For the benefit of those who have PM’d me and for the sake of reliving it myself, the following is a synopsis of our recent trip to Hawaii. You’ll note I didn’t say brief so if you aren’t interested in reading a long-winded trip report, this would be a good time to skip to another thread.
We were celebrating a special wedding anniversary and really wanted to do something a little beyond the norm, for us at least, and since, at this point in our lives we only celebrate every fifth anniversary in a big way, after not very much deliberation we decided on a trip to Hawaii. We’ve both always been quite interested in American history and particularly the WWII period so often talked about by our parents so the island of Oahu seemed the perfect choice.
The contemplating and planning began months ago, and I have to thank all of you who offered suggestions and ideas because so many of them were really helpful. It seemed the actual trip was lifetimes away but the time seemed to fly by and before we knew it, Aug. 30, our departure date had arrived. A friend and AA pilot made flight recommendations to us based on his knowledge of our particular needs and they worked beautifully.
Our car arrived at 8:30 am to drive us into JFK and although I argued the fact, the airline insisted we should be there 2 full hours ahead, even though the flights were considered domestic and our tickets were first class. Well, that was a total waste of a lot of morning time since it took us all of about ten minutes to check in and check our luggage, but hey, we were finally on our way to Hawaii so who cares!!
We flew AA nonstop to LAX and then after a two hour layover, we finally took off for Honolulu. With all the various time changes, and allowing for arrival and baggage claim along with picking up our rental car we finally got to our Honolulu hotel, the Outrigger Reef on the Beach, at about 10 pm Hawaii time, just in time to have a quick drink and head to bed. We were exhausted but who wouldn’t be considering we had just spent almost 17.5 hours in transit alone, and this didn’t include our normal wake-up hours at home. Anyway, had a great night’s sleep and woke up on island time. I have to say, we had anticipated feeling exhausted but we were fine and ready to begin our adventure.
First things first – we had already decided, while trying to find our hotel the night before, we didn’t want to do a lot of driving around Honolulu so we could probably have done without the rental car while there. It was very easy to take the local buses and hotel shuttles to the various places we wanted to see but the car was already a done deal so it remained in its pay-to-park-space for the limited time we were in Honolulu.
This brings us to our second mistake – I have to tell you, Honolulu is not the Hawaii of my dreams, but we really should have spent three nights there instead of two, which would have allowed more than adequate time to see the things we wanted to see. As it was we missed a lot but we did manage to see what was most important to us. Waikiki beach is Waikiki Beach and if you’re going to Honolulu you have to take a dip there but we found it to be pretty rocky and not worth all the hype. Thank goodness we were forewarned of this, so no big deal. The redeeming factor was our incredible view of Diamond Head in the distance. There is so much to see and do in Honolulu and truthfully, we didn’t touch the tip of the iceberg. We had dinner one evening at the Shore Bird Restaurant in our hotel and that was a fun, but as Hawaiian meals went, pretty expensive when you consider you have to cook your own entrée.
Next, the Arizona Memorial, and the biggest reason we both wanted to visit Hawaii. OMG, it was worth the trip all by itself. I won’t go into a lot of details because those who are interested in this type of thing already know about it but it was worth the trip just to see and feel the real deal of the Arizona. As I leaned over the side of the Memorial and saw that bubble of oil rise to the top of the water, I was totally overcome by emotions. I truly felt like the sailors entombed there all those years ago were reaching out and reminding us not to ever forget them. It was one of the three most emotional moments of my life in the historical sense and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
Our next major stop was almost next door at the battleship Missouri. You might say we covered WWII from its’ beginning to its ending in six hours or less. If you’ve ever visited the Wilmington or the Yorktown or any of the other huge Navy vessels of this nature you’ve got the picture. The significance of this ship being where the surrender treaty was actually signed was pretty inspiring, and standing in that exact spot made it even more so. Having seen it all in the first person and up close, it’s frightening to see just how many mistakes we made and how these mistakes contributed to the havoc wreaked at Pearl Harbor, but thank heavens, we were able to live through and correct so many of them.
Things we didn’t get to do and see while still in Honolulu included visiting the Punchbowl and Huanama Bay but we just didn’t have enough time. For anyone contemplating a trip of this nature, three nights and four days is really the minimum time required to see the Honolulu sites, but of course that’s easy to know after the fact.
Okay, so we headed out of Honolulu and on to our final destination – the beautiful Turtle Bay area of the North Shore of Oahu. Turtle Bay Resort describes itself as being “real Hawaii as you always thought it would be” and I wouldn’t even try to argue with them. The description about says it all. This was a gorgeous resort and if you happen to be a golfer, you’ll feel like you’ve died and gone to golfer’s heaven.
The North Shore is absolutely beautiful in every way and it’s sad to note, the owners of this resort want to build several high-rises and loads of townhouses and condos along the waters’ edge. Now where have I heard that story before? It’s too bad because the only sad note in our entire Hawaii stay was seeing the ‘locals’ picketing and protesting the planned construction. If I was a local resident, I’d like to think I’d probably be out there protesting too. It’s sad to see such a beautiful area become totally developed so I can only hope, if it really is a fait accompli, they continue the developing with the class and forethought they’ve shown in the development of the original Turtle Bay Resort property.
