This was a day to celebrate Lupe’s birthday, but it did not start off well. We first had to make a visit to Urgent Care.

While Lupe visited with the doctor we visited Island Snow Shaved Ice, just next door to urgent care. This is where I found out I love Hawaiian shaved ice. 

What is Hawaiian shaved ice? With special ice shaving machines, ice blocks or ice cubes are shaved very fine, which results in a light and fluffy product. Traditional snow cones are crushed, coarse ice, which retain a lot of water in the ice, and makes the product dense and heavy, allowing the syrups to drain quickly to the bottom of the cup. Hawaiian Snow syrups are formulated specifically for shave ice, and when combined with finely shaved ice, the syrups do not drain to the bottom of the cup.  Shave ice is the sweet staple of a Hawaiian vacation and the steady companion of an island childhood.  

The electric shaving machine and dozens  of bottles of bright syrup are set up in the back of the store, along  with a binder that includes a  record of President Obama’s past orders. Island Snow, has been an Obama family favorite for years.

The president’s regularly visited Island Snow, when he is in town. His vacation compound was just a couple of blocks from the store.

Fred enjoying his shaved ice.

While we were waiting for Lupe’s prescription to be filled we had lunch at Mexico Lindo Margarita Bar around the corner from the Urgent Care and Island Snow. It had just open, good timing for us. It was very decorated, had several funny signs, and the food was really good.

We spent the afternoon at Bellows Air Force Station, a United States military reservation located in Waimanalo, Hawaii. This was once an important air field during World War II, but now serves as a military training area and recreation area for active and retired military and civilian employees of the Department of Defense. Steve, in fact all the boys, enjoyed the surf.

We had eaten lunch at the original Halejwa Joe’s, located in historic Halejwa town on Oahu’s illustrious “Seven-mile Miracle,” a few days ago for lunch. For the birthday dinner we went to the second Joe’s.

This Joe’s was nestled, on the windward side of Oahu, beneath the majestic Ko‘olau Mountains in Haiku Gardens.

This is a mural located at the entrance of the restaurant, with the backside being open to the gardens and mountain.