SURFSIDE HAWAII

Spring 2008 Update

2008-03-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

Aloha From Benay & Dennis

Springtime has arrived and now we will have warmer, clear and sunny days until the beginning of June at which time the 100 + degree temperatures will return until mid to late October.

Winter visitor’s included Dennis’ sister Maureen and her husband Jerry whom are both now retired and traveling around the country in their super large RV along with their 2 dogs. We also traveled to Las Vegas and stayed 3 days with them at the Flamingo Hotel and rode up to the top of the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas Hotel and viewed the fabulous Bellagio Hotel water show on the Strip.

We did a lot of Slot / Video Poker / Blackjack tournaments here in Laughlin and up in Las Vegas over the past three months and we met lots of retiree’s like us who enjoy the casino tournaments.

We had a wonderful trip in mid-March to Atlantic City, NJ. for Benay’s Harrah’s Millionaire Maker Video Poker Tournament finals. The round-trip flights were on US Airways, non-stop Las Vegas to Philadelphia, PA. (Positive Space - very rare for us!) and then chauffeured stretched Limo to Atlantic City. We stayed at the beautiful Harrah’s Hotel & Casino. We were able to visit the Boardwalk and Caesars & Bally’s while we were there.

We have attained another goal we set a few years back to again have a condo in Hawaii. We acquired a condo unit in Waikiki Beach, near the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

We will now begin to benefit much more from our travel privileges on American Airlines who in 2001 took over Trans World Airlines. We will be able to commute to Paradise almost anytime we can get on a flight, and head right to our condo. This will aid in giving us a break from the 120° summertime heat in Bullhead City. The daily walks and the fresh ocean air with occasional liquid sunshine raindrops will be a wonderful feature of our dual lifestyle.

In early June, just before summer begins, we will fly to Ohio for the nuptials of Amanda Hulett, the eldest daughter of Dennis’ niece, Tammy Hulett. The wedding will give us a chance to visit with the rest of the Smith clan, sisters Kathleen, Maureen, Eileen and brother Timothy.

Return To Surfside Hawaii - Our Web Site

Winter 2007 Update

2007-12-21T19:59:00.000-08:00

Winter has arrived and now we will have cooler days with normal temperatures in the mid 50’s to low 60’s most days at least until Spring arrives.

Unfortunately Dennis’ attempt along with 320 other entrants to become a millionaire in Harrah’s Millionaire Maker Slot Tournament in New Orleans in October did not pan out. A very lucky person from the Phoenix, AZ. area won the million dollar tournament.

Fortunately, Benay will now have a chance to become a millionaire in a video poker tournament in Atlantic City, NJ. sometime in March of 2008.

Maybe she will have better luck in her tournament and get a few Royal Flushes that help make big winning scores. Again Harrah’s will provide transportation and accommodations for both of us to the East Coast to attend the tournament just like our trip to New Orleans, LA. at which we had a great time and met many very nice people.

We are looking forward to the return of spring time and hopefully another relaxing trip to Honolulu, Hawaii.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Return To Surfside Hawaii

Fall Cool Down Update

2007-09-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

We ended the summer in Hawaii with our annual doctors and dentist visits in Honolulu. Had a great time and visited former TWA Honolulu friends and TWAer's from Kansas City.

“The view from our rented condo at the Ilikai Hotel”…home of Jack Lord.
Click on the photo to enlarge.

Now that October is here and the temperatures are starting to cool off, we will still be attending various slot and video poker tournaments in Laughlin and Las Vegas and also celebrating our 30 years of wedded bliss. Wow!

In August I [Dennis J. Smith] entered a slot tournament called “The Millionaire Maker”. Out of 250 participants I came in 5^th that qualified me to be in the finals. The finals are held in New Orleans at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino. All expense paid trip for Benay and I. We actually get to fly as REAL passengers with confirmed reservations. I think that is probably the only time in 41 years we traveled on a full-fare ticket!

Hold on to you hats folks as I intend to win and be a Millionaire!

Return To Surfside Hawaii

Sizzling Summer Update

2007-06-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy all spring going to various Las Vegas & Laughlin casinos for slot and video poker tournaments as Benay has recovered remarkably from her surgery.

