I woke up the next day, completely refreshed and ready to tackle the world. First, I couldn't wait for breakfast.
Say what you will about the Hilo Seaside Hotel (think charmingly rustic), their complementary breakfast is simple but top-notch. There are three options to select from.
I chose the oatmeal+papaya. The papaya was sweet but not mushy (yum!) I stole tried some of my brother's homefries and it was really good too.
After the scrumpcious breakfast, we headed out to the Richardson Beach Park, as recommended by S&L. The beach itself was fairly small but the water was clear and the fish abundant.
Oh my sweet... TURTLE!!!! (there may have been some underwater screaming at this point. In case you didn't know, opening your mouth underwater will cause a sudden influx of ocean water, which can inadvertently lead to choking) The next few minutes involved trying to find my brother (he would have kicked himself so hard if he missed the turtle) and document this monumental moment. Whisper screaming as not to frightened the turtle away (ridiculous I know. The turtle is underwater, it can't really hear if I raised my voice), I managed to get my brother's attention and conveyed, in very gibberished words, what I just saw.
After a few frantic moments of "where's the turtle? Did it swim away already?" we saw it again, lazily chomping seaweed.
It's very important to note that you should never, ever touch wild sea turtles. And trust me, you really don't want to - they are pretty dirty. (Okay, dirty is a poor choice of word. Mossy/lichen-y is more apt).
None of it matters. We saw a frickin' wild sea turtle, in the ocean!
It really was the best day. And it wasn't even noon yet.
Eeee! Turtles are awesome and should be treated accordingly!
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