We’re home, safe and sound. Esme heads for Old Orchard Beach, Maine on the Atlantic tomorrow and we head for Onawa, Maine in the North Woods on Wednesday. Never a dull moment!

I’ve updated the Day 10 posting to include a lot of additional photos, mostly of fish.

Thanks for reading along. See you next time!

Jon and Judy

Traveling with Esme has been amazing and lots of fun.  She gets very excited and animated about things she is seeing and doing.  That excitement is very contagious and I get excited to see her having so much fun and learning!

Esme is very social and took no time making friends the first night.  She told us tonight that she knew the minute she saw one of her friends that they would be friends.

One of the aspect of the trip our guide is teaching is the Hawaiian way of honoring your grandparents and he requests that grandparents and grandkids spend time at meals and other events together.  Esme has done a great job of juggling the Grandparent time and friend time. Part of the reason we choice this kind of trip was so she could have time with other kids as well as time with us.

One thing I learned about Esme on this trip is that she loves to shop, unlike her Nana.  She loves to shop for other people! She brought gifts for at least 12 – 14people (I lost track to be honest).  She is very careful with her budget and is quick to say something is too much for her to spend or for us to spend on her.

The last purchase she made was for herself because her Grandma Longo had given her money and she wanted to make sure she got something to remember Grandma’s gift to her.  As she was making the purchase she said, “I think Grandma and Pupa will like what I brought.” I know they will next week when they are on their vacation with Esme in Old Orchard Beach, ME.

Esme is so excited to give everyone her gifts.  She says that is the most exciting part and she can’t wait to give everyone their gifts she has picked out for each person.

Another great accomplishment for Esme is being away from both of her parents for 11 days.  It is the longest time away from them and she was amazing.

We are so proud of Esme and all that she has accomplished on this trip.  Being with each of our grandchildren for a trip is very special and this one has been wonderful with our very special granddaughter Esme.

You’d think after two snorkeling experiences the third would be same-old, same-old. But today’s trip turned out to be different, just as exciting in its own way. And for my money, it offered the best underwater experience I could imagine or hope for.

This time we traveled by a twin-engined zodiac, capable of holding sixteen passengers and a crew of two. The hull is an inflated rubber tube, the twin engines made for a fast ride and the structure of the hull made for a bumpy and thrilling ride. The biggest thrill came when our captain made sharp turns. Our group was divided into two boats. Judy and I were, with Esme, assigned to the girls’ boat. That meant that every bump, twist and turn resulted in high-pitched shrieks of delight and fear. I’m guessing the boys had a somewhat different response. The girls also broke out into song. Taylor Swift? Beats me.

We went south, as we did yesterday, but because we were traveling faster, we went further. Kealakekua Bay was our destination, which we reached in an hour or so, including a brief stop to view Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins. These animals feed at night and rest during the day. Hawaii prohibits swimming with dolphins because such activities disrupt their rest period. But they are attracted to boats and loud noises and this group gave us a good show.

The fish were plentiful in number and variety. They had to haul me out of the water because every time I got ready to quit I saw a new fish that I had to chase and photograph. I haven’t looked at the pictures yet, but hopefully I’ll have some keepers this time.

Equal to the fish was the coral. Every shape, color and size you’d care to see. Our captain told us that visibility at Kealakekua was 100 feet.

Kealakekua Bay is home to the controversial Captain Cook memorial. James Cook landed here in 1779 to repair a broken mast. While relationships with the local inhabitants were initially friendly, one thing led to another and Cook felt it necessary to teach the natives a lesson when one of his crew members was assaulted. Cook and his armed crew were driven back to the bay where cook was bludgeoned and stabbed to death. The Brits erected the monument in 1878. Hawaiian’s mark 1779 as the beginning of European intrusion and the end of traditional Hawaiian culture.

A luncheon of deli sandwich wraps, chips, cookies and pineapple was served and then we headed back. The trip home was interrupted several times as out captain showed us lava tubes, sea caves, sea grottos and blow holes that can only be seen from a boat. One lava tube is said to be 16 miles in length.

The afternoon activity involved the kids going with Kaika for some as yet undisclosed activity. The adults went out in the parking lot where Mel showed us how to cut samples of native trees. The idea is that we’ll give the clippings to the grandkids who can plant them at home and remember the trip as they grow. In our case we’ll work with Esme to plant them in Melrose. Then, she can bring the plant inside for the winter or we can bring it to Florida. Hawaii is about the same latitude as Miami so we ought to have a good climate for the plant in Sun City Center.

The final event of our trip was the farewell dinner, held in the hotel dining room. Everyone took a turn giving his or her favorite aspect of the trip. Judy and I agreed that learning about Polynesian culture was high on the list, but the real highlight was being with Esme.

