Hawaii trip - day 2, part 1

Monday, April 9 - Honolulu scenes

We had the whole day to spend on the island of Oahu. K had plans to go shopping and go to a spa with Susan; I was planning on meeting up with Bill for a drive along the north shore. First, I took a couple shots from our hotel balcony...

Looking south along Beachwalk St. in Waikiki. The constuction site in the foreground will be the location of a Donald Trump project, a high-rise tower housing hundreds of hotel suites and luxury codominiums. In the background is the Outrigger Reef, where we stayed during our 2005 visit. It's currently undergoing renovations and remodeling, but appeared to still be open.

early morning view of Waikiki

After breakfast, Bill and I met up to start our day. Before heading for the north shore, we took a hike up to the top of 760-ft Diamond Head peak for a great view of the city. The trail is usually crowded with school groups and other tourists, but it isn't too bad if you get an early enough start.

Looking west from Diamond Head toward Waikiki and Honolulu

looking south from Diamond Head


not for those seeking solitude... the trail up Diamond Head was crowded in both directions

After Diamond Head, we headed for Kane'ohe and drove west along the north shore. (I'll post those photos in a separate entry). Later in the afternoon, we had time for more sightseeing around downtown Honolulu before we met K and Bill's wife and Susan and Greg for dinner...

Honolulu's Iolani Palace, which once housed Hawaiian royalty

The Honolulu state capitol building is... well... "unique" to say the least...

After dinner at Keo's Thai Cuisine in Waikiki (highly recommended!) we walked along Lewers checking out some of the new shops. (Demolition crews were tearing down old apartment buildings here during our 2005 visit; it's amazing how fast they put all this new stuff up!) Then we got some dessert and called it a night. In the morning, K and I would head to the airport to catch our flight to Kona on the Big Island.

Stay tuned for more... the next entry will cover our driving tour of Oahu's north coast.

WSC

nr: Ruby El Hult - Northwest Disaster

np: 10,000 Maniacs - Hope Chest