TRAVEL MAGIC: RIGHT SONG, RIGHT TIME

Travel magic starts with the right song.

Too often we hear it later and think how good it would have been.

It’s the right song after the fact, the song you’d choose in a do-over of where you’ve been.

But when it hits right, you know it.

Last night my group got dressed up for happy hour at the Grand Hyatt.

I wore a Hawaiian shirt, swim shorts, and flip-flops for the occasion.

The four of us, wife and I, newly-wed son and wife, pulled up in a mini-van like we owned the place.

Big-timers always pull up in mini-vans, right? And they tell the valet guy to take it easy on the custom ride?

Before walking through the open air entrance I heard a guy singing Hawaiian songs on a guitar.

That’s him in the top pic with the ocean behind him.

We walked to the left, took a cement path to the swimming pools, and snaked back up the stairs.

The music was louder because we ended up near the stage.

Would We Like A Table For Four?

We settled in with water, drinks, and two plate of shared goodies.

The plan was to see the grandness of the Grand Hyatt, Kauai, then head home to make grilled shrimp and caesar salad.

It was a grand plan.

The singer on stage talked about his songs, then sang them. It was a nice atmosphere.

He caught me when he introduced the next one.

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Once in a lullaby

Oh, somewhere over the rainbow
Blue birds fly
And the dreams that you dreamed of
Dreams really do come true, ooh-ooh

Someday I’ll wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney tops, that’s where
You’ll find me

I’m sitting there like I owned the place with my rental mini-van outside, loved one beside me, and the sweetest song filling the air.

It was a most Hawaiian moment, right up there with with my first snorkel with tropical fish and turtles swimming with me and my boys.

I let it sink in so I’d remember the feeling forever like a good tourist.

Then it happened.

Travel Magic Strikes

To re-cap:

There I was, a first timer to Kauai, wife and I with our older son, wife, baby for a week.

Then younger son and wife for a week.

I’m in daddy heaven with the family, sun, rain, surf, and a little grass shack across the street from the ocean.

The feelings lift even higher by hearing the Izzy song on his home turf.

I wasn’t crying, it was sand in my eye.

While I’m listening, looking around, counting my blessings, a whale started jumping out of the water behind the stage.

What. The. Hell?

Special effects? A green screen? Or travel magic?

What would you think if someone told you about the time they were in Kauai listening to a local guy cover Over The Rainbow / What A Wonderful Life in a sprawling resort overlooking Big Blue with whales jumping at the same time?

Believable?

Then our guy shifted gears and sang Brown Eyed Girl, (Hey where did we go?)

And Elvis:

Wise men say
Only fools rush in
But I can’t help falling in love with you
Shall I stay?
Would it be a sin
If I can’t help falling in love with you?

Like a river flows
Surely to the sea
Darling, so it goes
Some things are meant to be
Take my hand,
Take my whole life, too
For I can’t help falling in love with you

I’ve got to get that travel magic sand out of my eye?

Not this time.

Neither does anyone else when it hits right.