Today we revisited a few of our favorite things from tour days past. After an amazing breakfast at Duke’s (so good…), we came back to the hotel and got ready for our final trip to the beach. We learned from the first time, and Ms. Butler stopped at an ABC store to buy a couple beach umbrellas for those opting to hang out on the beach rather than in the water. We had a great time splashing in the waves and spending time together.
For the most part, we’ve had good luck on the sunburn front. The primary exception is Ms. Butler – we’ve decided that reef-safe sunscreen does NOT agree with her, so it might be a good thing we’re heading home soon.
When we were done at the beach, we had a couple hours of downtime to get lunch, rest, and change for our final concert of this tour. We again performed at the Royal Hawaiian, and it was truly a great concert! At the end of our final selection, the trio of South African songs, a woman in the audience from Zimbabwe even joined in ululating for us – we were thrilled! Dr. Jenkins has taught us about this tradition, but it was probably the first time we experienced it authentically from someone from the culture. What a treat! We also had a news producer in the audience who took some video during the concert and sent it to his station, so we might be famous on the Hawaiian news.
After the concert, we had a short photo session to make sure we captured all the wonderful memories for the future, then it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for our dinner cruise. We were allowed to wear an outfit of our choice for dinner, so seeing what everyone decided to wear was a big treat. We had everything from a few pineapple t-shirts (see the Day 6 blog) to dresses from home. We definitely saw a lot of Hawaiian shirts! The cruise was gorgeous – we all loved the incredibly blue water and views of the city from the boat. Unfortunately, a few of us had a bit of trouble with “motion of the ocean” and we ended up helping a few people through a bought of sea sickness. Luckily in the end everyone was okay, and we even managed to sneak their dinners off the boat so they could eat once their stomaches settled. It certainly made for an interesting end to the cruise, but all in all we enjoyed the experience.
It was nice to have an early evening tonight so we can starting packing up to fly home tomorrow. We can’t believe tour is almost over, but it’s been an amazing experience!
