HAWAII ~ MY FIRST AIRLINE VACATION

Honolulu - April 21, 1963
Hilton Hawaiian Village

Dear Mother,
Well, we made it. Last night we still couldn't believe it. Now that we're up and see the sun, ocean and palms, we believe it. Our flight over was fabulous. Pan Am's pursers were great to us. Gave us two free drinks, first class menu, glasses and kidded around a lot. We are in a beach house. Our room is like a tea house with sliding doors onto a porch from which we can see the ocean. Jan and I are beside ourselves with excitement. Spent a lot of time on the beach today. Jan got burned, but I'm turning black. Met a real native named Ike. - he's a beach boy - and he brought us some pork from the luau the hotel was having. Wish you could See it here - it's so beautiful.

April 23, 1963
Dear Mother,
Our purser friend from Pan Am called and we had breakfast with him and then went shopping at Waikiki. I bought my first mumu - Suzy Wong type. I sat on the beach next to Lloyd Bridges, star of "Sea Hunt" he was with his wife and two darling little boys and a daughter. (The little boys, of course, were Beau and Jeff Bridges!)

April 24, 1963

Dear Mother,
We're at the airport waiting to go to Kauai on Hawaiian Airlines. Last night we had a lizard in our room - only about 3" long, but we were petrified. Finally called the desk and they sent up a boy with a broom. It was hysterical. He was afraid of it too and stood on a chair. We about split our sides laughing.

April 26, 1963

Dear Mother,
We're going back to HNL today. We met a couple from SFO by the pool and got acquainted. They invited us to tour the island with them yesterday. They rented a car and we had so much fun. They were really nice to us - been married 12 years - no children. We enjoyed our day very much. Picked wild flowers, saw caves and beaches that were impossible to describe. At one place we took a long narrow walk through a "rain forest" and there was a cave with ferns draping over it like a curtain and a native sang the Hawaiian Wedding Song. I'll never forget this as long as I live.

April 28, 1963

Dear Mother,
Saw Joan Crawford  today in the lobby. Wonder who she was with? Yesterday I tripped on a rock by a palm tree here at the hotel. It really hurt my little toe - so much in fact, that I went to the hotel doctor and he said I fractured it. So I have all 4 of my toes on my right foot wrapped in tape and I limp. This cost me $10.00 which is worse. I don't know why TWA didn't teach me to be a little more graceful.

April 29, 1963

Dear Mother,
We were awakened by hotel security today. He had to check up on my little accident. He had to have the whole story. They said it wasn't broken, just torn ligaments, or something like that. I had to sign two papers and settled for a check for $25. So, I made $15 richer! Yippee! (Read the next letter for the bad news!)

May 4, 1963

Dear Mother,
Well I could hardly stand to have my heels on to get home from HNL the pain in my toe is still so bad. Didn't notice it was that bad until I tried to put on shoes. It still hurt a lot after I got home so I went to the TWA doctor and they x-rayed it and it is broken in two places. I had to go off schedule and can't work for about two weeks or more because I cannot wear shoes!  Also, I don't have any sick time saved so I am loosing so much money. I can't believe I signed that paper with the Hilton Hotel. I could have been compensated for all this, but they told me it wasn't broken and I signed the papers. I will never do anything like that again without having an x-ray. Now I will be broke again. Oh well, that's a lesson learned.