A Journey With Cerebral Palsy

One of my favorite vacations took place earlier this year. This wasn’t my initial trip to Hawaii. In fact, it wasn’t even my first trip to Waikoloa. I had been to the area of Hawaii a couple times in life. The last was just before the pandemic of 2020. Returning home to Seattle from that trip found me walking into an alternate universe. Everything had begun to hit while I was on the island. Landing and disembarking that plane, I found a feeling I wouldn’t soon forget. The world was in the process of changing. Making the following weeks of being home feel like whiplash. The better choice would have been to find a way of staying on The Big Island. I hadn’t been back since that 2020 trip, and was curious about returning. My first two trips to Waikoloa had been fun. Travelling to Hawaii had always provided a memorable experience. But I wouldn’t have thought of those vacations as one of my favorites. There was something different about the trip earlier this year. Like I saw the area in a different light, even while doing most of the same things. There was golf being played, like every trip to the islands. The restaurants were much the same with one cool add. Having the ability to eat outside in the winter is a great part of the trips. The real appeal of this trip seemed to be the walking. 

The Waikoloa neighborhood felt homier than it had on my previous two trips. There was something about it that took away any feelings of being overwhelmed. The comfort could have come from the familiarity from being there previously. Or, just not realizing how enjoyable the place could be. The biggest thing sticking out to me was the ability to walk everywhere. Most of the nights found us walking to dinner. Because of the position of the resort, we were just across the street from a small outdoor mall. That mall just across the main neighborhood road was the King’s shops. They had smaller stores and a few restaurants. One of my favorite restaurants in the mall is called A Bay’s. The place was found during the first trip to Waikoloa when looking for something like a spot in Ko Olina. A favorite on Oahu called the Monkey Pod. A Bay’s fit the bill on the last couple of trips. The casual outdoor dinning with good options. The restaurant sits central in the Kings Shops making for an easy walk from the resort. It was one the first stops for dinner, as the vacation got started. Bringing the walk back from dinner in to play for the first time. Walking across the dark quiet street in the warmth always feels relaxing. Like there is little in the world to be worried about, if just for a moment. 

I can understand why one might think it strange for me to be talking about walking. With cerebral palsy making movement more challenging would I not prefer minimal walking? I would call that an astute observation. Cerebral palsy does make walking more challenging. Mostly happening as a walk gets longer in distance. When places are within an intermediate distance, walking for me becomes positive. The best things for us to work on in life would be the things challenging. The vacation seemed to have a lot of intermediate length walks that were good for me to take advantage of doing. Especially in combination with the warm tropical weather of Hawaii, movement was made easier. In walking on vacation, I have run into situations bringing me to rethink my shoes. Living with cerebral palsy has made consideration of my shoe choice more important, at times. Though, I feel like thinking about the shoes I’m choosing always provides some deal of consideration. In the hot weather of Hawaii, most people along these walks are wearing sandals. I have found sandals to be too unstable for me, in recent years.  For walking consistently on vacation, I needed something other than a sandal. A couple of years ago I had made a switch to warmer weather shoes. When going to a different resort, where there isn’t as much walking involved. I had chosen to start using a more structured shoe. 

The type of shoe I have started wearing on tropical vacations has been more like a loafer. The shoe company Olukai makes shoes that kind of look like sneakers. The difference would be the breathability of the shoes. Making them feel comfortable in the hot weather. When I discovered these shoes, they felt like a God sent for my situation. They provide really good support for my challenges with balance. However, I had never really put them to the test with a lot of walking on vacation. In the past, opting out of walking with any real length involved. The vacation this past winter would be the exception to how things had gone, previously. A restaurant was found involving a longer walk. In addition to the King’s shops just across the street. There was another outdoor shopping center further down the road. The Queen’s shop had a new Tommy Bahama restaurant. I saw the restaurant coming into Waikoloa and was intrigued at first sight. This particular Tommy Bahama appeared more relaxed, as compared with most of their restaurants I have been to for dinner. The only draw back would be the length of the walk from the resort. My concern was about it getting too long for me to manage. Especially, after dinner had ended, walking back to the resort in the dark. Yet walking was the best choice, and I was up for the challenge. 

