July 2022 Journal Photos

Trip to Virginia

Andrea and I flew to Virginia to visit Malia and the grandkids on Friday, July 1, arriving Saturday morning in New York and then flying to Norfolk and driving to Newport News where we stayed in the Mariott Hotel in City Center.


The new Hawaiian Airlines wing of the Honolulu airport on Friday afternoon.


We met Becky at the Marriott Hotel and walked around the City Center drive on Saturday afternoon.


Look, sister cities.


At the pavilion at the City Center pond. Photo by Andrea.


Photo by Becky.


We ate an early dinner at the Cove Tavern across the pond from the hotel.

Andrea began writing the story of our trip on her laptop that she had set up in our hotel room.


Sunday morning we went to Malia's house and then drove to Hilton Village to look around. Unposed.


Posed version.


Another view of Hilton Village, built after the first world war as former soldier housing.


Back at Malia's house we played a game called Neanderthal Poetry. Photo by Becky.


Andrea, Becky, and I went for lunch to Red Robbin. I played Plants vs. Zombies. Photo by Andrea.


In the afternoon Andrea and I went to the Mariner's Museum where the salvaged Monitor is being restored. This is a reproduction gun turret.


We saw the America's Cup catamaran. Photo by Andrea.


At the Bonefish restaurant for dinner.


I sat next to Trystan who is 15 now. Photo by Becky.


Lilly and Malia. Photo by Andrea.


The whole table for eight. Photo by Becky.


Malia treated us to a professional soccer (football) game. The Lionsbridge team won.


In the bleachers. Photo by Becky.


Goofy faces. Photo by Becky.


Video of the fireworks by Andrea.


After returning to the hotel, Andrea and Becky had a drink at the bar while I went straight to bed.

Independence Day

We were mostly over our jet lag on Monday, Fourth of July.


Monday morning, July 4, breakfast.


Our waitress offered to take our picture.


Monday morning Andrea and I went to the neighborhood pool where Malia is a swim coach and Trystan is a lifeguard.


Trystan showed my his Scrap Mechanic project he's working on. Photo by Andrea.


Under the dome in the conference center at the Marriott. It has a vertical resonance thing going. Photo by Andrea.


At the fountain. Photo by Andrea.


Andrea at the Mariott with the dome on the right.


We went back to the pool in the afternoon for a swim with Lilly.


Back at City Center. Photo by Andrea.


We stopped for ice cream. I had a black cherry cone. Photo by Andrea.

Virginia Living Museum

Tuesday, July 5, we went to the Virginia Living Museum with Malia, Trystan, Grayson, and Lilly.


After breakfast Andrea practiced hula.


She's a lovely hula performer.


With the bees. Photo by Andrea.


Lilly delighted with the puffer fish. Photo by Andrea.


A brass frog. Photo by Andrea.


On the nature boardwalk.


At a kiddie playground.


Lilly loved the little fairy village. Photo by Andrea.


Indoor play area.


We went to Moe's for lunch. Photo by Andrea.


Malia and the kids met us for dinner at Cove Tavern at 6:00 PM.


Lilly brought her toy flying unicorn and I played with it. Photo by Andrea.


After dinner we walked around the fountain, walked through the conference center dome, and had ice cream at the ice cream shop.

Hilton Village

Wednesday, July 6, we went to Hilton Village to explore and meet Malia and and Grayson for lunch with his two friends Clark and Roman.


We parked on River Road and walked down the path to the James River.


We walked out on the fishing pier on the James River.


We bought a wind chime for Malia at the Designery Company in the village shop row.


Resting on a bench on the shop row. Photo by Andrea.


At Indulge restaurant for lunch. The three boys (Roman, Grayson, and Clark) ordered grilled cheese sandwiches.


Back at the hotel, Andrea and I went down to the lobby to read while our room was being made up. Portrait of Hemingway is a classic
by Lillian Ross. Photo by Andrea.


Looking toward the hotel main entrance.


Later we walked to Cove Tavern for dinner. This Love Newport News decoration had just been put up.