Now that summer is here, we have plans to do the same, starting with a slot tournament at Harrah’s Laughlin, a Lionel Richie show at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas then slot & video poker tournaments at Paris Las Vegas & Rio Hotel, Las Vegas.

More July Slot Tournaments At Flamingo Las Vegas, Aquarius Hotel, Laughlin and Harrah’s Laughlin taking us into August.

We are receiving almost daily, more tournament offers for August & September. We also want to fly over to Honolulu to make our yearly doctor’s visits sometime in September.

For our 30^th anniversary in October we are planning a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to visit friends and celebrate.

Return To Surfside Hawaii

Spring Time Update

2007-03-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

March weather has been the usual desert climate, sunny and warm with a high temperature of 99 degrees already on the 17th.

It has now settled back to the normal highs of 70’s and 80’s.

Benay awoke on March 21st with some mild discomfort in her abdomen and back and it progressed to severe pain by 10 pm that night. After taking her to our local hospital and after many overnight tests, it was determined that she was suffering from gallstone blockage. By 6 am she was already scheduled for surgery. The laparoscopic method was used and the surgeon decided that the gallbladder should be removed. The 90-minute operation was successful and now she is now resting up at home and getting stronger and in training for the next slot tournament.

Thank goodness we were close to home and not in the remote area of Captain Cook, Hawaii, where we spent quite a bit of time in the past 2 years. Our local hospital is only 5 minutes away from our house.

Return To Surfside Hawaii

Mid-October Update

2006-10-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

We were fortunate that we were not house sitting on the Big Island on October 15th as we have been informed that the house Ralph owned and has sold had quite a shake and lots of household goods crashed onto the beautiful hard wood floors. The house is located about 40 miles from the epicenter of the 6.6 earthquake and just miles from the landslide in Kealakekua Bay.

We felt a few strong jolts and the house shaking while we were there off and on for about 2 years but luckily we missed “the big one”.

This week we are driving Benay’s 2006 Sonata up to Northern California to visit daughter Lesley and her family in Auburn and will be putting some miles on the new car.

Return To Surfside Hawaii

October Update

2006-09-30T08:05:00.001-07:00

We had another great visit to St. Louis, Missouri, where we saw family and a lot of good friends. On the driving trip home we stopped off in Castle Rock, Colorado to visit another Honolulu, Hawaii ex TWA’er who is working for Southwest Air in their new Denver hub.

We then decided to look into another car to replace Benay’s 1991 Toyota Camry while driving thru Las Vegas, Nevada on our way home. The Toyota Camry has served us well in Honolulu, Hawaii and for another 8 years since returning to the mainland in Bullhead City, Arizona.

Benay crying her eyes out over losing her car.

This time we chose to try out a 2006 Hyundai Sonata, built in Montgomery, Alabama with the same equipment as the Toyota Camry and with air bags for more safety.

The replacement.

October travel plans include a few Slot / Video Poker Tournaments with dinner banquets in Las Vegas, Nevada. Early November we will attend Las Vegas Casino sponsored Birthday parties for November born folks (Dennis) at Golden Nugget and Flamingo Hotels. For Benay's Birthday, she received tickets from her son Dale and his wife Connie to see Barbra Streisand in concert at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on November 20th.

We are keeping busy and enjoying our retirement and the golden years!

Aloha
Benay & Dennis

Return To Surfside Hawaii

September Update

2006-09-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

Aloha From Bullhead City, AZ.

Since we finished our Hawaiian summer visit, we have been using our free nights and slot / video poker tournament invitations in Las Vegas, NV. and having a great time as usual and now we are about to embark on a trip to St. Louis, MO.

Our original plans called for flying from Las Vegas to St. Louis, but since election time is getting nearer and the oil companies are dropping gas prices at least for the next 6 weeks, we decided to drive our 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis that has 90,000 miles on it and it just turned 5 years old.

This time we will be able to have lunch with the TWA retiree's at their once a month meeting in Bridgeton, MO. We are looking forward to seeing all of the family and St. Louis friend's this trip.

