You could say there's no place like home, even though Hawaii has not been my home for 18 years! It feels so good to be back. Kristen and I scored some discounted flights to Oahu for January and with my timeshare points we got a hotel room in Waikiki. Sadly Kristen was never able to visit me when I lived in Hawaii so now I was able to show her all the best spots. After we convened at the airport and got a rental car we headed to grab some food! We found this fun craft beer restaurant called "Off the Wall" the Ahi poke nachos were the best!
We checked in to our time share Hotel, the "Modern Honolulu". I'm not sure how modern it is, maybe it was modern back in 2015 when it was last remodeled! LOL! The room was good enough for us. Luckily we are good friends because there was only a shutter window separating the bathroom from the bedroom.
The partial ocean marina view was not too bad. It looked so stormy outside but it was still very warm and humid. We headed to the pool to relax and have a drink before wandering the hustle and bustle of Waikiki. Boy has it grown in the last 15 years I would hardly recognize half of the hotels and places we used to hang out.
The next morning we were up early thanks to the time difference. We packed a bag for the day and headed out toward Hawaii Kai to do the hike up to the lighthouse. Perfect for us we had not had breakfast because we happened upon the Malasada truck and no long line!
You can't pass up the fresh hot Malasadas when you're on the island.
Good thing we fueled up because the little walk up to the lighthouse was quite the steep hike after all.
We stopped on the way to a few look out points. We knew it was whale season and you can often catch them breaching from the shore.
We saw a lot of whale tails and spouts that first morning! It was so exciting and the views are just spectacular.
You can see the hike up the the lighthouse is a paved path but very steep. That is the parking lot with our car so very far below.
The little lighthouse view means we're almost to the top!
We made it! Hot and sweaty! The colors of the ocean are unbelievable.
After our big hike we drove down the road to Waimanalo Beach for a dip in the sea and relax. The beach was pretty empty and the water was great! We had planned to be back in Waikiki to go to my favorite Sushi restaurant the evening for their Happy Hour special.
We ate so much sushi we almost burst! It was just as good as I remember.
We took a long walk back through Waikiki and looked in all the designer shops on the way back. It is like a mini Hollywood or Rodeo Drive for sure.
Tuesday morning once we were up and about we packed our bags and headed up to the North Shore.
We hit my favorite coffee shop, the coffee gallery and headed to drive the north shore coast to see the big surf. In winter they hold a lot of surf competitions on the North Shore because the waves get so big.
We drove and stopped along the way at several beaches to see the views. We saw Turtles near Turtles cove swimming in the waves and sunning on the sand. We walked by a Japanese tourist couple who proudly exclaimed they saw turtles in the sand. Obviously a highlight of their trip!
We drove to Sunset Beach where the surf competitions take place. There were so many surfers in the water and ocean photographers and lifegaurds on Sea Doos there for rescue.
They were even filming an episode of a new TV show. It is called, "Rescue: HI surf" we will have to see if it makes it.
We drove all the coast of the North Shore and around to Turtle Bay. There is a farm stand there and a shave ice shop. They have all natural flavors and after a warm afternoon the Lilikoi hit the spot.
By the time we drove the whole coast around North Shore we ended up back at Kailua beach for sunset.
Wednesday we decided to spend the day on the Windward side at Kailua beach. If it is good enough for President Obama it is good enough for us.
We even found a favorite tea for the beach day. We walked the long sand beach for miles and lay in the shade reading our books for hours. It was glorious. No agenda, no other hungry mouths to feed.
We drove the coast road back to Waikiki in the afternoon trying to spot some more whales off the coast. We saw the most whales that first day than we saw all the rest of the week. They were welcoming us to the island obviously.
Thursday we had booked tickets to go tour the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor.
I had been a few times before but it is still very moving each time you go. It's amazing you can still see oil in the water from the sunken ship so many years later.
After a full morning at the memorial we drove the rest of the way up to the North Shore again.
This time we found a secluded beach area with milder waves and hardly anyone but a few locals around.
We watched the turtles in the waves swim all around. There was even a little baby turtle!
Pretty much the whole week was pick a beach and rest and relax. We did find a chocolate factory called Manoa chocolate over in Kailua. So we had a chocolate tasting and brought home so souvenirs. We also found a great little brewery LaniKai brewing co.
They had a great tasting room and really great drinks.
It was really hard to leave the island. My flight home for Sunday was cancelled and they notified me Saturday afternoon. They had rebooked me for Tuesday. It was very tempting to just stay a few extra days! Too bad I don't know any locals who wanted to put me up in a guest room for free.
We flew home Sunday afternoon and said goodbye to Oahu. Hopefully it won't be another 15 years before I get to return. Although Kauai is always our favorite island to visit I am happy to come back to them all.
