The Greatness of Groupon on Vacation

Good afternoon friends!  Today I want to tell you about a great discovery I made last year before going to Hawaii.  I have been a fan of Living Social and Groupon here in Dallas for a while.  But a few months before the trip to Hawaii last year I discovered that I could join any cities Groupon and Living Social and get really great deals on things I might like to try during my stay.

My travel buddy and I bought two Groupons for Hawaii last year.  The first was a terrific buy and I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.  It was an open water dolphin swim on the leeward side of Oahu.  The deal was amazing.  For $65 each we were picked up on our first full day in Honolulu across the street from our hotel in Waikiki by a van driven by Matt, one of the guides for our adventure.  After our pick up, we drove to a few other stops around Honolulu picking up all of the passengers for the outing.  Within an hour we were on the leeward side of the island at a boat dock.  During the drive Matt talked to all of us about the tour we would go on, the sort of things we could expect and past experiences.  They were a relatively new company just trying to add customers which was why they had done the Groupon.

Captain John

After we got to the boat dock, we hopped on our boat and headed out after a quick safety talk.  Our crew members were Captain John who was not only the boats captain but also our chef for the evening, Matt - the van driver / tour guide and kayak operator and a young Hawaiian guy who we were told to call "Bob" since we were all assured we would never be able to pronounce his actual name.  "Bob" was the entertainment director.    After leaving shore we stopped briefly for a traditional Hawaiian blessing so that we might see dolphins on this day.  After that we were off.

Looking back at the dock as we left

We had been told that being on the leeward side of the island, the dolphins come in toward the island each morning and they leave in the evening.  We left shore a little after 4 p.m. so that we could be off shore in time to see them coming and snorkel in a place that they were likely to pass at a place called Turtle Rock which is a rock formation under water where the turtles like to swim.  Once we were there we all jumped into the water.  I am trying to remember how many of us were on the trip.  I think it was 12, but it could have been 14.  Either way, it was a small group.  The boat held close to 30 so, there was plenty of room and the group was small enough that we all were very comfortable chatting.

Now I must tell you that while the water looked smooth from on the boat, the swells were a few feet high which meant that when a swell came between me and the boat, I couldn't see the boat over the water.  That doesn't happen much when you snorkel in the Caribbean.  I guess because Hawaii is so far out in unprotected waters, it is always a little murky and that is to be expected.  That means that the visibility was a lot lower than I have become accustomed to in the Caribbean also.  If you know all of that going into it, then it's all okay.  I had spoken with a number of people who had told me that the snorkeling would not be as great as I was accustomed to.  I was actually pleased with the experience.  One other thing, I am accustomed to snorkeling in 80 degree water in the Caribbean.  This water was cold in my opinion.  So, with all of that said, we were off and snorkeling in search of dolphins or at least turtles.

We snorkeled for over an hour.  My travel buddy Jenny and I usually try to stay pretty close together when we snorkel for safety sake, but on this occasion, we got away from one another.  As I began to get tired, I looked up to see where everybody else was and get my bearings.  When I did, I didn't see other snorkelers and after a few swells had passed, I finally saw the boat and it was WAY far away.  I could just barely hear the other people on the boat yelling for me.  All of the other passengers were already back on the boat.  So, I started swimming back as fast as I could.  A few minutes into my swim, Matt the tour guide came up to me.  He was on a kayak and offered me a ride, but I turned it down and continued to swim.  He rowed along beside me for the rest of my trip back to the boat keeping me company as I swam.

At this point, we still had not seen any dolphins or turtles. As Matt and I approached the boat, I heard Captain John say that there was a turtle in the water and Matt pointed it out to me.  I swam over with Matt near me and the turtle came between me and the kayak.  It just sort of looked at me for a minute and then turned to swim away.  I had swam with a turtle!!!!  It was huge and beautiful.  I took several photos.  I was certain that they were amazing shots that would wind up in a magazine or something.  It turns out that the water was so murky you could barely see the turtle in the pictures even though he was only a couple of feet away from me.  So I got back on the boat and someone handed me a beer.

My turtle as he started to swim away from me

Captain John going over the menu

After snorkeling we had dinner which had been made ready while we were in the water.  We had grilled steak and fish, along with potatoes and salad.  There was wine or beer... or both... and then "Bob" sat down with his ukulele and serenaded us while we ate.  The meal on the water with the sun setting and the amazing songs on "Bob's" ukulele may have made it the best meal of my entire trip to Hawaii.

"Bob"

As we sat watching the sun sink toward the surface of the water and listening to "Bob", Captain John got a call from another boat captain informing him that there were dolphins at another location.  So, we took off!  As we approached another boat and the sun slipped below the horizon there were dozens of dolphins jumping and spinning out of the water.  The crew told us that they were mating which made their bellies pink and they looked like they were blushing.  We watched them until they had passed and then "Bob" and Matt got us all more wine and beer and we started back into shore.  We didn't arrive back at the dock until it was completely dark.  The stars were beautiful over the water.  Back on shore, Matt topped off our wine and loaded us back up in the van and drove us all back to Honolulu.

It was such a great experience and the price was unbeatable.  We wouldn't have been able to do it without subscribing to Honolulu's Groupons prior to the trip.  It really is a great way to find out of the way opportunities at great prices when you are planning a trip.  We bought the groupons far enough in advance of our trip that a local who had bought the same groupon, took her trip and reviewed it on Trip Advisor before we left so that we knew to expect the swells and take some Dramamine prior to leaving Honolulu.  As a result we had no problems with sea sickness while another member of our party, spent most of his day hanging over the side of the boat.