The Tommy Bahama restaurant turned out to be amazing. Reminding me of the relaxed atmosphere of the Monkey Pod at Ko Olina, one of my favorites anywhere. Only this Tommy Bahama seemed to have a cool charm that was all its own. More laid back than most of the Tommy restaurants I have been inside. This one is their Marlin Bar restaurant. We sat out on the patio after walking from the resort. The sun was still up when we walked along the road for about fifteen minutes. Our name was placed on the list for a twenty-minute wait until dinner. Every Tommy Bahama I have been to for a meal has had a Tommy store attached. This one was no different, in addition, we were at the Queens shops. During the wait for the table to be free, I wondered down the walkway and into the Tommy Bahama store. Turning out to be an excellent way of killing time before dinner. The store having many things differing from the Tommy Bahama stores around the Seattle area. When our name was called for dinner, I was ready to eat. We sat around a good, proportioned table, providing comfortable room for eating. With cerebral palsy I’m always noticing the space around me I have for maneuvering. The tables where lit with small lamps that sat in the center of each table. Keeping the patio in low light, giving it a calm and quiet feel. The warm air was comfortable and the food great. An overwhelming agreement to revisit, again. By the time dinner was done, night had fallen over Waikoloa Village. 

Walking back to the resort in the dark was making me a bit nervous. The road followed to arrive at the restaurant didn’t seem well lit. Even though traffic was light in the area, walking on dimly lit asphalt wouldn’t be comfortable. Bringing into play the possibility of tripping over something unseen. Luckily, an idea came up, as we walked from the restaurant down to the street. A concept fully taking away the anxious energy I would feel walking along the road in darkness. We could cross the street and walk through the King’s shops. Taking the route through those shops would be lit, as the restaurants inside that outdoor mall would still be open. The King’s shops would carry us back to just across the street from the resort. The idea was amazing and we took the suggested route back to the resort. Walking back from the Queen’s shops with this new path, made the vacation different. Making the vacation to Waikoloa one of my favorites, in a moment. The route of the King’s shops was used to walk back to the resort following dinner, another few times. We would visit the Tommy Bahama restaurant once more during the trip. Taking the King’s shops route both to and from. There was a dinner at Roy’s, at the end of the King’s shops. Another favorite from the years traveling to Ko Olina. The warm walks back in the evenings really made a mark on the trip. One I couldn’t remember from the trips before 2020.

There is a memorable restaurant in Waikoloa. One of the most memorable I have been to in all my travels. The Lava Lava Club was discovered on the first trip to The Big Island. Since, I have been back to Waikoloa twice and not missed going to the Lava Lava Club. The restaurant is not located in one of the open-air shopping centers. Instead of having the ability to walk to dinner. For the Lava Lava, we had to take a short drive. The restaurant sits on the beach. Only one of two restaurants I have been to where tables are just steps away from the oceans water. The other was years ago, on the island of Maui. When I attended the Lava Lava for the first time, they didn’t take reservations. I can recall the wait of over an hour to get a dinner table. Something cool back then was a huge grass area they had to the right of the restaurant. The area was fixed up with games like cornhole and ping-pong. A cool little area to pass the time, while waiting to be seated. Today, they take reservations, making the waiting area no more. They have filled in the grass with more table for dinning. Another section just steps from the waters edge. The walk from the parking lot feels a little longer than on would expect, but worth the slight hike. Lava Lava is a Big Island experience, not to be missed. 

Golf has always been part of a trip to Hawaii. This vacation on the Big Island was no different. During the week we played two rounds of golf. One, on the south course of Mauna Lani. Which I had played in my previous two trip to Waikoloa. We also had the opportunity to play at Hualalai. An amazing golf course that exceeded the high expectations I had. The golf experiences combined with the nights out for dinner made this one of my favorite trips. The ability to walk to dinner for many of the evenings. Finding the route of walking back to the resort through the King’s shops each evening. The open-air shopping center wasn’t too crowded at night. Just enough people to provide some positive energy. The warm air guided the comfortable stroll following dinner. I was thankful for my Olukai shoes providing me with the support needed in the warm environment of Hawaii. All the walking done wouldn’t have been possible in sandals. A less supportive shoe would have made all those walks to and from dinner impossible. Allowing cerebral palsy to strip away one of the wonderful pleasures of life.  Getting to experience a week of walking almost everywhere in the warmth of a tropical environment was awesome. Especially, in the quiet neighborhood of Waikoloa Village. A vacation spot not to be missed.