By Sam Mott '18
Growing up and getting older all I ever wanted to do was visit Hawaii. I knew it was a beautiful island and it would be an experience in a lifetime to visit. I never thought that playing softball would help me fulfill this dream.
Due to the fact that I've never left the east coast I didn't really know what to expect when it came to this trip. Playing softball in Hawaii was amazing, but all of our down time was really what the trip was about. We visited the beaches of Waikiki got more sun then all Ohio did over break. We probably even spent too much money on things we didn't need, like a ukulele.
We visited Pearl Harbor and met with a survivor from the day that will live in infamy. After this chilling and humbling experience we went back to the beach and most definitely got the Hawaiian experienced. We laid on the beach and tanned, went paddle boarding, and even hung out on a couple pool rafts soaking up all the sun we could. While not everyone got burnt a few of us were definitely more red than we were tan.
Once the week was coming to a close we really wanted to enjoy the sun and sand one more time. We went to a beautiful lagoon in while a few of us went snorkeling. We saw lots of different sea life like sea urchins, reef triggerfish, yellow tang fish, and even Moorish idol fish. On our last day in paradise we visited the Dole pineapple plantation. We went into the world's largest maze to find different stations and win a secret prize. Many of us tried the Dole Whip, which can only be found in the plantation or Disney World/Disneyland. Our last stop before the airport was the beautiful North Shore.
Once we got into the airport the only way to describe our trip back home is "Zero runs for Baldwin". We waited on our plane in Hawaii for what seemed like 10 years, actually only two hours, until we were switched over to another. Once we hit Los Angeles some of us made it back to Cleveland before the rest. Even though a few of us were stuck in Los Angeles we got to enjoy the sun and warm weather a little longer at the Albrecht Household. We had a good home cooked meal, and some laughs that probably resonated all the way to Cleveland.
Finally Tuesday evening around 7:45 p.m. we were finally back on campus, secretly wish we could escape the snow and be back in the Aloha State once more. Mahalo Coach Spencer for all you have done for us this past break you have given us the spring training trip of a lifetime.
