Day 5 – Old and New

Today we did our standard drive to the North Shore to revisit old spots and find new spots to enjoy.

After breakfast of croissants, yogurt and egg veggie scramble we ambled out the door before 8 a.m. to head to the north shore, via the east coast route. As we drove along I snapped a few drive by photos.

Our first repeat visit was Heeia Pier. In 2013 there was a great little food place at the pier, but sadly it has closed. Still a lovely pier to walk down and view the bay and mountains.

Our next stop was just down a bit, Heeia State Park. We’ve driven by a few times, but have never stopped, today we changed that.

We decided to stop at another new to us beach park close by, Laenani Neighborhood Park. What a sweet little gem of a park, no real beach, but the views were great!

It was getting close to mid morning snack break, so off we headed to one of our favorite beach parks to have a snack at Kualoa Regional Park. It was rather windy there today, so we had to hold the snacks down for dear life.

From here we drove along, well Mike drove and I did the touristy thing of stick the camera out the window and snap pictures.

We did a repeat stop at Hukilau Beach, but didn’t walk it, still recovering from yesterday’s five hot miles.

We continued on, stopping at a macadamia nut farm in Haleiwa, picking up a few bags and then returned to Haleiwa Alii Beach Park for a few more photos and to make a lunch time decision.

We decided to return to our favorite store, The North Shore Soap Factory (we only use their soap, btw, it has been nine years) and the try Poke for the People in Waialua for lunch. A fb friend’s cousin’s poke shop, new to us!

After that we had once last stop to make on the North Shore, Mokuleia Beach to see if any kite surfers were out. Yes they were, just entering the water around 1:30 p.m. We love to sit here and watch them.

We returned to Waikiki with a stop at Waikiki Brewery in KaKaako, we prefer this spot over their place in Waikiki, more locals, less touristy. Though to be truthful, today’s beertender wasn’t the friendliest. However I was able to enjoy their Pink Boots Beer and that is what mattered.

After the long day of visiting with old and new places, we returned to the rental to rest and make a plan for sunset viewing. We decided on doing Ala Moana Beach Park, another old favorite of ours to view the majestic Diamond Head and the sunset.

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It was a lovely day of mixing the old with the new.

Aloha!

April 11, 2019 0

Oahu Day 2 – A Typical Sunday For Us

Today was just another typical Sunday for us, just in a different location with a few upgrades. We made our Costco run, had our lunch time beer and a had a nap. Well of course more occured, but we kept to our usual Sunday routine with some enhancements.

Our day started at The Curb, a little coffee house that we enjoy. Well truthfully this was only our second visit here, but the coffee is delicious, their latte art is on point and we can get ground coffee for the rental. The vibe here is friendly and laid back, customers chatting with each other across the room and dogs greeting everyone.

After our nourishment, we returned to the airport to exchange our car. A jeep just wasn’t us and when I told the customer rep, I would have a hard time getting in after a hike, he understood right away about the need to slide into a car, instead of climbing into a vehicle. The exchange was easy and very pleasant.

Next stop, a farmers market in Manoa. We discovered this one at the end of our last trip, which was to bad we hadn’t in the beginning of the trip. It’s not touristy and full of fresh veggies and fruits. We picked up our items, then stopped at Safeway for the remaining foodstuff. Our fog from yesterday had lifted so grocery shopping was easier. We had one last destination before home, Pipeline Bakery for scones and malasadas. The bakery items here are to die for.

We returned to the house to unpack and then make the next set of plans. Off to the islands most popular destination, Costco. The pillows in the rental are horrible and there isn’t a cooler here, so we picked up both items, those little comfort items. Plus we needed to visit a Costco on the weekend, for routine’s sake.

As it was lunch time, we needed to stop at a brewery. The closest brewery in Hawaii Kai was Kona Brewery, the food and seasonal beers are delightful and the views make everything taste better.