Return To Surfside Hawaii Web Page

August Update

2006-08-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family.

Hope this finds you all well.

It looks as if our house/cat sitting days are nearing an end. Ralph [our coffee bean farmer] is selling his spread and moving to Europe where his boat is being built. It appears it is taking much longer than he anticipated and much more money so selling the farm was his only way to accomplish his goal.

We have had a great run [almost 1 ¾ years] of off and on Kona living so it is time to get home and tend to our own home. Our swimming pool has been so neglected that we have some work to do. We actually are looking forward being back on the Mainland and at home after being away for 3 ½ months.

We [hopefully] will be back home August 9th so if you call or write [e-mail the same as always] our home contacts are the same too.

We plan on visiting St. Louis early Sept and a bunch of visits to Las Vegas as well. In November we have a date with Dale and Connie to see Barbra Streisand [a gift to me from them for my birthday]. Lesley and Bob are joining us so it should be such a fun evening and we are really looking forward to it. Barbra will be performing at The Staples Center in Los Angeles Nov. 20th [coincidently on Dennis' 63rd Birthday].

Drop us a note when you have time, as we always love hearing from you.

Aloha!

Return To Surfside Hawaii

Aloha From Captain Cook - July Update

2006-06-28T15:51:00.000-07:00

Things are going smoothly and we are enjoying the fabulous weather here in paradise.

Benay will be flying away on July 2nd to Sacramento, CA. to visit her oldest daughter Lesley and family in Auburn, CA. for about a week. Then down to Los Angeles, CA. to visit her 2nd born, her son Dale and his family.

She has also planned a 4-day trip to Las Vegas with her sister Judy, from Manhattan Beach, CA. before she returns to Hawaii.

By the time Benay returns it will be nearing the end of July, and over half of our Hawaii duties will be completed. Ralph maybe returning a lot earlier than October to possibly pack up his belonging and say Aloha to his Konalake bean farm as his boat is now in the pre-construction phase in the Netherlands and he wants to be there overseeing the start of the actual construction work beginning in September and continuing all through the winter months. So this could possibly mean that our duties will be completed by mid August.

As always, all good things must come to and end and our R & R trips to paradise will become history and we will sadly miss the adventure but we will move on to something new and exciting.

Aloha from Benay & Dennis

Return To Surfside Hawaii Webpage

ALOHA FROM CAPTAIN COOK, HAWAII

2006-05-27T14:32:00.000-07:00

It's almost June and one month has gone by of our 5-month Hawaiian vacation. We have been keeping a close eye on our charges, Red & Mac, and they are both doing very well. They are eating, sleeping and are very contented just as we are in this perfect climate with the beautiful Pacific Oceans views everyday and occasional whiffs of the wonderful smell of roasting coffee beans from the surrounding coffee mills. Time sure seems to move along very fast as we age or do we just imagine it.

Return To Surfside Hawaii Webpage

HAWAII TRIP - MAY 2006

2006-04-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

ALOHA

Our friend Ralph, the retired TWA 747 Captain and Kona coffee bean farmer has decided to get back into the water and will be ocean sailing around Europe all summer. He had asked us if we would be available to keep an eye on the coffee bean farm, the cats and the house for about 5 months and of course, we have accepted. This means we will be spending much of our time until around October in Captain Cook on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Benay is also planning to make a mainland trip to visit her daughter and the grandkids in Northern California for a diversion from watching the coffee beans grow from green to bright red cherries for fall picking and looking at the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean and Kealakekua Bay everyday.

Our St. Louis driving trip has now been pushed back until October. We are hoping to see all of our TWA friends at Happy China Restaurant in Creve Coeur, Mo. and our family and friends in St. Louis and hopefully fit in a side trip to Tunica, Mississippi to see the casinos.

If anyone has plans to visit Hawaii on any Island, please call or e-mail us, as we would love to try to visit with you.

Benay & Dennis

Return To Surfside Hawaii Webpage

HAWAII - OCTOBER 16, 2005

2005-10-16T10:07:00.000-07:00

Captain Cook Coffee Bean Farm Photo's