“I Kissed a Dolphin”

View a trip to Hawaii through the eyes of an 11-year-old (whose father made her take notes the whole time)

By CHANDLER DONOHO

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JULY 20. My dad and I wake up and get ready for surfing lessons. When we get outside the hotel we meet Clyde. Clyde Aikau was a national champion surfer. Clyde’s brother, Eddie, was a hero lifeguard, but one night there was a storm. Eddie went out to go find someone lost at sea. Then the next day he never came back. Eddie was never seen again. So when my dad and I get our lessons, Clyde has a shirt that says EDDIE WOULD GO. This means that if someone was lost at sea, Eddie would have gone to rescue them.

When we get out to the water we have to paddle a lot. My arms really hurt. When I get my first wave I hit a rock and it cuts my ankle, but not too bad. There are many steps to learning to surf. All you need to really have is balance—— well, I think so. I get up my first time, and so does my dad.

Clyde tells us to say hello to Skip Frye when we get back to San Diego. My dad says Skip, who is a surfer, is married to Donna Frye, the city council lady who was almost the mayor.

WHEN WE GET BACK from the surfing lesson, there are two birds that came into our hotel room. I feed them shortbread cookies. One bird goes to the bathroom on our balcony. Now the birds are inside behind a chair. One is sitting, and one is standing because he seems kinda scared. I name the birds Chicken and Chicken Jr. But they are really doves. The only problem is I don’t want the housekeeper to come, because the birds might leave.

After we get back from the surf lesson, we get goggles to go swimming at the beach, so we can look at fish on the reef. It’s very fun because when we see a fish, my dad and I get excited and point.

Oh, I forgot that before, we went to a sushi place called Hatsuhana that was very yummy. The food was great because their sushi had good crab. My dad ordered a Japanese beer. And we looked around and noticed that all the Japanese people were drinking American beer. Then we went to Lappert’s Ice Cream place and I got Reese’s peanut butter cups ’n’ fudge.

At the luau that night on a lawn at the Hilton, there is a pig that roasted underground for the whole day. And in the end it tasted great, because it was so tender.

After our meal some Polynesian dancers perform. There are people playing with fire, little boys doing a warrior chant, a young girl who can play a ukulele like Santana, colorful Polynesian dancers and the host, who sings a lot.

JULY 21. A person that works at the Hilton drives us to get the best shave ice in all of Hawaii. It is in a neighborhood near Waikiki that’s hard to find. A weird guy with tattoos on his arms is talking on a phone, and saying bad words. But he walks away. Our friend from the hotel says, “You’ve seen this part of town’s true colors.” We get the shave ice, which is kind of like Italian ice, but this is better. It has condensed milk added on. I think this tastes like the strawberries and cream you get at Wimbledon.

Dad, can we go to Wimbledon next?