Art Night with Jen

(Katherine) We decided to stay in the resort area all day and snorkel at one of the 3 lagoons that were located on the other side of the main street surrounded by hotels and condos. The fish weren't quite as abundant as they were in Kona, but with a little exploration were were able to find some pretty good pockets. We headed back to the condo to shower up for our evening out, but learned that the hot water was out – great. Luckily, we're very resourceful people, so we hopped back on our bikes and went back to the beach where we showered at the outdoor shower (bathing suits on, obviously.) I actually washed my hair via the sink in the public bathroom since we weren't supposed to use soap in the showers. Naturally, within 15 minutes of our return to the condo, the water came back on. Oh well.


We finally got on the road & headed to the house of one of my SF friends who moved to Hawaii about a year ago, Jen. It was great to see her and her dog Snowy, and after a few minutes of catching up some of her friends stopped by to collect us so we could all head out to the Hawaii Academy of Art for a party called Art Night. Hawaii is a super casual place, but people were definitely dressed to impress at this event. The academy is comprised of several small buildings, and they had DJs set up in a couple of the courtyards along with a dance floor and drink stations scattered throughout. We had a chance to walk around and look at art with a glass of wine in our hands – the best way to appreciate art. It was also cool to do a “local” event, meaning it wasn't marketed to tourists so most of the attendees lived in Honolulu.

After the event, we went to dinner at an Italian restaurant named Auntie Pasta's with Jen and had a chance to finish catching up with her and learn about her plans for the rest of her time in Hawaii (she's currently in a master's program, and also an expert surfer.) She made an interesting point that everyone you meet who moved to Hawaii either came out to surf, or to escape life. This makes perfect sense to me – I can think of no better place to come and recharge than these islands!

After dinner we met back up with her friends, who were at a nearby park throwing a boomerang that Jen's friend Daryl had just purchased in Australia. I don't think I had ever thrown one before, and although I was terrible, I could see it being a really fun and really random skill to have. I might just have to invest in one once we reach the outback in December.