Over our week in this area we visited the Dole Plantation and their botanical gardens. Hmmm, so I’m embarrassed to admit that at one time in my life I really was a 'natural' blonde and up to this time I always assumed pineapples grew on pineapple trees. The history of James Dole and the Dole Plantation and what it’s meant to Hawaii over the years was interesting and the botanical gardens were beautiful. Worth a side trip from whatever part of Oahu you might be in. And trust me on this one, you have never eaten pineapple in your life like the pineapple they serve you there as a teaser to purchase and ship some home. They did. I did. And I'm glad because we've been enjoying that fresh pineapple for the last few days and it really is incredibly delicious.
We also spent a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center and this would be another place not to miss if you’re on Oahu, IMHO. Okay, so it's totally touristo but it’s truly beautiful and we walked away feeling as though we really had learned something about all of Polynesia, not to mention dispelling some of the myths we’d always heard in regard to Hawaii. It was very clean and extremely organized and very well run. You can tour the Center under a general admission price but while the more expensive tickets may seem like a lot (and truthfully, they aren’t cheap) they do include a buffet style luau dinner, a guided tour so you don’t miss any of the better countries and their exhibits, a lovely floral lei and lastly, great seats at their evening show which is definitely not to be missed. If I were ever to return I’d probably go again since it reminded me of Disneyland without Mickey and comparny or the kiddy rides but extraordinarily well organized and very clean and educational in an interesting way, right from the get go.
We spent a lot of hours in our rental convertible – it felt great to be a kid again if only for a week or so – driving from beach to beach along the North Shore. Now this is the place where a convertible rental is really worth doing.
The scenery of Hawaii is a world of contrasts, from the incredible colors of the ocean to the beautiful shades of the skies. Who would have ever thought there are so many variations of the color blue? The vegetation is incredible, from the drives along the coffee, pineapple and banana plantations to the palm trees reaching up to the sky and grabbing hold of those brilliant white and puffy clouds. And lastly, the flowers of Hawaii are – OMG - so very beautiful, it’s almost unbelievable.
All in all, we had an incredible trip and one I’m glad we finally got around to making. We visited the shrimp trucks – I never knew you could use so much garlic in any one dish. We stopped at as many beaches as piqued our interest because they truly are so user-friendly with many boasting their own parks and bathhouses and parking areas. And some of the not so accessible were even more worth the effort. And we drove the Pali Highway with its’ beautiful vistas that I couldn’t even begin to describe. We walked along the beach at Turtle Bay to visit an old WWII bunker still in existence along the coast and stumbled across a sun-bathing monk seal who visits this particular bay apparently on a pretty regular basis. He was totally undisturbed and unimpressed by our presence, allowing us to get with perhaps six feet of him before we retreated. And yet, we never got to see the famed turtles of Turtle Bay who supposedly come in on the beach there most afternoons. We viewed from afar the location of that famed ‘radar installation’ that, had its’ staffs’ message been heeded, might have totally changed the beginnings of that infamous war. We got to view the famed Bonzai Pipeline area less the incredible waves its known for with the assurance from a local that had we been there in December or January, we wouldn’t have been able to enter its warm waters as we were doing that day.
Hawaii is an incredible contrast of so many amazing things to see and do. For most of our nights we were able to experience an incredible blue moon shining over the Pacific and one night in particular, it was so bright and full, it wakened us from our sound sleep, shining in through the lanai window and directly onto our faces. Several evenings we enjoyed the tranquility of one of the hotel hot tubs with this full moon shining down on us while the soft Hawaiian music played in the background and the easy breezes filled with the scents of the local flowers made the setting that much more enticing. Could it get any more beautiful than this? What a way and place to celebrate a wedding anniversary.
I’m glad we went and were able to see just this small part of what Hawaii has to offer even though I’m thinking we most probably won’t return.
For all those SXM food experts, we thought the food in Hawaii very good but certainly not to the exacting standards of St. Maarten/St. Martin although the prices in a few cases surpassed them.
I wish we had been able to spend more time and see more islands but we really didn’t think ten days would allow us the luxury of doing this and still let us get much of a feeling of anything so that’s why we chose to limit our stay to one island with our original purpose of seeing the historical side of the island in mind. Perhaps next time, should there ever be one, we’ll visit other Hawaiian locations but for now, I’m glad we chose Oahu.
The only deterrent to contemplating another Hawaiian vacation for me would be the travel logistics and I know for almost a fact, I just don’t think I could do that trip again so I’m glad we finally did it this year. How you West Coasters manage the SXM trip I'll never know but you have my utmost respect for doing it and on a regular basis, so many of you!!
And so, as all good vacations must, ours drew to its’ conclusion. We headed back into Honolulu’s Aloha International Airport on the afternoon of the eighth to head back to reality.
Our flights home were pretty uneventful and yes, even in first class, the red-eye from LAX into JFK, for those not able to sleep on a plane (I'm NOT!!) is a real killer. Thank goodness our bags were among the first off the carousel and our driver was there right on time for our 8 am arrival to bring us back home to Connecticut.
I'm not even going to apologize for using all these words and space but I hope those of you who asked for it are able to get a feel of where we were and what we saw.