Andrea had the Violette Martini. I had the Painkiller tropical drink.

Fort Monroe

Thursday, July 7, we went to Fort Monroe at the southern end of the peninsula. Fort Monroe was built by the colonists during the Revolutionary War. Afterwards, the French occupied it for a while and then abandoned it. The British took it during the War of 1812. The Union Army held it during the Civil War.


We walked along the shore for a while and out onto a fishing pier. A container ship went by.


Pointing to one of the coastal defense guns. Photo by Andrea.


We saw the very old Point Comfort lighthouse.


A stack of cannon balls outside the casemate museum. Photo by Andrea.


Near an old rendering of the place. Photo by Andrea.


The fort has a very tall flag pole.


With the model of the CSS Virginia. Photo by Andrea.


Then we ate lunch at the Deadrise Restaurant at the marina. A deadrise is a type of fishing boat.


We stopped at Malia's house to say hi to her and the kids on the way home and then we saw the farmer's market at City Center.


We went out for a walk after washing clothes in the hotel laundromat and chose Hayashi sushi bar and grill for dinner.


Diane, our waitress, took our photo for us with the sushi boat for two. Yes, I know, I appear to be putting on weight.

Torggler Fine Arts Center

Friday morning, July 8, we went to the Mary Torggler Fine Arts Center on the Christopher Newport University campus to see an exhibition of fiber art.


A beautiful new modern building. Theater in the distance.


Looking toward the library.


An artwork depicting flowers.


A large textile mural in the main hall.


An octopus and what look like paramecia in the distance.


Pointing to things made with dyed zip ties. Photo by Andrea.


Back at the hotel we read our books in the afternoon and went down to the hotel restaurant for dinner at around six. Andrea had a
Bombay Sapphire and tonic while I had a signature cocktail called a Last Words (gin and chartreuse).


We walked around the fountain to the Cove Tavern where a three piece rock band was playing "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison. We
still can't get more than two bars of cell service around this place. Sometimes I've had to send photos several times. The send fails
without error messages. Just off to neverland. Very poor cell phone software. You'd think that after 30 years of development they would
have this kind of basic stuff working. If I got a "send failed" message I would know to find more bars and resend. But no, I have to check
my gmail to see if the photos arrived and then send again if not, by which time I'm back in the hotel room with one bar.

Mariner's Museum

Saturday morning, July 9, we had breakfast at Indulge in Hilton Village and then we returned to Mariner's Museum to see some of the exhibits we missed the first time. Entry is just one dollar each.


At Indulge restaurant, one orders at the counter and the food is then brought to the table. We both had egg croissant sandwiches.
Andrea's was with avocado and Cheddar and I had the sausage and Cheddar. Coffee and orange juice too. We walked down to the fishing
pier afterward.


Looking at a one-man German submarine from the second world war. Photo by Andrea.


In the International Small Craft Center; some fascinating boat displays. This sailing canoe is from the Marshall Islands.


On the deck of the full scale model of the Monitor. It was raining cats and dogs the first time we were there.


I went under the Monitor replica to take a look at the propeller and rudder.


This looks real but it's a reproduction of the upside down Monitor's turret recovered from the sea bottom. The real one is in the tanks
in an adjoining room being restored electrolytically.


We split a veggie sandwich at Taste in the City Center. Photo by Andrea.


Saturday night was a White Dinner (Le Diner en Blanc) event. Rain put a bit of a damper on things.


We walked around the fountain in the rain. Photo by Andrea.


We went to Hayashi's again for dinner.


Andrea had the Gal-bi beef and I had the teriyaki filet mignon. The drink is a "lovely geisha."

Sunday

Sunday, July 10, is our last day in Virginia. We fly out Moday morning.


We went down to the lobby to read after breakfast in the hotel restaurant, Kitchen 740. It was a gray and drizzly morning.


Later that morning we went for a walk around the fountain when the drizzle let up a bit. The city had replaced the flowers on the sign
with all white ones for the white dinner. Looking through the O. Photo by Andrea.


