Once upon a time there lived a pair of shoes. Shiny, red patent leather, opened toed, sling back, three inch cork heeled (no wedge) very well loved shoes.
Last night, as H and I walked to downtown Waikiki, the right very well loved shoe broke. Actually, it cracked, so that as I walked, it sort of buckled under the arch of my foot. I didn’t fall or get hurt, but my favorite shoes were suddenly clearly hazardous. So I hobbled back to the hotel, kissed them goodbye, buried my reds at the bottom of my suitcase and slipped on flip flops.
After indulging in birthday margaritas and conversing with a South Philly combat technician sporting a yellow tank top and more chest hair than a German Shepard, a ton of government contractors, a marine with scary war stories, a guy who ran away from his tiny hometown in Washington and moved to Maui, a dude who couldn’t remember the name of the town he lived in and a bartender who told REALLY bad jokes, we headed back to the hotel.
As we began our walk, I noticed that the flip flops were giving me blisters. I once again mourned my reds, since they never hurt my feet, and then I flipped off my flops. The slate sidewalks were warm and immaculately clean. We saw one cigarette butt on our half mile walk. No plastic bags, bottles, gum or garbage of any sort.
H kicked off her shoes too. We discussed how we’d never walk barefoot in Hollywood. I hate to bash my city, but in comparison to Waikiki’s lickable sidewalks, my city is filthy.
Earlier in the night when we waded out into the turquoise ocean and stared up at the birthday stars to make wishes, I admired Diamond Head in the distance and the glowing city lights along the shoreline. But being comfortable enough to walk barefoot on the way home really boosted Waikiki’s stock.
What are some qualities about the places you’ve visited that made them extra impressive to you?
xoxo,
Suzanne
About Me
- Suzanne Casamento
- Author of Fingerprints, Choosing Tally, and All the Moments in Between. Tweet me @suzannecasamento
The Safari Garden Hotel & Restaurantis a lovely place for the whole family. Cozy rooms, a lot of nature and outdoor activities for adults and kids. It seems that everything you need is just in place. Well, except for the beach. Anyway, we enjoy it very much. Have a great day :)
ReplyDeleteNYC isn't clean for sure, but I've never known a major city to offer as much to anyone visiting or living there! And I broke one of my favorite red suede shoes on a grate in the sidewalk, but that was at the end of a fabulous evening with a favorite bmf, so who cared!
ReplyDeleteI like the staff on a Cruise ship. All the ones I met were so nice and friendly. Of course I was nice to them in return.
ReplyDeleteVictoria (BC, Canada) was amazing. Sort of small townish, sort of bigger townish. We walked everywhere and took one bus to the gardens while we were there. The butterfly garden was the best! The food was wonderful - almost every restaurant we visited had tofu dishes. The air was clean. The walks were great exercise - there are some hills but not like San Francisco. We took a 3 hour sailboat ride and that was fun.
ReplyDeleteDowntown Victoria was okay - mostly touristy shops. There was an old brick building in the street behind where we were staying. Love that building. The head nun asked if we wanted to buy it. I guess they were thinking of selling. Not sure if they could no longer afford to live there or were not comfortable with the construction going on at the corner.
I would move there whether or not we bought that building.
You met some characters that night!
ReplyDeleteI like clean cities, too. Chicago is pretty clean (except for the politicians).
I also love beautiful old buildings.
The marble streets of Dubrovnik, Croatia. Simply stunning.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED Santa Monica because I could walk everywhere I needed to go...grocery store, dry cleaners, salon, beach, bars, mall, etc... it was the best!!
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