Last night we went up to Kailua for dinner and were pleased to note that it looked and felt incredibly healthy. We're not sure if it was just the regular spring-break traffic, or if people are flocking here suddenly to see tsunami damage, or if it was just a particularly happy St. Patty's day, but the town was hopping last night.
After months and months of business being slow in Kaillua - and across the island - Kailua town was bustling with energy last night and it felt great. As far as signs of the tsunami, there really weren't any. An ABC store is closed up, and there is still a little sand on the road, but I'm not sure that you'd even know what had happened if you hadn't heard about it. In fact, my father swam in Kailua Bay yesterday and said that it looked normal.
The sunset was magnificent last night and dozens of people lined the street with cameras in hand to get good shots. Couples were perched, cuddling on the rock wall, people were filling Lava Java's outside seating area happily drinking wine and eating dinner, and Rosa's Cantina, where we ate, was flat-out raucous, filled with loud music and a happy crowd. From what we observed last night, the heart of Kailua was strong and healthy and the festive atmosphere that normally surrounds that town in the evening was back in full force: live music, large crowds, the smell of good food... The island is indeed alive and well.
This is not a bad time to travel, either. Ticket prices usually go down in April in anticipation of the slow around tax-time. Hawaiian Air is offering round-trip tickets from Seattle, Oakland, Phoenix, and Portland for around $500 in April. I even saw round-trip tickets from San Francisco for around $400.
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