​I had breakfast in bed – a banana smoothie – after a warm shower. Next on the to-do list, because they open at 8a, is Donkey Balls. I try the mango, mint, and chipotle. We drive back to our free parking spot and walk to Hulihe’e Palace that opens at 9a. We take our shoes off to enter.

We get a military discount, and though the furniture is phenomenal and the brochure informative, the entry fee does seem high — enough to turn another couple away. Places run on island time here, mostly 11a to 9p, too late if we’re diving and too early if we forget to plan a meal. We walk back to the hotel for a public toilet as all the customer options are still closed — they literally have locks on them.

Hulihe’e Palace

With that done we’re free to check Holy Donuts. I want more malasadas with li hing mui (plum) powder, but I settle for plain sugar, an Elvis donut, a fritter big enough to need its own box, and a free cinnamon roll — definitely one of the best I’ve ever had.

Caleb wants a tattoo to commemorate our 50th State and first sea turtle sighting. We walk from one parlor to the next and back before Erika opens the doors of K Town Tattoo. She preps Caleb’s idea and gives him a turtle coming out of an egg on his thumb. The other girl there has a black sleeve done with a white ink tattoo on her bicep and a bracelet set in her forearm. Her earrings are the size of my wrist and her hair is green. We get a military discount here too!

I tell Caleb we have time to read by the pool or to get one last walk by the turtles. We both opted for the latter, that is, until we passed the dive shop and got me a head band and us matching glow-in-the-dark t-shirts. We drop the car off and hop on the shuttle. This gives us time to print our tickets, drop off our bag, and have a look in the gift shop. We read for 25 minutes before boarding — military and first class are the second called.

We have to get our carry-on scanned at this time. I think it’s a bit late, better to have all your bags together if something were to happen. My purse and the donut box make it through and we’re all the way in the back of the plane. I finish the short book I brought and the contents of the box. I watch a sliver of the orange sky behind us turn to black. My choices are two non-data games or napping to fill the 2.5 hours left.