What to Do ... What to Do!!!!

Snorkel?? Find Glass?? Shop??  Decisions decisions!!!  With a view like this one though, it wasn't a tough choice!  This is Ho'okipa (pronounced Ho Ke Paw) where the surf is usually pretty high and the best of the best surfers hang out.  The water is beautiful shades of aqua and blue as the sun comes and goes.  We heard there was glass here, so we walked the long beach to the left.  Clouds came in quickly and it rained quite a bit, giving us a good soaking ... I mean we got REALLY wet!!!

Since I'm carrying my camera that is getting damp, we head back to Paia (Pie E Ah) for lunch.  There are many places to shop here, but very little parking.  If you head up Baldwin Road, there is a large lot on the right where you can park for free.  Might as well shop in all the little stores on your way down the hill!!  We were headed to The Fish Market for lunch ... a local hangout, definitely not fancy ... it's family style seating and you go pick up your own food!!  Again, in honor of Dan's burger obsession, we have the Mahi Mahi burger.  This is the best fish sandwich on the island!!!!!  You HAVE to try this!

You never know who you will meet in these small towns ... while shopping next door in the Mercantile, we ran into two nice women from Lodi who work at the store!  After finding out one of them was raised in Jackson, California, we asked them about finding sea glass on the island.  They gave us directions to a couple of great beaches, so we decided to check them out.  First however, Patty wanted to check out the cute surfer guys, so back up to Ho'okipa Point where I could get some photos.

Unfortunately, the wave action had died down, becoming very flat ... not much surfing going on.

So I'm taking pictures and I see Patty off in the corner talking to a local dude.  She flags me over to meet her new friend ... his first question of her was do you smoke weed????  (LOTS of the locals do here!)  She declined, but was interested in what he had in his makeshift bag (his T-shirt).  He had been down on the beach gathering Opihi ... Limpets!!  The locals scrape the little ones off the rocks and eat them raw.  Being the nice guy that he was, he offered one to each of us.  Excuse me?????  Raw fish?????  No way ... but Patty said "Of Course"!!!!  Sorry I didn't get his picture ... I was set up for surfing ... not portraits!!!  He was a cutie for sure!!!!

After hugs all around, Patty said goodbye to her "friend" ... he offered her more Opihi, but she declined saying one was more than enough!!!  Remembering the glass beach, we drove down a narrow road, turned in at the third driveway, drove warily so as not to get stuck in the sand ... and parked next to the most beautiful beach!!  Lots of glass, great shells and coral pieces.  Here's a beauty that we left for someone else to enjoy!!

Another big bag of treasures and we decided this beach was worth a return trip.  Dinner was at Fat Daddys Barbecue ... I had brisket, which unfortunately wasn't the best ... Patty had ribs (yup she ate ALL those greasy yummy ribs!!) and said it was the best she'd had in a very long time.

I saw a couple of ideas for images, so we snagged a few plumeria off a tree and headed to the beach.  The sun went behind one small cloud just as we set this up and I got blasted by a wave, but it was worth it!!

Another beautiful day in Paradise ...... it may be time to just lay on the beach and be lazy!!!!