Looking through the V. Photo by Andrea.


We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant, called Kitchen 740 (the address of the Marriott on the City Center Drive). We both had the Caesar
salad with salmon and water. No booze, as we had to get up at 4:00 AM local time Monday to make our flights back to Hawaii. Photo by Andrea.

Back Home

We flew back to Hawaii on Monday, July 11. We flew Delta from Norfolk, Virginia, to JFK in New York, a 90 minute flight. Then we walked to the Hawaiian Airlines gate and flew ten and a half hours to HNL on Oahu. Our checked bags did not arrive and we took a taxi home to Aina Haina. Page Publishing sent my book's cover design for approval on Monday, and I approved it on Tuesday.


At the gate at JFK airport waiting to board the Hawaiian Airlines flight 51 to Honolulu. Selfie by Andrea.


This is the book cover design that was waiting for me when I got home. I approved it on Tuesday the twelfth.

I created a separate Web page for our Virginia trip documentation.

Aina Haina Prepared

Andrea and I attended the AHP Zoom meeting on Tuesday evening.


Screen capture.

Mission Houses

Andrea led tours at the Mission Houses Museum on Thursday, July 14 (Bastile Day) and again on Friday and Saturday.


A manu o ku (fairy tern) in a tree. Photo by Andrea at the Mission Houses.


On Saturday while watering I spotted a small ripe pineapple. Photo by Andrea.

Sunday Barbecue

Andrea and I barbecued boneless leg of lamb on Sunday, July 17, and invited Joleen and Lois to join us. We gave Lois an Aloha Oe lei because she departs for the mainland on Monday.


Cheers!

My Tripadvisor review of the Newport News Marriott at city center was published Monday:

My wife and I appreciate the great service and warm reception by all the desk, housekeeping, and restaurant personnel. In particular we want to acknowledge Loren the cook, Neka and Vivian, the breakfast waitresses, and Nancy and Felicia, the Bartenders. We stayed over a week and we were made to feel welcome and received great service.

The hotel seems to be experienceing some infrastructure problems, however. The room we had first was missing a luggage rack so my wife had to put her suitcase on the floor. The bed appeared to have seen some heavy use because it seriously sagged in the middle. We asked to move to a different room, and while it had a luggage rack stowed in the closet, the bathroom door was too tight close. The bed was better, but it still sagged a bit. The shower curtain rod also sagged in the middle making it hard to close on both ends. Only one of the two coin operated washing machines provided for guests was operational.

The hotel manager replied graciously:

Mark Butcher, General Manager at Newport News Marriott at City Center, responded to this review

Thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful comments regarding your recent stay at the Newport News Marriott at City Center. As a General Manager, your compliments were a pleasure to read and I was delighted to hear that you were thoroughly spoiled by our associates. I am glad you had a chance to take advantage of our great location! I will be sure to share your fantastic remarks with my team as a testimonial that what they do daily makes a difference. Please accept our apologies for our lack of attentive service and the maintenance issues you experienced. This is not our standard and we apologize for the impact these frustrations had on your visit. We have taken suitable action and shared your feedback with the appropriate teams in an effort to evaluate and resolve some of the difficulties you endured. Thank you again and we look forward to the opportunity of welcoming you back very soon.

I worked on bonsai today, Monday, July 18. I repotted a pikake, putting it into a Karenn Ohlinder pot.

Ke Kani O Ke Kai

Andrea and I went to the second Ke Kani O Ke Kai, the concert series at the Waikiki Aquarium, on Thursday afternoon and evening, July 21. We met Joleen and her friend Renee there and had Chinese style food and some wine before the music started.


Monk seal Rocky and her pup were said to be on the beach so I walked over for a photograph.


Eating cheetos and drinking coke while waiting for the venue to open at 5:30. Show at 7:00. Photo by Andrea.


One hour until the music starts.


We went in to look at the fish. This is a grouper. Photo by Andrea.


Joleen horsing around. Photo by Andrea.


