Our Christmas morning started with a walk down to Waikiki beach. At 7 a.m. the area was bustling with tourists. Luckily for all of us we were given a Christmas gift of a beautiful rainbow.
After our hour walk, we headed back to the hale to plan out the day. Of course our brain went into vacation mode and making decisions seems to be a skill we are lacking. We decided do one thing, then make the next decision and that seems to be how our day went.
First stop Shaka Santa and Tutu Mele at Honolulu Hale (City Hall).
The Honolulu Hale was open, so we were able to wander the inside exhibits, bonus points for being very barren of tourists.
We returned to the outside and did a little more wandering around.
Continuing on our walking adventure, we went to see Kamehameha the Great Statue in front of Ali’iolani Hale.
Across from him we went to see the Iolani Palace. Please forgive Flat Stanley for photobombing the one picture we took there.
Now that Flat Stanley was tagging along, we decided to get some of his touristy photos out of the way. We made the next big decision and decided to visit two of our favorite viewing spots, Pu’u Ualaka’a State Park Outlook off of Round Top Drive and then over to Punchbowl.
By this time is was after 12:30 and we were hungry. Lunch was in order and we made a stop at Waikiki Brewery. In our beer snobbery opinion it was decent, but no repeat trip is needed.
We contemplated our next jaunt and thought a quick drive out to Portlock would be nice, a repeat visit for us. Lots of locals were out and about on the cliffs, diving in the water and snorkeling.
With tourist fatigue setting in, we headed back home. A quick nap was in order for me. After dinner, we knew we could stay awake to watch the sunset and thought a different beach would be better to watch it at, then heading over to the touristy area of Waikiki. We walked from our hale to Diamond Head Road and stopped at Leahi Beach Park to watch the sunset. A huge cloud decided to obscure the sun, but it was still serene enough to stay to the finish of the setting.
Our first Aloha Christmas was full of frolic and adventure, visiting new places and revisiting some favorites. Our 15 year old Christmas tradition of traveling, has brought us many adventures and wonderful memories, this Christmas lived up to that tradition.
CTHikergal Travels 
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