Week 3: what's goin on round here?

(But first, a word about the names used in this blog.  LK or Lil Kahuna is my five year old son, so named for his penchant to want to rule everything--as five year old so often want to do.  Hula Honey or HH is my wife who studied hula a number of years on the mainland.  And I am Coconut Dave, just because I love all things coconut.)

Now that that's out of the way, time for this week's report.  One thing's for sure, Hawaii and especially Honolulu is a haven of nonstop entertainment.  Every weekend there are at least two or three festivals and/or activities going on primarily in places around Waikiki and Ala Moana.  This weekend was no exception, and in fact the entire week Waikiki hosted Duke's Oceanfest--basically a hodge podge of water event competitions, more than just a surf competition.  When we were there, a women's boogie boarding water polo game was going on.

Duke's statute abides over his Oceanfest.

Duke Kahanamoku is considered a legend in Hawaii, and for very good reason.  Besides being a champion swimmer and surfer, he server 13 terms as sheriff of Honolulu.  He acted in a number of Hollywood films, and lent his name to one of the most popular hotel restaurants in Hawaii.  He once saved eight men when a boat capsized off of Newport in California using only his board in what was called "the most superhuman surfboard rescue act the world has ever seen."  Truly a remarkable man.

Along with Oceanfest, we visited the Artfest in Kapiolani Park.  It's mainly an excuse for local artisans to sell their arts and crafts, but still worth checking out.  Most of the stuff is waaay too pricey for us, but a least LK enjoyed a banana, guava shave ice. 

LK whooping it up in Kapiolani Park.

The next day, we spent in one of my favorite places in the world--the North Shore!  We swam in Waimea Bay which at this time of year is like a giant swimming pool.  And we had lunch at the greatest shrimp scampi place in the world, Giovanni's.  I was very happy to see that they had recently paved the area where the tables sit and added a beautiful patio cover as well.  The place was packed as usual, but totally worth the wait.

Two words:  Too yummy!

Giovanni's is said to be the original shrimp truck on the North Shore.  There are now at least a dozen lining the roadway.  I don't know if Giovanni's is the first, but it is by far the best.  On our many trips to the islands (before moving here) we tried many shrimp trucks.  Nothing even comes close to Giovanni's. 

So much to look forward to, so much more to do in the future.  Whoever said there's such thing as island fever must not have lived here.  If we ever crave something new, we can hop a plane to Maui or Kauai or the Big Island.  Having visited many of them, I know that each island has its own flavor, its own personality.  Island fever?  I don't think so!