i only blogged on the second half of our Hawaii trip. It was all i had been able to type up while we were there. The rest of it was handwritten by me and Ashley. So i transcribed it...
Sunday- We landed a little ahead of schedule after a long flight. We checked into our hotel and then got dinner with Ashley's cousin, Clara, at the Like Like (lee-kay lee-kay) Diner. We had a great time and then Clara took us back to her place, this fantastic studio apartment above a pool house and by a large garden and stream. Windows covered the back wall and Geckos covered those. Vents above the windows carried in the sound of the babbling stream down below and almost sounded like rain. Ashley zonked and Clara and i stayed up late talking and getting to know each other. She's in school at U of Hawaii, studying drama. We headed back to the hotel pretty late.
Monday- We got up around 7 and went in search of breakfast. We hadn't bought groceries yet. (we ate cereal in the room most of the rest of our stay) We found a little coffee shop, but it was only cold breakfast and gelato. However, the owner could tell we wanted hot food, so he told us about a local favorite diner down the road, which we walked to, Eggs 'n Things.
They had seriously the best pancakes either of us has ever had. Ashley had them with eggs and i had them with eggs and spam. WOW to the spam too, not kidding. Even Ashley had to agree. On the way back to the hote we stopped into several shops. Ashley headed up to the room and i wandered into crazy shirts. i talked at length with a local in the store, Devynne, who recommended Kailua beach, so we went. It was great! We got a little mixed up with directions and Ashley got us a little turned around in a neighborhood. i then got us to the Marine base. Go figure. A nice Marine at the gate gave us directions to public beach access.
This beach had soft white sand and the water was warm (the water at all the other beaches seemed mild colder to me). We found some pieces of coral and swam for a bit. We headed back into Honolulu and went to Walmart for groceries. Then we hit the streets for some browsing and some gelato (from the nice shop where they told us about Eggs 'n Things).
We headed to the recommended Irish pub and restaurant, Murphy's in the financial district. The food was delicious. i had a steak with the best sauce/gravy. One of the five best/most tender steaks i've ever had. Ashley had the crab and shrimp sandwich. Amazing fries too for her and fresh, gravy covered mashed potatoes for me and an amazing veggie medley with green beans and carrots and cucumber (cucumber is in every vegetable mix at every restaurant in Hawaii). We finished the evening by watching Jurassic Park in the room in preparation for the ATV rides at Kualoa Ranch the next morning.
Tuesday- We headed up the road to Kualoa Ranch, took pics along the way. The ATV rides were great. There was a group of 8 and us plus a couple from Europe, so we were paired with that couple, so we were paired with that couple. He was from Great Britain and she from Italy, maybe our age. Our tour guide was a teenage Hawaiian, Shylah.
She took us up to a bluff too small for most groups. From there, we could see the valley where they filmed a battle (w/live ords) in Wind Talkers and the mountain of Mighty Joe Young. i took panaramic shots.
Shylah picked us fresh guavos along our route, which we also ate, skin and all. Tasty! :-) We also saw a hillside bunker that was in Pearl Harbor. The terrain was gorgeous. i did get yelled at once for being a little too rowdy on my ATV, but he gave me a smile after and a hang loose.
When we got back, we had lunch outside and i drove so Ashley could take pics. We stopped for a few minutes at the little park across the way for some palm tree waterfront shots in front of what might be Chinaman's Cap? Then we stopped at the Macadamian nut place, Tropical Farms. We tasted the coffee, got nuts and souvenirs and saw pics of Barack Obama's recent visit to the farm. Then we stopped a little farther down the road and got fresh bananas that were delicious! 50 cents
[Somewhere in here we slipped out to Pearl Harbor and out to the USS Arizona Memorial]
We ate in the room and then drove up towards Hanama Bay looking for a spot to swim. We stopped at a scenic overlook that was a rock outcropping a little bigger than a football field out into the ocean. i climbed down and out where this lone fisherman was. Ashley took lots of pics and then we explored the whole thing.
