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

Hawaii trip - day 1

Easter Sunday, April 8

Our plane left D-FW as scheduled, and actually arrived in Honolulu about 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Unfortunately, that's when things started to go downhill. At first, our plane couldn't taxi to the gate due to "equipment" being left in the way. Then, when we got to the gate, the jet bridge wouldn't extend to the plane, so we had to sit while the airport sent someone to fix it. When we finally got off the plane, this is the sight that greeted us at baggage claim...

A Honolulu airport worker tries to get the baggage conveyors moving...

Yep, the baggage conveyors were jammed and some of the belts weren't working. After 45 minutes of attempts to re-start them, they finally re-routed our plane's luggage to another carousel. I'd say it's time for the Honolulu airport to modernize its facilities, or at least do a better job of maintaining them. While I waited for our bags, K went to pick up our rental car. Things weren't all smiles and laughs at the Hertz counter, either. Apparently, they'd had a power outage and were struggling to get their computers back on line. But K still made it back to baggage claim before I had our stuff... Finally, the baggage machine spit out our suitcases and we were on the move.

We made it! Heading east on H-1 toward Waikiki...

Waikiki Beach near our hotel - Diamond Head peak in background

One of the reasons we decided to take this trip was to visit with friends who lived on Oahu. Bill, one of my best friends from college, has lived in Honolulu for the past three years. We hadn't seen him since we last visited two years ago. After checking in at our hotel, we picked up Bill and his wife and headed to Kane'ohe, on the other side of the island, to have dinner with K's friends Susan and Greg, who just recently relocated to Hawaii from the "mainland".

driving north on the Pali Highway...

view of Kailua from the Pali Overlook

Modeling my most obnoxious Hawaiian shirt at the Pali Overlook...

Susan and Greg's house features what is arguably one of the best views available on the island of Oahu. Their balcony -- or lanai, to use the local terminology -- provides a view of the Ko'olau Mountains to the southwest, and Kane'ohe Bay to the east. Spectacular! They served us a really tasty Easter dinner, which compensated nicely for our earlier troubles at the airport. Susan's mom and grandmother were in town, as well.

the view from Greg & Susan's

Kane'ohe sunset

This was our first time to visit this side of the island, and we really enjoyed it. It's a lot more relaxed than the fast-paced, crowded city conditions found in Honolulu and Waikiki. After dinner, we headed back to our hotel, arriving around 10 pm (due to the time difference, it was now 3 a.m. to our tired bodies) -- a long day.

Stay tuned for more...

WSC

nr: The Perfect Storm - Sebastian Junger

np: Jesus & Mary Chain - Psychocandy