My wife and I, along with our two adult kids and their families travelled to Oahu at the beginning of April to enjoy a week at the Aulani, the Disney resort in the Ko'olina part of the island. The resort is a fantastic Disney creation, filled with lush landscaping, several restaurants, shops, a number of inviting swimming pools, lazy river and water attractions for the bigger kids, and a private beach and lagoon that fronts a coral reef for snorkeling. Daily activities were scheduled for the keikis. We never left the resort as there was so much to do there.

On our second night, Tuesday, April 1, Palama and his lovely wife Patti braved the rush hour traffic in Honolulu and had dinner with us. Originally we tried to book dinner reservations at nearby restaurants, but were out of luck. Turned out to be a blessing because we enjoyed a more relaxing, quiet and comfortable evening in our suite, equipped with a full kitchen and dining area large enough for our group of 12.

We talked story over the delicious meal, prepared by my son, daughter and son-in-law. Patti made a delicious Soba Salad to add to the feast. We continued our conversation for several hours after dinner, which left us too full to dig into the scrumptious ice cream treats the Palamas brought for dessert. It was a magical evening that we were all reluctant to end. We finally said our farewells and instantly crashed into our beds, hoping that Conan and his wife made a safe drive home to the other side of the island. They did.

The next morning, we opened the bag of goodies our visitors brought. Besides the locally made ice cream in the freezer, there was a variety of treats, including cookies, cookies and more cookies, preserved fruit, seaweed snacks, one ton chips, shrimp chips and more. There was so much that we had enough snacks for the entire troupe of 10 for the rest of our stay...with some Diamond Lillikoi cookies my wife set aside to take home.

Then there were the cigars: 5 Fuente Hemingway Signature Oscuro Sun Grown (my son and I enjoyed a couple the following night), 3 IGM Flor de Puriscal, 3 Warped Isla del Cocodrilo, 3 Gellis Absolutos, 3 IGM 537 Canonazo, and 3 IGM Frog. I sampled one of each over the rest of my stay on the islands.

I spent a week in Maui prior to the week at the Aulani, and then three weeks on the Big Island. It was a great relaxing month away from home, made especially memorable due to the generosity of my friend, Conan/Palama and his wife Patti, in Oahu. Thanks Brudda!!!

Two of my favorite dudes!

sometimes stuff happens here that's beyond magic...



and now I know the answer to my PM question (that bounced back because you're inbox was full)

Sounds like a blast. Thanks for sharing

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Everything about that evening was magical.

The food was delicious, the company even better. Steaks and salmon (...Al knows that's my favorite...) were the main entrees along with sautéed veggies, rice and the aforementioned soba salad.

Like Al said, we gabbed non-stop from the cocktail half-hour (...woulda been "hour" but we arrived late...) till we left a few hours later. We'd never been to the Aulani so it was a treat for us to finally go there. A very memorable and enjoyable evening. Thank you Al and Kelly for hosting us!

As we were leaving, Al presented us with a very nice box of assorted Honolulu Cookie Company chocolate dipped cookies (...long gone...), an incredible bag of Island Vintage 100% Kona coffee (...we drink it only on the weekends to fully enjoy it...) and a most excellent 5er of cigars:

Bolivar Belicosos Finos
Davidoff Aniversario (nh)
Montecristo No. 2
Tatuaje L'esprit de Verite 2013
Warped La Colmena Amado No. 44 (nh)

I lit up the BBF and Warped LC last month and they were both very, very good. Looking forward to the remaining 3.

Al, thank you very much again and looking forward to seeing you and your family again one day.

Sounds like nothing short of magical! A great story to read, probably a wonder to have lived.

+1 Always glad to see cbid dudes get together.

w00t!

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That sounds awesome. I’m glad you guys were able to do this.

GREAT stuff!

I unpacked my suitcase last night, and to my delight, I discovered the six CDs that Conan had made for me. I'd slipped them into a corner of my luggage and had nearly forgotten them...

At the head of the pack was "Delta 1's Decades of Favorites". Conan had been paying attention to my posts in the various "Fave Songs of the Decades" threads and compiled a collection of all my faves from the 50's, 60's and 70's. I spent an hour and a half in the man cave listening to those songs and reminiscing.

There were 5 other CD's that I will play over the next few days (and years, CD player willing), including: Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Stilleto Rain" from the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison. CO, June 19, 1985; a collection of songs by Kokomo, Average White Band, Marc Jordan and Bill LaBounty; Various Artists Jazz and Jazz Rock, v2.0; Various Artists, Heard 'Em Before, III; and Various Artists Long Cuts III.

Quite a selection of eclectic sounds that I will enjoy for a very long time. You are THE MAN, Conan!

Hope your CD player(s) continue to give you years of Man Cave enjoyment. 😎

Although we still have CD players in both of our vehicles, looking down the road, thinking I'd get something like this for the eventuality when we won't have a player in our cars.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DK4LG36K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ALCK0O9O7UX0&psc=1 

Good people, good times.

Thanks for sharing. A real feel good story

That does sound like a really nice time guys.

Two of some of the CBid people I really like!
Glad you had a great time.
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