We had one last stop to make before returning to the house, Tamashiro Market for poke. This is truly a local’s spot, but it is the only place I can have Marlin poke. In August, on our last trip, Marlin wasn’t in season, so there was none available. Today three different types were and I think I hyperventilated when I saw the options.

Upon our return home, it was nap time, per usual Sunday routine. However the homeowners of the rental were home and loud so napping at the house was not possible, might as well go nap in the park and hang out. We gathered our things and found a cozy spot in Kapiolani Park to read, watch locals play sports and snooze. Perfect place to laze about.

Once again we returned to the house and gathered up dinner goodies and sunset viewing materials. We walked over to Leahi Beach Park to dine and watch the sunset. What was for dinner? Poke and crackers. Tonight my “ghost ship” didn’t block the view of the sunset, at least not from our angle. The only blocking was by a low cloud, still a beautiful sunset.

Today was not about being the tourist and sightseeing, it was about remaining true to our Sunday routines with a few upgrades, of parks, poke and sunsets.

April 8, 2019 0

Oahu Day 1

Hawaiian Airlines 2nd flight from Boston to Honolulu

Our day started with the standard bad hotel coffee with a variety of breakfast snacks in the hotel room. We made our way over to the international terminal of Logan Airport because this flight doesn’t have a true home yet at Logan, luckily JetBlue is sharing some of their space with them.

Once boarding started it went rather quickly and we took off close to time.

For a little over eleven and half hours non stop, the flight went by fast. There was a medical emergency on board with a passenger, but the crew handled it with privacy and professionalism. The food service was decent first starting with a little light breakfast served in a cute bag.

We flew over Maui, Molokai and Lanai. The Kona winds brought us in over Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach, a first for us.

Upon landing, we headed off to get our car rental. Unfortunately the class of car we booked was out and would require at least a 45 minute wait, so we went with what they gave us, a jeep wrangler. Guess what? We are old and getting in and out of that thing is a pain, so on Sunday we are going in for an exchange.

Our next stop was, tough to guess this one, Honolulu Beerworks for a beer and some food. Always one of favorite places to stop for nourishment.

Not the best photo, but I was in a fog of travel brain!

We finished up and had one last stop, grocery store. As usual our brains were overtired and we didn’t get much.

We located our rental, which of course wasn’t our original rental because the owner of original rental flaked on us and left us scrambling two weeks ago to find a new place. We unpacked, changed and headed off to the sunset. Saturday night and the beach was hopping. My “ghost ship” blocked the view of the setting sun last night, which was very inconsiderate. If it does it on Sunday night, I see a pattern and we are going to have to find a new spot to view the sunset.

The first day has ended, writing this on Sunday, still in a fog which I hope will clear by tomorrow. All in all a direct flight from Boston was better than we expected and will fly the route again!

Aloha!

April 7, 2019 0

Day 14.5 – Mahalo

So after being awake for about 24 and sleeping on and off for about four hours, I finally have half a brain to write about final Friday morning.

It started with a clean out the fridge, tidy the rental house and pack last day routine. Not very exciting, but something that had to be done.

After fridge cleanout it was time to take one last walk around our little hood. First stop a little botanical garden by the house.

Next we walked down to Waikiki Beach and back to our house.

Once back, we finished our tasks, loaded the rental car, returned it and headed off to the airport for our flight back to Connecticut.

It was a quick two weeks. We thought we would do things, we didn’t do, like eat at the Aloha Poke Co., hike Diamond Head, and eat at Sunny Days Cafe. We did things we didn’t plan on doing like our three hikes, go to Honolulu Beerworks so much and spend 2 half mornings at beaches. We really never planned our days ahead of time, except for the Heartwalk and Mike’s race. We just let the days unfold and went with what we wanted to do, having the freedom to do is a great gift.

I end with a mahalo to everyone who read this blog, who supported us on our two planned events and to Hawaii. A huge mahalo to the island for showing us so much aloha in our short visit.

August 18, 2018 0

Day 13 – Oops, Busted

Disclaimer: Falls is located on private property, government property and can be considered trespassing. Hike at your own risk or do it the legal way and get a permit from the water department.

