June 22, 2025

HILO, HAWAII to PHILADELPHIA, PA

The only thing I saw of HILO, HI was the airport as I decided, in the last few days, to fly home to take care of loose ends.  This is the closest I am going to be to home and the USA, over the next 2.5 to 3 years. It is also one of the rare times I wouldn't miss any itinerary ports, as we had 6 days in crossing the Pacific Ocean, to get to San Diego, CA.

I flew from Hilo to Honolulu at noon on Saturday 6/7 then onto Washington DC, Dulles Airport, took 2 subway lines to get to Union Station. At Union, I hopped on a Acela Express Train to Philadelphia that left within minutes of me getting on and almost got kicked off, because I couldn't buy my ticket online, once the train started to travel. I worked it out by calling customer services. Once into 30th street station in Philly. Then I was happy to walk the 10 blocks to Kennedy House, to stretch my legs after sitting for so long! I never fell asleep on the flight or trains and it was now noon on Sunday 6/8. I tried to nap but instead showered and went via uber out to my great niece Corrine's ,4 year old birthday party at Charming Star Playroom in Newton Square, PA.

Part of the Birthday gang leaving the party. L to R - Chris, Michael, Colleen, Megan, Griffin, Leah, The Birthday Princess Corrine, Me my Brother Michael and Joyce.

KOH SAMUI, THAILAND - Final Day

By Pat Patrick • July 14, 2026
I really enjoyed my first trip to Thailand! On our final morning here we went to try breakfast at this spot, down the road, we had been hearing rave reviews on, King Of Bread . The hype was correct, the breakfast was delicious and they had some unique choices. I had eggs benedict on a croissant, in lieu of the standard english muffin and Bosco had it on Milk Bread, which was equally tasty.

KOH SAMUI, THAILAND - Cooking Class

By Pat Patrick • July 14, 2026
We love having authentic experiences with locals to really get a chance to see how they live and thrive in the Ports we visit. So when I found a cooking class, by a local woman offered in her home, we were excited to book. Um ( our teacher) picked us and brought us back to our hotel along with the family of 4 from Sydney, Australia, that had also signed up for this afternoon class. Um's house, which has a lovely open air kitchen, garden and dining area, was about a 30 minute drive and turned out to be on the beach, right next to the Grandparent Rocks.

KOH SAMUI, THAILAND - NIGHTLIFE

By Pat Patrick • July 14, 2026
The nightlife scene doesn't really get going till after 11pm and goes till 5 am in the Chaweng section of Koh Samui . We made our way over to the club district, and one of the hot spots called the ArkBar a little past 10pm to have some dinner, while watching the beach fire shows.