We drove another couple hundred yards and i spotted a tiny cove.
It was just a mile or two before a public beach at Sandy Point. We parked on the side of the road and climbed down to it. There was a middle-age couple just leaving. We pretty much had it to ourselves then. It had a 15 foot wide sandy beach and was surrounded by a crescent of rock outcropping. There was a cave up on the beach that went all the way under the road. We swam for an hour or so and then drove back to the hotel.
We were exhausted, so we wanted to go to dinner nearby. The Japanese place was very expensive and Ashley wasn't in the mood, so she took me to Planet Hollywood, which i had never been to. It was a lot of fun. i had the biggest, tastiest loaded Texas nachos i've ever consumed. i suddenly like guacamole and sour cream? Then we crashed.
Wed- We headed to Honalulu's Aloha Stadium for 45 minutes at the Swap Meet and jetted back to the hotel for our pick-up. Our catamaran captain, Captain John, only had us to pick up for his boat and so he took us on a tour through Alamoana Beach Park. He told us all about the Banyon Trees, with vines that grow down from the branches to the ground to form new trunks. It's wild. He also gave us the skinny on what to do where and where to eat. He was a pro windsurfer from Seattle and moved down to Hawaii and now does this. Nice business. The boat was beautiful. He was pretty funny, dry wit. Some kid asked about the name of the boat, the Makani. He said, "It's Hawaiian for 'no refund.'" It actually means wind.
The cruise was great. We saw sea turtles and lots of fish, no mermaids. We also saw the Junk Boat. We then went to the Swap Meet again for and hour and then back to the hotel for the time share presentation which scored us $100 gift certificate that we used at Crazy Shirts and on dinner with Clara at Keoni's by Keo (Thai). That food was spectacular. i had a seafood medley of shrimp, scallops, and crab with veg and rice in hot sauces; Ashley had fried rice and chicken; and Clara, the salmon in coconut milk and ginger. It was a late dinner and we lingered with Clara, so we crashed back home again.
Sunday- We landed a little ahead of schedule after a long flight. We checked into our hotel and then got dinner with Ashley's cousin, Clara, at the Like Like (lee-kay lee-kay) Diner. We had a great time and then Clara took us back to her place, this fantastic studio apartment above a pool house and by a large garden and stream. Windows covered the back wall and Geckos covered those. Vents above the windows carried in the sound of the babbling stream down below and almost sounded like rain. Ashley zonked and Clara and i stayed up late talking and getting to know each other. She's in school at U of Hawaii, studying drama. We headed back to the hotel pretty late.Monday- We got up around 7 and went in search of breakfast. We hadn't bought groceries yet. (we ate cereal in the room most of the rest of our stay) We found a little coffee shop, but it was only cold breakfast and gelato. However, the owner could tell we wanted hot food, so he told us about a local favorite diner down the road, which we walked to, Eggs 'n Things.
They had seriously the best pancakes either of us has ever had. Ashley had them with eggs and i had them with eggs and spam. WOW to the spam too, not kidding. Even Ashley had to agree. On the way back to the hote we stopped into several shops. Ashley headed up to the room and i wandered into crazy shirts. i talked at length with a local in the store, Devynne, who recommended Kailua beach, so we went. It was great! We got a little mixed up with directions and Ashley got us a little turned around in a neighborhood. i then got us to the Marine base. Go figure. A nice Marine at the gate gave us directions to public beach access.
This beach had soft white sand and the water was warm (the water at all the other beaches seemed mild colder to me). We found some pieces of coral and swam for a bit. We headed back into Honolulu and went to Walmart for groceries. Then we hit the streets for some browsing and some gelato (from the nice shop where they told us about Eggs 'n Things).We headed to the recommended Irish pub and restaurant, Murphy's in the financial district. The food was delicious. i had a steak with the best sauce/gravy. One of the five best/most tender steaks i've ever had. Ashley had the crab and shrimp sandwich. Amazing fries too for her and fresh, gravy covered mashed potatoes for me and an amazing veggie medley with green beans and carrots and cucumber (cucumber is in every vegetable mix at every restaurant in Hawaii). We finished the evening by watching Jurassic Park in the room in preparation for the ATV rides at Kualoa Ranch the next morning.
