We left Friday morning bright and early, although we both wished we would have gone bright and earlier. We left at 9 and by the time we had our rental car it was almost 11. Uncle John and Peggy were on O'ahu on Friday as well and we had the best intentions of meeting up with them. I was so excited--unfortunately they were on a tour all day and were unable to slip away and I didn't get to see them. Even though I knew it was a stretch that we would even meet up, I was really bummed. Don't worry, John, I still had a great weekend...
Friday we started out by going to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. We avoided the crowds by going on Friday and only had to wait about 20 minutes for our tour. There was a very informative movie and we took a boat ride out to the memorial. I don't know what I expected, but the memorial was a graveyard more than anything. To add (or detract) from the experience it was drizzling and the building is open-air. Strangely, I was not as moved as I thought I would be. It was a very nice park and very informative. I had some great photos...
After Pearl we went and checked into our hotel. We were very happy with it (especially since we got a pretty good deal on it) and it was only two blocks from Waikiki Beach. We settled in a bit and called Sarah, a friend of a friend and she met us to show us around Waikiki.
Waikiki (and Honolulu, for that matter) is a huge city. I'm not exactly sure how big, but there were stores I had only heard of but had never seen (take Prada and Chanel for example) lining the streets. And Honolulu must be the vacation spot for Japanese. There were tourists everywhere. And, for a change, I was one of them.
Sarah took us out to eat to a sweet place along the beach--here's Rick and I with Diamond Head in the background. Anyway, we ate and chatted it up, and then headed back to the hotel. A couple of friends from Kauai were also on O'ahu on Friday night and Rick and I met them for drinks. It was nice--I knew we were acquaintances but didn't realize that we were the kind of friends you call up to go out when you're both in the same town... does that make any sense? It was nice and even though the bars stay open until 4 AM we were sleeping by midnight.We had every intention of getting up early and hiking Diamond Head on Saturday morning, but we didn't get moving until 7:30 or so (yes, that's late). We hunted around for a buffet breakfast that we thought would be suitable, but settled on McDonald's. Then we got in the car and headed out of town.
We stopped all along the shore, at least every 10 miles or so. We looked for other islands at the Lana'i lookout where on a clear day you can see Maui, Lana'i, and Moloka'i--we saw a grand total of zero other islands. Boo. But it was pretty. Pictures soon. There were a lot of little islands along the coast which I found neat--Kauai only has one little island flanking its shores (that I know of, I guess). Makai was beautiful shades of blue ocean and mauka were sheer cliffs that reminded me of Na Pali coast. It was beautiful.
We spent a lot of time looking for the Bonzai Pipeline and looking for killer waves. Tons of surfers. We stopped in "Surf City USA," Hale'iwa and ate and looked around. Good times. But one of the highlights of Saturday was the Dole Plantation where I was the pineapple princess (hopefully that picture isn't lost!). We didn't do the tour or anything schnazzy like that, but it was fun anyway. They had a nice gift shop too.
When we finally got back to the city, we decided to look around downtown with stops at the Capitol Building, 'Iolani Palace, and the Aloha Tower. City views. Then we stopped at the Ala Moana Shopping Center--it was huge (the largest open-air shopping center in the nation) with stores that I knew I couldn't afford to even walk into. But Rick hadn't been off Kauai in 6 months and was excited to see real stores again. We did all that before 6 PM. And then took a nap. Ate out at the Cheesecake Factory and called it an early night to prepare for Diamond Head the next morning.
We got up early on Sunday morning and were on the trail a little after 7. We were laughing at the paved trail and the hand rails. It seemed so much more, well, fancy compared to the trails we're used to hiking on Kauai. The trail was only 8/10 of a mile so it wasn't so hard. The stairs were really steep, though. The signs tell you to allow for an hour and a half for the whole trip; we took less than an hour. I'd never seen a crater before; I expected it to be more clear-cut. But there was a great view of the city from the peak. If you're into looking at cityscapes, that is.
The rest of Sunday was spent eating at a breakfast buffet and wandering around Waikiki some more. There was a store with a walk-through aquarium in it! Anyway, we were tired and ended up meeting Sarah for ice cream and heading to the airport and catching an earlier flight back home. I took all of my leftovers (including a piece of cheesecake) home on my carry on. I had to pause when TSA asked if I had any creams or lotions--does whipped cream count?
All in all, it was a great weekend. I didn't get annoyed with Rick (sometimes too much of someone gets to me) and even though my directions were off at times he never seemed to get frustrated with me. It was good to know that we travel well together--makes the trip to Japan more appealing (have I mentioned Rick's coming too?). We saw all we wanted to see and had a great time. But it was so good to get back home to the simple life. Every time the wheels touch the ground at LIH I smile--Kauai. My speed of life. I love it.
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