Waiting for the show to start. Guitarist and singer Josh Kahula performed solo first. Photo by Andrea.


Kalani Pe'a with electric piano player Wong and guitar sideman Josh Kahula. Photo by Andrea.


Josh lent his guitar to Bobby. Photo by Andrea.

Hula Ho'ike

Our friend and neighbor Joleen held a Hula Ho'ike (hula party) for the halau that she and Andrea attend. Kilohana Silve is the kumu hula and Alice Tucker, an old friend of hers, Harry's, Joleen's, and Andrea's, also attended. Pule, mele, and hula were featured with a fantastic presentation of pupu and and dinner.


The back yard is ready for the guests to arrive.


Andrea putting on the finishing touches.


Delicious food for all.


Enjoying dinner and conversation.


A beautiful evening. I predicted no rain and it came true.


Lots of seating for everyone.


Alice sat at the low table on the lanai.


All na keiki had fun too.


A little blurry but still a keeper.


Relaxing on the lanai.


Joleen has an incredibly beautiful back yard.


A beautiful twilight with perfect confidence in dry weather tonight. We had showers every evening for the last week at least.


Finishing up with dinner. Photo by Andra.


Hula.


More hula.


Kilohana led the hula action from the lanai.


Hula video.


The young ones did beautiful hula too.

I made a separate page for the hula party

FIRST Robotics Expo

Andrea and I attended the FIRST Robotics Expo, put on by the Friends of Hawaii Robotics, at Kalani High School, on Saturday afternoon, July 23, at 1:00 PM.


The event was held in the school cafeteria.


Andrea talked to Madi Sim and Bryan Silver.


All three types of robotics programs were demonstrated. This is FIRST Lego League.


The Kalani team Magma demonstrated their robot.

Aina Haina Prepared Presentation

I attended and assisted at the Zoom presentation on mental preparedess and resources by Michael Wurtz of the Red Cross for Aina Haina Prepared on Tuesday evening, July 26.


Zoom screen capture.

Democratic Party Event at Aina Haina Elementary

Andrea and I supported the incumbent candidates Mark Hashem, Stanley Chang, and Tommy Waters at their meet and greet event at the Aina Haina Elementary School cafeteria on Wednesday evening, July 27.


The upcoming Artemis One mission scheduled for August 29.


Unknown flower in our yard, photo by Andrea.


All set up and ready for the people. Mark is on the left. Stanley Chang's wife Annie is between Andrea and Laurel.


Soon the cafeteria began to fill with people.


A line formed when the chili and rice dinner was ready.


The twenty blue bags of donated vegetables and cartons of eggs were were given away by a random drawing.


Former Mayor Mufi Hanneman talks to Jack, a Stanley Chang summer intern from Harvard, on the right.


Mark, Mufi, and Stanley meet and greet constituents.


After dinner the prizes were given away. Mufi, who represents the tourism authority, donated a staycation in a Waikiki hotel.


Stanley, Mufi, and Mark with the staycation winner.

Livable Hawai'i Kai Hui Press Gathering

Andrea and I were invited to attend the event in Kuli'ou'ou at the beach park on Thursday morning, July 28.


When we arrived there were a couple of pop-ups and TV cameras set up.


The Kuli'ou'ou stream.


Getting ready on the presentation of the purchase of Paiko Ridge land for preservation.


Chris Cramer spoke for a while.


Stanley Chang thanked Elizabeth. Afterward we all joined hands in a circle and sang "Hawaii Aloha."


Ancient wall on the ridge. Photo by KHON2 TV via Facebook.


Friday morning Andrea did the docent thing at Manoa Heritage Center.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Andrea and I attended the musical play matinee at Diamond Head Theater on Saturday afternoon, July 30.


We parked across the street at KCC and I took this photo of the marquee.


I took this photo inside before I turned off (powered down) my phone. We left at the intermission. Spoiled by Gene Wilder.

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Last updated November 22, 2022 by Dr. Richard Jeffery Wagner. Text and images copyright © 2022, unless otherwise attributed, all rights reserved.