week of 9/15

i spent the week in Hawaii, on the island of Lānaʻi. it turns out larry ellison owns 97% of the island, and has been very busy. the folks who live on the island couldn't stop talking about larry like he was their pal, and legitimately he has continued investing in the infrastructure of the island in a way that sounds like it's helped the people living on it. he's built housing with solar panels on the roof, rebuilt the "city", etc. weird to hear people saying nice things about him for a week.

the only way to get to the island is via a ferry from Maui, or a small plane on two airlines that serve mostly private traffic. i legitimately do not know how the hundreds of cars got onto this island. there is one gas station.

the very small plane

the resort was stunning. i legitimately do not know how to talk about "vacation" without sounding like i'm bragging or showing off, and so i usually just say "i was on vacation!". but i'm going to try to be a little more ~ open ~ and ~ vulnerable ~.

this was the kind of place where they meet you at the front and take away your luggage (i hate not having my luggage!!) and give you a cocktail and some very heavy non-flower lei.

the room was stunning. it looked out over the ocean, and my new best friends (500 birds) woke me up every morning. beautiful.

my first server recommended this cocktail to me (the "jalepeno") and it's what i drank for the rest of the week

our first "activity" was a tour of the observatory on the grounds. it was pretty cool, and then.. WE COULD SEE SATURN 🪐

really incredible to looking at a planet. rings! that got me motivated to break out my camera and do some photography of the 🌌 milky way, which was visible from the island. look at that!

the rest of the trip went about how you'd imagine. we spent a lot of time by the beach, in the water, having cocktails. we did a jeep tour of the island, where we followed behind a guide on a walky talky.

for some reason my side of the jeep looks like.... someone tried to escape

we kept being told we had to go into the "city" and go to the "bar and grill" which did have an incredible smashburger.

the city jail, with a 3 hour limit for holding someone in a cell

me, in front of "gay" street

very cool art at the "spa" resort

on the way back i had to ride facing backwards on the plane

and that was a week in hawaii!