The Last Full Measure...

While that line is found in a Civil War book I love to read, we gave it our all on our last full day in Hawaii. Friday, we went off early to Hanauma Bay, ready to snorkel around with the beautiful fishes. It's a state park and nature preserve. So before you set loose on your aquatic adventure, you have to go through a little video training on how to treat the coral reef and beach. It gives an interesting little history on how the bay was created as well. So we trekked down to the bay and swam our hearts out. I hadn't been snorkeling in a while, so it took a little practice to use the mask and tube, but once I got the hang of it, I was off. I only wish I had an underwater camera, but guess you'll all have to go there for yourselves if you care to know what we saw:)


We decided to drive around the island one more time. So up the coast we went, our car King Kamehameha having been a fabulous host and continuing to show us the sights. We stopped at Sandy beach one more time. The water was much more tame than the previous Sunday and absolutely GORGEOUS! The colors were amazing, just so beautiful, i could have sat there staring forever at it. When I think Hawaii, that will be the beach picture I remember. (one little thing, I finally got sun! my back had burn lines, woohoo!)



After that, we continued driving, still in awe of where we were,


...till we reached Laie again. We hadn't stopped by the temple on our earlier drive on the north shore, so we stopped there for a little bit. We kind of tried to avoid the sister missionaries(sorry, love them) but we just wanted to walk around, but they caught us on the way out and gave us flowers.



We of course had to stop by Matsumoto's for our third and final taste of Shave Ice. LOVED IT!! And we took our final drive down the highway through the middle of the island, past the jungle. But we were anxious to get food!! It was our last night in Hawaii and we were going to get something great. We had made reservations for the Hula Grill. And we were going for whatever we wanted. It was my turn for steak and it was the best meal I had had all week and I think Pam and Bryonny would agree. We had finally found food heaven in Hawaii. Our server was awesome, and it was a great evening to end Hawaii with.


*One little foodie note, this restaurant the Hula Grill, had this dipping concoction that was fantastic. Just like at some Italian restaurants, they had oil and a vinagarette to dip bread in. Except this vinagarette was something fruity and also had chili peppers in it, so sweet and hot. It was SOOO good. i need to find out how to make that...apparently there is a sister restaurant to the Hula Grill, called Jake's up in Del Mar, so if they have that bread and dipping oil, I'm there.