Once you return from your trip, unsubscribe to that cities Groupon page and subscribe to your next destinations page.  Groupons are usually good for a year.  So, it gives you plenty of time to plan a trip.  I'll never plan another trip without subscribing to Groupons for my destination prior to leaving.  Have a great afternoon.  Aloha!

Road Trip!!!!

Today is the first day I will write on this blog.  I have been trying to decide for two weeks now exactly what I wanted this blog to be like.  I haven't come up with anything concrete at this point.  I can only tell you that the topics will revolve around travel, either places I have gone, places I would like to go, or Places You'll Go.  Sometimes it will be nostalgic, other times it may hopefully entertain you with a short story about an adventure I or someone I have talked to has experienced but many times it might just be informative.  I will include as many pictures as possible along the way.  As we go through this journey you will find that my vacations are usually centered on A.) Food and B.) Photo opportunities.  Hopefully, for those of you who read my daily blog won't see too many stories here that I have already covered there.  If you do, I apologize in advance.

My love of travel began at an early age.  I was born in the early 60's and we were one of those families who took a family vacation every year.  We didn't travel back then like people do now.  Back then, you piled into a Ford Fairlane with lots of luggage and an ice chest full of soft drinks, lunchmeat and condiments in the back and you just drove.  Much of the time our family went to Colorado.  Growing up in Texas, I always thought of Colorado as the "backyard" of Texas.  You know, it's where we always went to play.  I think our family was fairly normal in that these vacations weren't terribly planned out.  Not like they are today.  Today, before making that road trip to Colorado, the average traveler would spend weeks scouring the forum pages of Trip Advisor getting every morsel of information available.  We would be asking Colorado's "trip experts" for advice on everything from itinerary to the best breakfast Pagosa Springs has to offer.  By the way if you are interested, The Pagosa Baking Company comes highly recommended http://www.pagosabakingcompany.com/.  Today's traveler would also book hotel rooms, weeks, perhaps months in advance to ensure availability.  Once ready to make the trip today's traveler would probably fly in to Colorado Springs and rent a car and then only make day trips out of the city missing all of the wonderful little towns between here and there.

There is nothing wrong with flying to a location and then taking day trips.  But when it is possible, there is nothing quite like a good road trip.  Without road trips how many of us would ever have stopped at a New Mexico roadside curio shop for fake Native American artifacts?  Who among us never got a fake tomahawk and arrowhead as a child????  As kids we would save our allowance for weeks prior to a trip so that we could afford to buy a new "artifact" at each place we passed.  There don't seem to be that many of those places left based on what I see on the internet.  But the Tee Pee Curio Shop on Rt 66 in Tucumcari is still around if you want to hit it on your next trip through New Mexico http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/16398.  I suppose when it became so much easier to fly, a lot of those kind of places went by the wayside.  Too bad, it was a lot of fun to walk around those stores and pick up things to take to Mom begging her to let me buy it.  Mom would inspect it and certifiy that it was fake and we would say something like, "I don't care, I reeeeeeeealllllly want it, PLEEEEEAAAASE!!!?!!???"  She would respond saying something like, "it's your money" and we would buy it.  Then 5 minutes after leaving Tucumcari, it would break as you were driving up Hwy 104 toward Colorado.

Back then getting to the destination was half of the enjoyment.  Now, for the most part we all fly across all of the small towns along the way and hop off of an airplane in our destination without ever knowing what we missed.  Even when we do drive these days, much of the time, we drive as fast as we can along the interstate overnight only stopping for gas and food but never to explore the towns along the way.  A few years ago our family rented a vacation home in Destin, Florida for Christmas.  We took three cars with 10 people traveling in them.  My mom and dad traveled in the first car.  Me and my niece traveled in my car right behind them.  On our trip, we made our first stop in Natchitoches, LA for meat pies.  We were traveling on Christmas day so we had to settle for meat pies from a gas station.  But even so, it was wonderful.  I am not sure how or why anyone would ever travel through Natchitoches without stopping for a meat pie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchitoches_meat_pie.  Obviously, the best place in Natchitoches to get a meat pie is at the Natchitoches Meat Pie Company http://www.natchitochesmeatpies.com/pies-empanadas.htm, but when you are traveling on Christmas day you do what you have to do.

We stayed that night in Baton Rouge at a Hyatt Place.  I am a big fan of the Hyatt Place hotel chain.  They are usually very well priced and for the most part very well appointed also.  The next morning we got an early start and were in Destin by 4 in the afternoon making stops along the way for a sit down lunch and to just get out of the car and walk around a little.  If given the opportunity the traveling that was done on the second day through Mississippi and Alabama could have taken a few days.  I would like to have stopped in a number of places along the way.  But since we had the rental house from Saturday - Saturday, that wasn't an option on this trip.

My brother and his family made this same trip all in one day.  They stopped for gas and I suppose they ate meals in the car.  There were 6 of them in the car.  I can't think of anything less pleasant.  My trip back from Destin to Dallas at the end of the week was all done in one day and I was exhausted and slightly miserable when I got home.  Driving that far in one day is not a vacation it is work.  I suppose necessity dictates a trip like that on occasion.  But whenever possible, it sure is nice to stop and smell the roses.... or the meat pies.  In my opinion there is nothing quite as great as a roadtrip with family.  Sure, Europe and Hawaii are terrific.  But you can't drive there and 40 or 50 years later, when you think back, about half of the great memories are the ones that took place in the car.