading to Honolulu to see his ailing grandmother. I will join the traveling press pool for two days.

I’ve never been to Hawaii, so this is a good opportunity to see what I have been missing all these years. It is also great that I will be able to cross off another state on my quest to visit every state in the United States. Only five more to go.

Upon my arrival in Honolulu I heard a very familiar sound as I walked out of the airport terminal - the distinctive ringing of a San Francisco cable car bell. Sure enough, there was one of those motorized cable car replicas driving by. That’s a little out of place. The funny thing is, I have probably seen more cable car type vehicles in the past few days than I have seen in the past month in San Francisco. I don’t quite understand. Did they get some sort of deal on these things or something?
My first day on the island was spent reliving the life of Barack Obama. I drove all around in my Ford Mustang convertible visiting things from his past. No, I didn't put the top down. Didn't want to mess up my hair. On my journey, I photographed his old school, his grandmother’s house, the place he spread his mother’s ashes and the place beach where he used to bodysurf. This place is beautiful. I’m not too wild about the touristy downtown area, but it isn’t hard to escape that by driving 20 minutes outside of town.

I rolled the dice on a hotel that I found online called Celebrity Resort. Yeah, I know, cheesy name. It was pretty low rent. I might even go so far as to say that the Final Stay in Denver was a little bit nicer. My room was pretty funny. Bad early eighties white furniture and really bad art. It had a little balcony that overlooked a courtyard with a pool. When I pulled back the curtains the first thing I saw was two really large women on lounge chairs by the pool. I never opened the curtain again. The TV was the polar opposite of my TV at the Final Stay. If you remember, the TV in that room had a picture but the sound would not turn up past 4. Well, this one had sound, but no picture. I am obviously not meant to watch TV.
I met up with Honolulu Star Bulletin photographer Jamm Aquino and his girlfriend Erica for a beer. I think every photographer that comes through this town ends up hanging with Jamm. Super cool guy. I thank him for all of his recommendations of places for me to eat at. Not like I need to eat anymore than I do, but how could I pass up sushi in Hawaii.