March 08, 2007
It's been a long dry spell, the last time I went out on the water being the Saturday before Christmas. But the other day, on my way to a meeting in Kahuku, I decided to take the long way and drive through Haleiwa... something I hadn't done for quite some time.
The weekday traffic was wonderful with relatively few cars on the road and Haleiwa town, although lots of new shops had sprouted since my last drive through, still seemed the same... especially when I came across our old favorite, Kua Aina Burgers!!
Memories of windsurfing at Mokuleia, then swinging by Kua Aina on the way back always made for a great day as these were really good burgers... thick and juicy, cooked to order. with the garnishes like avocado. Of course, I had to get one... so I took my place in line and recalled how years ago it was a block or two from its present location in an old building with swinging screen doors... I wondered if the burgers would have changed with the times as well.
While I waited for my order to come up I met a couple from Chicago, Percy and Adrienne Thomas.Of course, I asked them if I could shoot their burgers to show my site visitors and they obliged...
We got to talking about all the things they were doing and I was starting to envy them for being on vacation when my order was up.
Assistant manager, Melinda Gonsalves, brought out my order personally, the biggest, juiciest, avocado burger you ever saw along with their great thin fries.
I asked Melissa to freeze while I took a picture to show you guys why you should take the trip to Haleiwa to visit Kua Aina... it's one of those little big things you'll want to enjoy while you're here and, yes, the burgers are just as big, just as juicy, and just as Hawaiian-style as they were back in the eighties!
But this is more than a burger story. During the holidays, I needed a card and couldn't make it to the store, so I made one using one of my Kailua Sunrise shots, this one in Lanikai. It came in so handy that rather than delete the file, I thought I'd make it available if you're ever in a similar bind. If you'd like, click here to Download Card. A letter sized paper will yield two cards. Hope you can use it!
Warmest aloha,
Richard