First mate's log:
July 15, 1972
I'm going to Hawaii for two weeks next month, and Mr. Howell is paying for it! And not just me, but the Skipper, Mary Ann, and the whole Brady family, including Alice! Mr. Brady has designed an office building for Mr. Howell, in Honolulu. Mr. Howell wants him to go check it out in person, and then he figured he might as well invite all the Bradys, and Alice. That way they could all enjoy a vacation.
And then the kids said they'd miss me, so then I got invited along, just like last year's trip to the Grand Canyon. But now I'm engaged, and I didn't want to be separated from Mary Ann that long. So she got invited, too. And then the Skipper said he'd miss me, so Mr. Howell booked one more round-trip ticket. Yeah, it's nice to be friends with a millionaire.
The Skipper hasn't had a real vacation since he started the ferry, but he's got enough employees that he can take some time off if he has to. And it's the same for Mary Ann and her pizza parlor. They both work so hard, and they deserve some time away. And it'll be more fun to have them both along.
She'll share a room with Alice, and I'll of course bunk with the Skipper. We're all pretty excited about going, which might sound funny, considering we live on a tropical island. But Hawaii is still pretty special. And of course we all met there, eight years ago. (Bobby and Cindy don't remember that, and Peter and Jan barely do.) Yeah, we never imagined the big storm or all the stuff that's happened since, but I don't regret any of it. Well, not most of it.
Carol Brady's diary:
July 16, 1972
Mr. Howell is paying for a dozen of us to vacation in Hawaii! Well, it won't be entirely a vacation for Mike, since he's designed a Howell office building, but hopefully he'll get to spend some time on the beach and touring around the islands.
It won't just be our family but also the Skipper, Gilligan, and Mary Ann. So that's nearly everyone who lived on the island all those years, except for the Professor, Ginger, and the Howells themselves.
And, yes, I think back to Tim and how young and happy we all were then. Not that I would trade my time with Mike, but obviously Hawaii holds bittersweet memories. Still, I always enjoy visiting there.
We'll be staying at the Honolulu Howell Hotel. The irony of course is that we live on a tropical island and this, even more than visits to Blenford, is like going to "the big city." The hotel won't be luxurious, but it should be classy. Alice jokes that she'll feel spoiled having maid service.
August 7, 1972
Our flight this morning was smooth and we aren't jet-lagged, so after we checked in and dropped off our luggage, we met up with David, who works for Howell Enterprises and who had promised to be our tour guide. He was over at the construction site. He's young and friendly, and as a native Hawaiian he knows a lot about the islands.
The construction seems to be going pretty well, although I still don't know much about building anything bigger than a hut. The boys had fun running around and I wished I were still a kid and could play with the dirt and lumber.
Bobby found something in the dirt, a tiny native statue. The Skipper immediately recognized it as a "tabu."
Mary Ann said, "Oh, like Ginger's favorite perfume."
"No, no, it's cursed!"
Peter said, "The Professor says there's no such thing as curses and we shouldn't believe in superstitions."
The Skipper scowled and walked away. He and the Professor have never agreed about that.
Bobby said, "Well, I think it's neato. And look! There's a little hole on top. It would make a groovy necklace."
So Mary Ann loaned him one of her extra hair ribbons. He seems really happy to wear it, but I don't blame the Skipper for keeping his distance from Bobby as much as possible. Like, when we all went out in outriggers, he made sure to go in a different one.
And then when we went to the USS Arizona memorial, he got really sad thinking about the buddies he lost at Pearl Harbor. It's been over thirty years, but he said it feels like it was just yesterday.
He's taking a nap now and hopefully he'll cheer up after some rest. I feel bad that I'm the one who wanted him to go on this vacation and he's having such a bad time. But we'll be here two weeks, so things have got to get better for him.
August 8, 1972
Here we are in Honolulu again! We arrived yesterday and the hotel is indeed lovely although not luxurious. The big island is as gorgeous as I remember. We've had a chance to explore a little, including going out to Pearl Harbor. I got a little sad, thinking of Tim again, although that's not the war I lost him in.
I'm trying to keep my spirits up, since this is a vacation. This morning, the girls, Alice, Mary Ann, and I had a hula lesson. It was a lot of fun, until Alice's "hu went one way and her la went the other." She threw out her back and so she's doing bed rest now. Luckily, I've got the Skipper, Mary Ann, and Gilligan to help me look after the children.
Mike had yesterday off because we'd just arrived, but he's working the next few days. He is going to get some time off tomorrow afternoon, because Greg has entered a local surfing contest. It's being run by our local tour guide, a nice young man named David.
Yes, I'm nervous about the competition. Greg has been interested in surfing ever since he was a little boy and Duke Williams visited our island. But he's only started surfing regularly the past few weeks, since school got out. And that's mostly been near the lagoon, where the waves are much milder. Also, Greg will be competing against not just boys his own age, but experienced, grown men.
Obviously, I wish him good luck, but it's going to be more stressful for me, as his mother, than it will be for him. Mike thinks it'll be fine, so I'm biting my tongue about how they thought I was too overprotective before he got hurt playing football.