adaptable

I was in BA for the first time last week, and I absolutely loved it. I ate lots of steak, drank lots of wine, and had a wonderful time with the welcoming locals. This is high on my list of places I want to visit again.

I spent about 6 weeks here in 2007 and really got to know the place. Beyond the Alamo and the Riverwalk, San Antonio offers some great cuisine (not just Tex-Mex), and the people go out of their way to be welcoming…

Back in May/April we spent 7 nights on the big island of Hawaii. By far the best vacation I’ve taken for many reasons. First of all, we spent half the time at the Sheraton resort near Kona (great) and the other half at the Four Seasons (spectacular)…. After a day or so on the island I wondered into the Music Exchange in Kona and got a great education on ukulele construction, woods, and general sound comparisons. I picked up a Hawaiian handmade koa wood concert ukulele. Strumming it and even smelling it makes me feel like I’m on vacation….. I picked it up instantly. After a few evenings of sitting on the hotel room balcony I felt like I had the thing mastered….

Then I went to the Four Seasons awesome Hawaiian Cultural Center and got a lesson…and humbled. The instructor turned me on to some strumming patterns and various chords that are a bit off the radar for guitar….She recommended some great music like Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (what a voice!), Hapa, and the reining Carlos Santana/Steve Vai of the ukulele, Jake Shimabukuro.

I ended up playing a bit of an impromptu concert for my work colleagues…and got a warm reception by all of the locals (I need to make an extra $1M to buy my dream vacation home!).

We ended up seeing most of the Big Island except for the Volcano (we were told it was a bit too far to travel to “maybe” see the lava flow)….but the Northern end of the island was heaven on earth looking at Maui and sipping Kona coffee in Hawi. We also caught part of the Merrie Monarch Hula festival in Hilo (I almost got divorced on the spot)…saw various waterfalls…drank coconut from the shell…stared at the ocean a lot….

I don’t think I’ve ever comeback from anywhere so relaxed and peaceful (including Australia!….no offense, mates). I long to go back and spend a long time there…