Honolulu Day #2 (North Shore of Oahu)

Easter Sunday, March 27 

With a kitchenette and a coffee maker, it was easy to fix breakfast and eat as we were getting ready for the day. Also, while I had wifi, I took time to download the Gypsy Guide Oahu Full Island Tour to my iPhone. The app was going to be our tour guide for the day!

Our first order of business was a stop at Walmart to pick up a few food items. We didn't want to mess with a cooler so we drew upon Bob's backpacking experience and bought foil packets of tuna and a package of tortillas. (If you are looking for insights into fine dining experiences in Hawaii this is NOT the blog for you!) The prices were better than the little Food Pantry grocery store by the hotel, but still higher than what we pay at home.

Finally, on the road...and on the correct route, the Gypsy Guide kicked in and would periodically speak up and tell us about what we were seeing. We also relied on the app to get us to our first stop of the day...the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific...better known as the Punchbowl Cemetery. The cemetery is located in the crater of an extinct volcano and is the resting place for members of the U.S. armed forces, including many who lost their life in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

This aerial photo (from online) makes it clear why the cemetery got the name "Punchbowl".

One of the many unknown graves from the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The cemetery was quiet and very peaceful when we were there on Easter morning...we were among just a handful of others visiting at the time. A large tent was set up and filled with chairs so a funeral or some special event must have been planned for later in the day.

Near the entrance to the cemetery were beautiful flowers and also a view of the city of Honolulu.

Leaving Punchbowl Cemetery, we took the twisty, curvy road up Tantalus and Round Top Drive to get to Pu'u 'Ualaka'a State Wayside Park. From an overlook at the park we had the most amazing view of Diamond Head, Waikiki and the whole city of Honolulu.

Diamond Head.

Honolulu Airport runways.

Our goal was to get to the north shore of Oahu but we made one more detour first...to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. The meet is only held on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays so if we were going to go, today HAD to be the day.

Admission to the swap meet is $1 per person and offers hundreds of vendors selling every type of Hawaiian merchandise you could ever imagine (although most was made in China!) We walked and walked and walked and still hadn't seen but just a portion of the booths. Prices were cheaper than what we had seen in the shops in Waikiki (such as the ever present ABC Stores). I bought a bracelet and flower hair clip for my granddaughter, a beach cover-up and flowered dress for myself and also a multi-strand shell necklace (which I thought was a bargain at $5!) . Although I didn't try and haggle over the prices, I learned that showing an interest in an item and then hesitating on a purchase usually resulted in a price "adjustment" by the vendors. In spite of the large number of vendors, the booths started to all look alike after awhile.

Where had the morning gone? It was after noon by the time we left the swap meet and we hadn't even begun our journey to the north shore!! Using a combination of the Gypsy Guide app and Google Maps, we left the Aloha Stadium and started on our way.

After leaving the Honolulu metro area, our Gypsy Guide suggested we should pull in to the Dole Pineapple Plantation (we were doing a clockwise tour around the island). We weren't particularly interested in the touristy stuff there, but it made a great spot to have a quick picnic lunch and use the restroom. The line to purchase the famous Dole Whips was insanely long and didn't even appear to be moving so we bought pineapple smoothies at another spot inside the visitor's center. I can recommend them as a delicious alternative!

Someone seemed to be attracting the chickens...again!

As we made our way up the coastline, we stopped periodically as the Gypsy Guide would suggest. The North Shore is famous for its large surf (especially in the winter months) and we saw lots of surfers out enjoying the waves. I had fun setting my camera on the fast burst mode in order to capture some of the surfers in action. Doing so also helped me get some great "wipe-out" photos as well!

Sporting the t-shirt he won in the Celebrity Dance Competition on the cruise.

Oops.

Surfers at the famous Banzai Pipeline.

Surf's Up, Dude.

Stopping at a shrimp truck was one of those authentic Hawaiian experiences I wanted to enjoy. The Gypsy Guide alerted us that there would be multiple trucks after we rounded the north point on the island and the trucks were parked right by the ponds where the shrimp was farmed. Bob and I shared a plate of garlic shrimp ($13) which we ate at the picnic tables next to the truck.

Following the Kamehameha Highway down the eastern side (windward side) of Oahu we came to the town of Laie near the Polynesian Cultural Center. By driving through a residential neighborhood we were able to reach Laie Point which has a view of a beautiful sea arch with waves crashing around it. We stood there for quite some time watching the surf and the fishermen who lined the sandstone cliffs along the shoreline.

The flowers appeared to be a memorial...most likely for a life lost on the cliffs.

Continuing the drive down the eastern side of the island...

Ka'a'awa Valley near Kualoa Ranch

Big birds and little birds.

Mokoli'i (Chinaman's Hat)

Our route took us by the Pali Lookout, but that was something we decided to save for another time. The day was getting long and we were ready to head back to our hotel. The sun was sinking low as we were driving into Waikiki so the guys dropped Laurel and I off at the beach to photograph the sunset. They drove on to the hotel to park the car and then walked back to meet us.

We weren't the only ones trying to get the perfect sunset photo!

Zoom a little...crop a little...and it looks like we were the only people on the beach!

I'm sure some people would cringe at the thought, but dinner was a can of ravioli that we had bought at Walmart along with some left over salad from the farmer's market the night before. Fine dining it wasn't, but we were tired and eating in bed in front of the TV was exactly where we wanted to be!

Tomorrow...a somber visit to the Arizona Memorial and an afternoon at the beach.

Honolulu Day #1

Saturday, March 26

The cruise is over...

