Beginning on November 1, which is the date of my mother’s first letter from her Hawaii trip 84 years ago, I am serializing day by day, the book, Cecilia King’s Extraordinary Senior Trip, which you can obtain from Amazon in either Kindle or paperback.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming nine-months in Hawaii 1940-41.

Honolulu, Sunday night, November 17, 1940
Sunday night –
Have a grand day – played paddle tennis with Ann B. this morning – lots of fun – and I find that I adapt my tennis service and drives to the smaller court. It is about 2/3 or ¾ of the size of a tennis court with a net about 3 or 4 feet high. We use tennis balls & small wooden paddles a little larger than those for ping-pong. Met about twenty people – remember half their names and none of their faces. Ann B. is learning next week & I am sorry because she is very pleasant, athletic and natural.
Slept until 3:30 – dressed (very sheer suit & red accessories) & we drove 20 miles out to Schofield Barracks – the largest U.S. Army station anywhere – called on Dr. and Mrs. Thomas (Uncle Ed’s former assistant). But they had come into town to see us & no one was there, but their younger daughter (very attractive girl, about my age, engaged to an Air Corps officer). We are invited to her sister’s wedding the 30th of this month.
Oahu – this island – is really a small continent in itself – the mountainous regions, valleys, rainy parts, desert lands, calm beaches, rough coasts – we drove by Pearl Harbor – all the fleet in the bay lit up reflected beautifully on the water as if they were resting on a huge mirror. By banana groves with little stalks of green fruit – by pineapple fields – then acres & acres of rolling hills covered with sugar cane. From the dry heat in one hour to cold rainy windy land. After Schofield we had dinner near there in a Japanese restaurant – quite up high – the windows overlooking an island lake where the bordering Ecu – (no can spell – but the source of genuine moonlight reflected on the water. A Hawaiian quartet with their guitars & voices in soft native music – Jap waitresses in native silk kimonos & sashes & sandals. Had chicken chop suey, avocado & grapefruit salad with French dressing (try that salad combination – it’s grand if the grapefruit are sweet) shrimp cocktail, rice, chocolate cake & coffee. Drove home past the largest inland canal (landscaped beautifully but made to keep the swamplands drained & habitable).
We saw some perfectly beautiful teak wood chests – the one that appealed to me most was one treated so the wood was a cream colored. Carved down the corners very daintily – would be lovely in a bedroom. And a nest of tables to match.
Have to get up early in the morning to get my hair repaired & start on another long worry about the clothes that aren’t visible on my budget – so I will say
Goodnight – with love
Cecilia
I don’t even allow myself to think about home – it would be so easy to become homesick – but so foolish. Please write me all the news – family, friends & rug chatter.
Editor’s Note:

Schofield Barracks was established in 1908 to provide defense of Pearl Harbor and the island of Oahu. The post was named for Lieutenant General John M. Schofield, Commanding General of the Army from 1888-1895, who observed Oahu's strategic location as a naval base. Before WWII, Schofield Barracks was Schofield Barracks, as the center of defense activity on Oahu, was the Army's most important garrison. Its barracks housed the Hawaiian Division, the only complete division in the U.S. Army before WW II, from which the 24th and 25th Divisions were formed as WW II approached. During World War II Schofield Barracks was used mainly as post for garrison troops and base for the 25th Infantry Division. Wheeler Army Airfield (now part of the Barracks) was, during World War II, a priority target of the Attack on Pearl Harbor, and suffered serious damage; some pilots did manage to launch in a lull in the attack (including one in his pajamas) and take down a few of the attackers. Wheeler later became an Air Force Base, before returning to Army control in the 1990s. Located on over 17,000 acres, Schofield is the largest army post in Hawaii. It is also home to the 25th Infantry Division, also known as the "Tropic Lightning Division", since 1941 and home to the 8th Theater Sustainment Command. Schofield is the Command Headquarters of the U.S. Army, Hawaii (USARHAW) which is a sub-command of U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) headquartered at Fort Shafter, also on Oahu. (https://www.schofieldbarrackshousing.com/history)