Judy’s written a piece about our time with Esme, which I encourage you to read.

Now it’s just the trip back home. We fly 11ish to Honolulu and then a nonstop from there to Boston, arriving in the early morning hours of Monday. Esme heads for Old Orchard Beach on Tuesday and we’ll return to Onawa on Wednesday or Thursday.

It’s been a great trip but it will be great to be home with family and friends. Thanks for traveling with us!

All pictures, 100+ of them, are now online.

The trip this morning started with an on-board continental breakfast before leaving the dock. Then, when underway for our hour give-or-take trip up the coast (north), we received a detailed safety briefing on what to do and not to do when in the water.

The snorkeling this time was a reef of, I’m guessing, as deep as 30 or 40 feet and rocks that jutted up to 10 feet beneath the surface. The water was much clearer than the shallow water we were in yesterday. There was no sand to get kicked up by the waves and the swimmers so the water appeared a beautiful shade of, I guess you’d have to say, aqua.

While beautiful, we saw a smaller number of different fish species this time than yesterday. Moray eels and turtles were advertised as possible sightings but none appeared to my eye.The fish we did see were farther away, which is my way of making excuses for poor fish photos this time. I did snap a mermaid or two, or more precisely, Esme snapped pictures of her friends, the mermaids.

While the fishing was perhaps disappointing, the water activities exceeded expectations. The upper deck of our ship sported a water slide and a jumping platform that the kids really got into. There were other floating devices for relaxing on the water.

Lunch was served on board before returning – burgers and chips.

Upon return, Esme hit the pool with her friends. Judy and I spent a little bit of time in our room before joining Esme for shave ice, a local treat, and sunning on the pool deck. Later all three of us retreated to the room to “chill,” or in Esme’s case to shower and apply sun relief cream to her somewhat reddish face.

Around 4:30 the three of us headed for town, hitting every gift shop we stumbled across, and that’s a bunch in a tourist town like Kona. You’ve got to hand it to Esme, though. She kept finding gifts for family and friends before she knuckled down to find something, at the very end, for herself. By 6:30 the job was done and returned “home” to the hotel for a most enjoyable dinner pool side, just the three of us.

Esme was tempted to take an after dinner dip in the pool but elected instead for staying in the room with us.

We continue to debate with our leader, Mel, as to the objective of this trip. Mel’s focus is to encourage bonding between grandparents and grandkids, thereby fostering the Hawaiian ethic of strong family ties and respect for elders. While we’re all for that, our focus on this trip is in building within Esme a love for travel and building her self confidence that she can thrive in a new environment far from the comfort of home. Tonight’s shopping trip and dinner together accomplished both objectives, I’m happy to report.

Tomorrow, believe it or not, is our last day before flying home on Sunday. But before we escape, we’ve got another snorkeling adventure and more time for fun in the sun.

The Marriott Courtyard Kona is situated on a small bay with a sandy beach and a beginner’s snorkeling area. There’s also a freshwater pool for hotel guests. That’s where we spent the morning and afternoon.

First, after breakfast, a local scuba instructor gave us a lecture on the marine life we might encounter – a mind blowing list of native, endemic and invasive species found around the coral and rock formations of the Big Island. He also emphasized the importance of protecting coral, a living animal that’s quite sensitive to the mere touch of a flipper. Many sun tan lotions are harmful as well. Only those that use titanium or zinc are safe. We bought some here in Hawaii, thinking it would be safe. While it contains zinc, it also contains chemicals whose names are hard to pronounce and hence are bad for coral.

We snorkeled for an hour or more and did indeed see a number of fish varieties. Not much coral here, just lava rocks. I had my iPhone underwater case so you can see some examples in the pictures. Esme and her friends had fun taking pictures in the cove and in the pool.

Today was a preparation for the next two mornings, which will feature more snorkeling from a catamaran sailboat and then from zodiac boats.

The lu’au was a real production, stage for fewer than 1,000 guests but surely more than 500. Dinner was buffet style, set outdoors with multiple tables so feeding the multitudes was quite efficient. There was of course background music played and sung by a trio of two guitars and a ukulele, sort of reminiscent of Don Ho style of music.

The stage show started with traditional hula dance instruction for the guests, followed by a stage show of professional dancers, accompanied by the trio plus three percussionists and a MC. Dancing and culture of Polynesia was the focus. I’m not sure how “authentic” it all was, but who cares. The performance was really very good and entertaining.

Polynesia, by definition, is the area bounded by Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. The commonality of culture across Polynesia was the focus. The show culminated with a fire dancer from Samoa that had to be seen to be believed.

Lots of time in the sun and a 7 AM report for duty to go snorkeling on a catamaran. Off to bed for all of us.