So the day started out typical for us, breakfast, coffee with a view, make a plan.

The plan go for a waterfall hike (little advice don’t hike on a social media day called Waterfall Wednesday). We decided on Lulumahu Falls off of the Pali Highway. We packed our gear.

25 minutes later we were at the trailhead along with a group of military moms hiking with their littles and a few other people. The conga line started and we followed.

At the first muddy part, Mike remembered the blog post we read that mentioned a work around the muddy part, but it might involve going on some other government land. Sure no problem, we’ve done some hikes here that are somewhat kapu and this is just a work around. We get to the path below a reservoir when we see a worker in a bobcat, we crouched down pretending to tie shoes, to late, spotted and with a stern hand gesture was told to go back. Oops, we had to go back and continue on the path that led through the mud. Oh well what’s a little mud? Really this allowed the mom’s hiking group to get well ahead of us.

The trail was bamboo forest, water crossings, rock scrambles and mud sliding fun.

We were well rewarded once we reached the falls, they were magnificent. We had a good group around us, minus the one guy hogging the waterfall for the mom’s pictures. Once he left,we were left with a respectful group, taking pictures of each other, just enjoying the time there.

After we had our fill and as obnoxious groups started showing up, it was time to head back, following the mom conga line. We spent a total of an hour and half on the trail and it was 2.7 miles.

Once at the car it was time to clean off the massive amounts of mud caked on us and figure out lunch. Well you can guess where we ended up, why do I even bother to mention it, Honolulu Beerworks, our brewery away from home, really we go for the awesome food.

After lunch we stopped at Safeway to get some yogurt and some fried chicken. Advice if you go to the Safeway on Kapahulu Ave, park at the parking garage. The views of Diamond Head are amazing!

Once we picked up our items, we returned to the house to rest, do a little research on next summer’s trip (don’t ask where yet, still trying to figure it out), have dinner and clean up.

Then it was off to sunset watching and Mother Nature put on a very nice display for us. So maybe we got a little stink eye today, but it was worth it. Only one full day left for us…

August 16, 2018 0

Day 12 -Beach Day

Yup today was a beach day, rather a beach morning. After a quick breakfast off we went to Kawela Bay.

Since our first trip to Oahu 8 years ago, we’ve wanted to go find this bay. Eight years ago, we didn’t because we heard it was trespassing to get to and well being newbies didn’t want to chance it. Over time we’ve gained some self confidence and learned that this area isn’t kapu, we went for the morning. We walked the beach, we walked the trails behind it, and we floated; what a lovely spot.

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We spent over 2 hours here which was a record for us. We packed up and went to look at two possible rentals on the north shore for next trip. One of the rentals we’ve been eyeing since our 2013 trip and the other since 2015. We needed to get a feel for them and see their proximity to a beach access point.

After scouting them out we went to North Shore Soap factory to pick up a few more goodies for gift boxes.

We then hopped over to Costco and Safeway for a few more items. We finally landed at home around 3 p.m. only to pack up the last remaining boxes and get them sent off.

We needed dinner, so we finally decided to try Aloha Brewing. The beer was decent, the vibe was non existent and we ordered a fruit and cheese board, the fruit on the menu said local fruits. The platter came out and we identified almost everything coming from Costco. The food prices were sky high, so we only had one item.

We left after one beer and the platter and went over to BeerLab HI, where we knew the beer was good and the vibe was great. After the one beer at the BeerLab HI, we realized we were DONE for the day.

We came home, I wrote, Mike checked the rental prices for our next trip and well let’s put it this way, prices have gone up and one of those houses is no longer a contender. We cleaned up and well usually sunset follows, but guess what? We are to darn tired to walk over to the beach, so sorry no sunset. And oh wait a minute, the sky is beautiful tonight, figures. Mike is taking one for the team and walking part way to the park to try to get a sky photo.

August 15, 2018 0