Tuesday- We headed up the road to Kualoa Ranch, took pics along the way. The ATV rides were great. There was a group of 8 and us plus a couple from Europe, so we were paired with that couple, so we were paired with that couple. He was from Great Britain and she from Italy, maybe our age. Our tour guide was a teenage Hawaiian, Shylah.
She took us up to a bluff too small for most groups. From there, we could see the valley where they filmed a battle (w/live ords) in Wind Talkers and the mountain of Mighty Joe Young. i took panaramic shots.
Shylah picked us fresh guavos along our route, which we also ate, skin and all. Tasty! :-) We also saw a hillside bunker that was in Pearl Harbor. The terrain was gorgeous. i did get yelled at once for being a little too rowdy on my ATV, but he gave me a smile after and a hang loose.When we got back, we had lunch outside and i drove so Ashley could take pics. We stopped for a few minutes at the little park across the way for some palm tree waterfront shots in front of what might be Chinaman's Cap? Then we stopped at the Macadamian nut place, Tropical Farms. We tasted the coffee, got nuts and souvenirs and saw pics of Barack Obama's recent visit to the farm. Then we stopped a little farther down the road and got fresh bananas that were delicious! 50 cents
[Somewhere in here we slipped out to Pearl Harbor and out to the USS Arizona Memorial]
We ate in the room and then drove up towards Hanama Bay looking for a spot to swim. We stopped at a scenic overlook that was a rock outcropping a little bigger than a football field out into the ocean. i climbed down and out where this lone fisherman was. Ashley took lots of pics and then we explored the whole thing.
We drove another couple hundred yards and i spotted a tiny cove.
It was just a mile or two before a public beach at Sandy Point. We parked on the side of the road and climbed down to it. There was a middle-age couple just leaving. We pretty much had it to ourselves then. It had a 15 foot wide sandy beach and was surrounded by a crescent of rock outcropping. There was a cave up on the beach that went all the way under the road. We swam for an hour or so and then drove back to the hotel.We were exhausted, so we wanted to go to dinner nearby. The Japanese place was very expensive and Ashley wasn't in the mood, so she took me to Planet Hollywood, which i had never been to. It was a lot of fun. i had the biggest, tastiest loaded Texas nachos i've ever consumed. i suddenly like guacamole and sour cream? Then we crashed.
Wed- We headed to Honalulu's Aloha Stadium for 45 minutes at the Swap Meet and jetted back to the hotel for our pick-up. Our catamaran captain, Captain John, only had us to pick up for his boat and so he took us on a tour through Alamoana Beach Park. He told us all about the Banyon Trees, with vines that grow down from the branches to the ground to form new trunks. It's wild. He also gave us the skinny on what to do where and where to eat. He was a pro windsurfer from Seattle and moved down to Hawaii and now does this. Nice business. The boat was beautiful. He was pretty funny, dry wit. Some kid asked about the name of the boat, the Makani. He said, "It's Hawaiian for 'no refund.'" It actually means wind.
The cruise was great. We saw sea turtles and lots of fish, no mermaids. We also saw the Junk Boat. We then went to the Swap Meet again for and hour and then back to the hotel for the time share presentation which scored us $100 gift certificate that we used at Crazy Shirts and on dinner with Clara at Keoni's by Keo (Thai). That food was spectacular. i had a seafood medley of shrimp, scallops, and crab with veg and rice in hot sauces; Ashley had fried rice and chicken; and Clara, the salmon in coconut milk and ginger. It was a late dinner and we lingered with Clara, so we crashed back home again.
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