Letters to Travel: The view of Hanalei, Hawaii

The inside viewof Hanalei

Just a quick note to say Christopher Reynolds did a great job representing Hanalei [“Rooted in Kauai,” April 20]. As a born and raised Kauaian (who grew up on Weke Road), I must say I was surprised to open the paper at my current home in California and see my hometown taking over a full spread. Reynolds did a great job representing the island and calling out all the best restaurants and things to do — exactly the list I’ve sent to friends looking for Kauai recommendations.

Janna Irons

Encinitas

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Great article on Hanalei. Reynolds captured it perfectly. We live in SoCal but have a vacation rental house at Pinetrees on Hanalei Bay. I was there working on the house in February when he was there. He may have seen me walking the beach each morning picking up trash before starting the workday. How in the world did Mark Boster get a photo of the pier and the bay from Black Pot without a person in the photo? What is really amazing is when people light sky lanterns at night from the beach and they float out over the bay.

David Vandervoet

Los Alamitos

More tips for tipping

Regarding “Some Helpful Tips Regarding Gratuities,” by Catharine Hamm, April 20: What is with restaurant wait staff asking if you “need” change when paying the bill for a meal? This seems like the height of arrogance or the depth of groveling for a tip. I am tired of telling these clueless people that if they want a tip, they’ll have to bring change. This is even more annoying than servers ordering me to “enjoy” my meal.

Barbara Marcus

Beverly Hills

No tipping allowed

There is a local place where tipping is not permitted. The United States Marine Corps base at Twentynine Palms.

SOS, Soldiers Organized Services, headed by founder Erica Stone, has a hard and fast rule that volunteer drivers may not accept gratuities, not that any of us would anyway. Most of us are retired and military veterans.

SOS provides free transportation for Marines and their families from the USO at the Palm Springs Airport to the base and back. Cab fare for this trip is $150 to $170. Most of us pay our own expenses and provide our own vehicles, though SOS has two vans for larger groups, which local philanthropists, including Jackie Autry, have provided.

Last Christmas holiday we moved about 1,500 Marines. One Marine tried to tip me on his return from leave and said, “If it hadn’t been for SOS, I wouldn’t have been able to go home for Christmas.” That was tip enough.

Eddy McClain

Indio

Slavery’s role in Civil War

Regarding “Slavery and Charleston,” Letters, April 20: OK, the Civil War was about Northern oppression of the South and slavery an annoying incidental association. If I am to believe this immoral distortion of our history, then Germany and the Holocaust were a fairy tale.

Elizabeth M. Foster

Pasadena