An unplanned day for me today, just planned to see a little of Hilo and then relax onboard. I therefore caught the 9:30am shuttle downtown to Hilo for a stroll around the historic sights and buildings. It’s Sunday so few stores are open but that’s okay, I’m not a souvenir shopper and I’ll hit up Walmart later for a few last-minute sundries that fellow cruisers have suggested I get.

Town has seen better days, it was a combination of mostly closed or vacant stores so after a slow walk along the Main Street I headed back towards the shuttle. I did venture into an ukulele store, mostly to get a photo but was then greeted by the owner so I felt compelled to comment on the instruments. That led to a surprisingly enjoyable lecture on Ukuleles 101, complete with a demonstration of how different shape & materials affect the sound. I ended up wishing I had even an iota of musical talent!

After town I returned to the ship for a few hours of rest and relaxation. The cruise director was tempting passengers to join in on the exciting lei making lesson but I withstood the pressure and stuck to my tea and book, lol.

Tonight the large Solo Cruisers meetup broke into 2 groups; I joined the dinner 1st / Show 2nd crowd as I was officially starving last night when we finally started dinner at 9pm. I sat with all new people, and like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get. People can be so different!

The Show tonight was an ABBA tribute. The singers were marvelous but the performance a bit lackluster. Again, until you try you’ll never know how it is. While the others continued on to the disco this early bird went to sleep!

Tomorrow: Kauai!

Clouds started to build in the late afternoon, threatening our run of good weather. Hilo is known to be the rainiest city in the country with over ten feet per year, and it looked as though we were going to be witness to some of it. Unfortunately there’s a 50% chance of it tomorrow too so that might impede my kayaking plans…