Hawaiian Thanksgiving, Day 6

We decided that on Tuesday we would (eventually) head up to the north shore and see if the big winter surfing contests were any good. One of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing contests, the Reef Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, was going on, and while they had waited about 10 days without any decent waves, they finally started some surfing on Monday. While it wasn't the big waves they expect on north shore, it was at least enough for them to get some surfing in.  So having read that report we figured 1) it might be worth checking out, and 2) might not be crazy crowded as the waves weren't as good as they are some years.

But before we went north, we made a stop down in Kailua at Boots & Kimos, a restaurant I've had recommended to me by a few friends.  Apparently my friends aren't the only ones who've heard about it, as it was a 45 minute wait for breakfast. Eventually we did eat though and the macadamia nut syrup was pretty delicious (or "onolicous" if you prefer).  After we ate, we headed on up to Haleiwa, only stopping once for damage control on the kiddos.

We got to Haleiwa around 11 or so I think, and we able to find parking by the big grassy park near the beach, and walked over to where the surf contest was going on.  The contest worked as follows: 4 surfers would go out at a time and they'd have like 20 minutes or so to get their best surfing in. The 2 best surfers then advance on.  I'm not sure what constitutes good surfing, nor do I know any of the surfers. But it was still fun to watch them catch waves and do some cool moves on said waves.  We took lots of pictures even though they were far enough away that my little point-and-shoot doesn't really do justice.  Here are some of my favorites:


















There also were a few turtles hanging around near the shore right in front of us, and you could often see them below the water and every few minutes or so, one would poke his head up.  I waited for a while and managed to get at least one shot of one with its head up:



After an hour or two of watching the surfers, Kimi loaded the kids up and headed home to be there when Lucy got out of school, and Dad, Mom and I hit Matsumotos for a shave ice.  We also stopped at BYU-Hawaii on the way back and eventually found the bookstore in the hopes of finding a DVD that Ben was looking for and had heard could only be found, at least in Hawaii, there.  They were sold out though. So after a bit of looking around, we headed back to Kaneohe, with a quick pit stop at McDonalds for a late lunch.


Hang Loose!

That night, George and Kimi had arranged a babysitter for the kids, and the grown ups went out for a fancy dinner at a place called Haleiwa Joe's. (But in Kaneohe, not Haleiwa).  It was a very nice place, with a fantastic patio kind of eating area, overlooking a pond and some lush greenery.  The food was great too. I got a chipotle pork chop. We had some good shrimp for appetizers, and even got dessert.  Overall a great dinner and great atmosphere. I didn't take my camera, so you'll just have to imagine it, I guess. :)

Update: Looks like Kimi posted a few pictures from our day on their blog.