My Best Shot

Mike Haskel, Baltimore

A door to remember in the Yucatan Peninsula

This summer, after I finished ninth grade, my family traveled to Mexico for 10 days. We rented a car and drove around the Yucatan Peninsula, exploring beaches, inland jungles and Mayan ruins. But sometimes just walking around towns was also enjoyable and gave a view of the local way of life. This photograph of a colorful door with a religious cross on it was taken during a walk through Ticul, a busy town not far from the ruins of Uxmal.

A Memorable Place

Hawaii: Not always a pretty sight

By Steven Presbury

Special to the Sun

My father and I took a trip to Hawaii a few years ago. We visited the beautiful islands of Oahu, Maui and Kauai. This was my first visit to the islands, but it marked a return for my father, who had been stationed at Schofield Barracks army base on Oahu in 1947.

One of the first things I noticed in Hawaii was the presence of flowers -- they were everywhere. And the constant tropical breeze perfumed the air with the scent of oleander, jasmine and hibiscus.

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency on Waikiki Beach. We were lucky enough to get a room with a balcony on the 23rd floor that had an incredible view of Waikiki Beach, downtown Honolulu and the greatest Hawaiian symbol of all, Diamond Head crater.

The next morning, I awoke to find Dad sitting on the balcony, looking out at the magnificent view. "This is something else," he said.

Later, we went to see the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. It was very moving. I knew of the events that led to the creation of this memorial, but nothing quite compares with seeing it firsthand.

We drove all around, visiting the sights -- Byodo-In Temple, the Poly- nesian Cultural Center, various gardens and beaches. At one beach, Dad said, "This is the beach where the colored GIs came."

I had never thought about Hawaii being segregated the way the U.S. mainland had been in those days. For whatever reason, I believed that since this was land originally inhabited by people who were nonwhites, the color barrier that existed elsewhere never existed here. I was wrong.

Dad showed me several streets in downtown Waikiki that were once full of clubs, bars and restaurants that catered to black soldiers. They had since been replaced by steel and glass high-rises. Dad told me that in 1947 in Hawaii, even if you had enough money to go to nice restaurants or hotels, the option was not available to black people.

But the places that were available, he added, were lively and full of people having a great time. As we toured, I could see my father smiling to himself as we passed a place that had been familiar to him 50 years before.

On our last morning in Hawaii, on the hotel balcony overlooking the swaying palms and ocean waves, I awoke and, as usual, saw Dad looking down upon paradise from a hotel room that 50 years ago would have been just a dream.

Steven Presbury lives in Baltimore.

Readers Recommend

Provincetown, Mass.

Jan Riemer, Glen Arm

I went with a group of women to Provincetown for a vacation a few years ago. From this beach town at the tip of Cape Cod, we took a boat excursion to go whale-watching. We started out in the morning, and it was a beautiful, sunny day. The whales were playing, and they followed our boat. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had.

Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Wanda Wehr, Baltimore

I took a ferry to Vancouver Island last May from Vancouver, British Columbia, and visited Butchart Gardens. It was raining lightly, but the rain could not take away from the beauty of all the tulips. This is a gorgeous place.

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