In October I did a little time travel, in Hawaii.

On Friday I visited the future of fine dining in Hawaii when Kay and I attended Kapiolani Community College's (University of Hawaii) "Culinary Dinner in the Monarch Room" in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. The young culinary giants of the future treated us to a five course dinner with entrees that have never been seen before. Dr. John Morton was our guide and his students did everything themselves, the presentation was outstanding. It was truly a glimpse into the future of what fine dining will look and taste like in Hawaii as these wonderful students graduate and move into Waikiki's finest restaurants.

On Saturday night, I traveled five decades into Hawaii's past when I attended my 50th Class Reunion at Honolulu's Roosevelt High School . Our graduating class had over 500 students and except for the 83 that have left us, it seemed most were there. My classmate and buddy, Gerry Silva was our guide into the 50's. He reminded us that Roosevelt High School in 1956 was the last English standard school in Hawaii, (whatever that meant) and Hawaii was still a territory. Our conversations took us back to when we were 17-and 18-year olds, when we used the old Pali Road (a switch back two lane road that crossed over Honolulu's Ko'olau Mountain to get from Honolulu to the windward side (Kailua). We reminded each other of when we necked in our cars at the Diamond Head lookout claiming to watch submarine races and when we rode the waves in Makaha and played in Waikiki. Those were the days.

On Tuesday, I was brought firmly back to the present when I attended a breakfast at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel hosted by Riki Ellison, President of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA). We were introduced to the 21 st Century "welcome wagon for North Korean missiles." After 93 successful tests, our guide and project manager for the X-Band Radar vessel (the big ship with the enormous golf ball looking thing on it), Col. John Fellows, showed us how we can now hit a bullet with a bullet at 60,000 MPH. The whole presentation was Star Wars and very comforting to know we have people like Ellison and Fellows and their dedicated crews looking out for us.

Then on Sunday morning while we were still in bed in our two story house in Hawaii Kai our house did a fast hula, a vamp to the right and a vamp to the left and on and on. This is very unusual for Oahu, earthquakes are normally on the big islands next to the volcanoes. The power went out so we had a day without electricity and computers it was unreal, but it turned out to be the most wonderful day. It was a true family experience. We did our daily water ski played in the lagoon and it was wonderful as always.

Lucky Luck a 50's DJ said it right, "Lucky you live in Hawaii."

Bob Hampton


Please send questions about this website to webmaster
Copyright© 1999 - 2023 Waikiki Beach Activities. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use / Legal Disclaimer / Privacy Statement
Site Designed and Managed by MacBusiness Consulting