The end of a cruise is never fun, but knowing we still had a few more days to enjoy Hawaii made it more bearable. We stood on our balcony and watched as the ship docked next to the Aloha Tower. We had chosen luggage tags for one of the last groups to disembark (around 9:00). By that time most of the luggage had been claimed which made finding ours easier.

All of the entertainment staff was standing on the pier as we disembarked and one by one gave us all hugs! This is something that has never happened on any of our other cruises and it felt totally sincere. During the cruise they went out of their way to make sure passengers were having fun and taking part in the activities and in turn we felt like we were leaving "friends" and not just cruise staff.

As we walked out of the terminal a man approached us and asked if we needed a shuttle to Waikiki ($10/person.) He was leaving right away, so Laurel and I took him up on the offer while Bob and Kent went to get in line for a taxi to go to the Alamo car rental at the airport.

The shuttle was a larger van and the first man to get on grabbed the seat right by the door and then refused to move as other passengers tried to get around him. I can understand him not wanting a back seat, but just moving across to the other side of the bench seat would have made it so much easier for everyone else. Rather than be mad, I just felt sorry for him and the bitterness that must rule his life.

Laurel and I got our first glimpse of Waikiki as the shuttle drove through the heavy traffic. The van made one stop to drop off a few of the people and then our hotel, the Ohana Waikiki East, was the second stop.

The hotel lobby is actually on the second floor of the hotel and when we checked in it was a surprise to hear that our room was ready. I was worried it might have been late afternoon before we got into the room. Kent & Laurel's room wasn't ready yet, so she just brought her luggage and came to our room while we waited on the guys to arrive.

Hotels in Honolulu are not cheap, but our hotel was on the lower end of the spectrum. After making the initial reservation, I kept checking prices and twice was able to call and get a lower rate. Most hotels in the area charge a "resort fee" and ours was no exception. The extra $12 per night (which went up to $15 shortly after our stay) covered the following...

• Unlimited rides on the Waikiki Trolley Pink Line throughout Waikiki and to Ala Moana Shopping Center.  Your guest room card key allows for 2 passengers and is valid for your entire stay.
• Wi-Fi in both hotel lobbies and OHANA Waikiki East guest rooms. Cable Internet access in all OHANA guest rooms.
• Local and long distance phone calls to the U.S. and Canada (first 15 minutes)
• In-room coffee and tea daily
• Use of in-room safe
• Local weekday newspaper
• Best of Oahu shopping and dining discount coupon book
• Fitness room access
• One OHANA Hotels souvenir nylon drawstring beach bag per room

We had both booked kitchenette rooms hoping to save a little money on meals. The kitchenette rooms are at the ends of the hallways which gave us windows on two sides of the room and lots of natural light. It also meant that we were not able to have rooms close to each other. Our room was on the 7th floor at one end of the hallway and Kent & Laurel's was on the 6th floor at the opposite end of the long hallway.

View from our tiny balcony.

Our room also looked down on the hotel pool...which we never used.

Eventually Bob and Kent called from the lobby saying they were in the hotel but needed our key cards to use the elevator. To get from the airport car rental office, they had to take a round-about way to the hotel to avoid the closed streets from the big Prince Kuhio parade that was being held that morning.

The hotel had an attached parking garage which was handy...but came at a cost of $25/night. The guys were happy that instead of the compact car which we had reserved, Alamo gave them a free upgrade to an SUV!

Kent & Laurel's room wouldn't be ready for some time so the four of us decided to explore the Waikiki Beach area...about a five minute walk from the hotel. We grabbed some lunch at the Burger King across the street and also stopped into a small grocery store nearby and bought a few items to have for breakfasts and lunches for the next few days. After being on the ship for ten days, it is always a rude awakening to have to PAY for food!

Statue of Olympic surfer Duke Kahanamoku on Waikiki Beach.

Spam...a Hawaiian favorite!

Kent & Laurel needed to get moved into their room so we went back to the hotel. Once they transferred their luggage from our room we made plans to meet up later and then...I took a nap!

Later (rested and ready to roll!) we walked across the street to Kings Village...a collection of small shops with an old-time look. We browsed through the stores and checked out the offerings at the farmer's market which takes place in the village on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 4 pm to 9 pm. We made note of some of the food stands that we wanted to return to later for our dinner.

The free Kuhio Beach Hula Show was scheduled for 6:30 pm and we wanted to get there and get a good spot. We brought along the beach towels supplied by the hotel and sat on the grass in front of the big banyan tree and enjoyed people watching until it was time for the show to begin. Getting there early was a good move as the show attracts quite a crowd!

Dancers getting ready for the show.

The show began with the blowing of the conch shell and then hula dancers of all ages performed.

The M.C. for the show.

With the dancers in front of us and the sun setting behind us, it was hard to know which way to look!

As we were leaving the beach following the show, Laurel stopped to compliment one of the ladies who had been dancing and she gave Laurel a beaded bracelet!

Before going back to the hotel, we stopped at the farmer's market. There were many food stands selling everything from pastries to Pad Thai to shish kabobs to salads to cut up fruit. We each purchased something to eat and enjoyed our dinner sitting on a ledge along the sidewalk.

It was such a beautiful evening that on a whim we decided to hop on the Pink Line Trolley and ride it for a full loop. All we had to do was show our hotel room card and the fare was covered as part of our resort fee. The trolley travels past all of the resorts...to the Ala Moana shopping center...and back to Waikiki Beach. A fun...and free way to see Waikiki!!

Tomorrow...an Easter Sunday visit to Punchbowl Cemetery and then on to the north shore of Oahu.