This was a great shot of Pearl Harbor as we were landing into Honolulu International Airport (HNL).
We rented a Chevrolet Camaro convertible once we got to the Alamo Facility. This car had a lot of power!
This is the famous Waikiki Beach. We explored the beach after we got into Honolulu.
This is a beautiful sunset near the Duke Kahanamoku statue in Waikiki Beach.
Joy and I are posing by a cool water feature on Kalakua Avenue in Waikiki Beach.
We could not resist getting cookies from the Honolulu Cookie Company! They make amazing shortbread cookies!
We had dinner at Duke's Canoe Club at the Outrigger Hotel on our first night. The food was delicious!
Joy is enjoying her first visit to Hawaii! I am enjoying the eye candy as well behind her! The waitresses were pretty cute at Duke's! Don't get me wrong. My wife is very pretty also!
I ordered a Mai Tai at Duke's!
This is the International Marketplace Mall in Waikiki at night. The sales tax was only about 4% in Hawaii!
The next morning, we woke up early to watch the sunrise in Waikiki.
We went to Leonard's Bakery for these famous warm Portuguese donuts called malasadas.
Our first activity on our first full day in Honolulu was to visit Pearl Harbor. This is the USS Arizona Memorial.
The USS Arizona rests below the memorial. Oil is still leaking out from the sunken battleship.
These are the names of the brave men who lost their lives on the USS Arizona.
Joy and I are paying our respect to the brave men who are buried below in the water. We will NEVER FORGET what the Japanese did to us that day nor the brave men and women who lost their lives!
This is an old submarime from World War II in Pearl Harbor.
We went to Nico's Pier 38 for lunch. They have two restaurants and a fish market on site.
The poke was so fresh and amazing! I heard they get first choice of the day's catch at the fish auction.
Our next stop was Iolani Palace, which was the official residence of the Hawaiian monarchs from around the late 1800s until the monarch abdicated the throne.
This grand staircase inside Iolani Palace has original woodwork. The palace had electric lights before the White House also.
This is the state dining room where the King would host guests for dinner.
The last King of Hawaii slept here. Those feather standards on each side of the bed are typical symbols of the monarchy in Hawaii.
The palace had a working telephone in the 1800s also.
Here is our view of the Hilton Hawaiian Village from our balcony at the resort.
Joy and I are exploring the Hilton Hawaiian Village here. This is Duke's Lagoon.
This is the beach front by the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The Hilton Hawaiian Village is one of the only hotels right on the beach!
I am relaxing by the main pool at the Hilton Hawaiian Village here.
I decided to take a dip in the Tapa Pool instead of the main pool and have a pina colada!
The sunset from the adult pool at the Hilton Hawaiian Village was amazing! I loved this pool the best also.
We got a snack at Hatsuhana Japanese Restaurant at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. The tuna sushi was amazing! We had ahi, semi fatty ahi, and albacore.
Joy and I had dinner at Roy's in Waikiki that night.
My first course was an appetizer sampler that included a warm cocktail shrimp and some chicken egg rolls.
My main course was a braised short rib.
We got the famous Melting Chocolate Souffle with ice cream for dessert.
I could not help but point to my last name! Roy's has amazing food!
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise from our balcony at the resort.
Joy had to pose with a cool statue at the resort on our morning walk at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
I took my Kona iced Americano up to the adult pool area so I could soak in the spa.
The adult only pool deck had a really cool spa!
Don't bother me! I am relaxing here!
My wife was kind enough to bring me an iced green tea too when I finished my iced Americano.
We are heading out to explore the North Shore from the Hilton Hawaiian Village here in the convertible!
When we go to Haleiwa, we had lunch at the famous shrimp trucks.
After lunch, we got another famous Hawaiian treat, Shaved Ice. This one had ice cream on the bottom! Moreover, there was sweet cream on the top of the ice! DELICIOUS!
I am posing with my new girlfriend here. LOL.
The North Shore beaches have rough surf, and they are popular with surfers!
We hiked into the Waimea Valley after exploring the beaches in the North Shore. This place hosted many movies including Jumanji.
We hiked to the Waimea Falls, but we did not go into the water.
Our next stop was the Dole Pineapple Plantation.
I picked out an oyster with a pearl inside for Joy.
The pearl was beautiful so I had it set in a pendant for Joy as her Valentine's gift.
I could not resist getting Dole Whip at the Dole Pineapple Plantation.
We took the train ride around the plantation.
Here is some old equipment used to cultivate the pineapple fields.
These are pineapples.
A lady showed us how to cut pineapple too at the plantation.
For dinner that night, we went to Maguro Ya, a great Japanese restaurant known for their cuts of maguro!
The next day, we drove out to the Kailua side of the island to go to the beautiful and pristine Lanikai Beach.
I was able to do a little snorkeling there too. This is a picture of a fish I saw underwater.
Here is a picture of me underwater. I wore a rash guard, but the water was around 79'F.
My wife is enjoying her swim in the ocean.
Here is a picture of me relaxing on the sands at Lanikai Beach.
We found a local eatery that served Hawaiian style plates called Fat Boys! The food was delicious!
This chicken kept hanging around us while we had lunch. I wonder if she was related to the chicken I was eating. LOL. JK.
We had a beautiful drive back to Honolulu from Kailua also.
Oahu is a tropical paradise, but the humidity was not as bad as what we experienced in other areas like Mexico.
We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center in the afternoon that day.
The PCC has six island villages that showcase the culture of those islands. This is Samoa where the guy is showing us how to make fire from coconuts.
In "Samoa," they also climb the coconut trees as a part of the show.
The next stop was New Zealand, which is home to the Maori people. We had a tour guide with us since we bought the Ambassador package.
The dancers in New Zealand are doing the "Action Song" here.
The next island we went to was Fiji. Joy is posing with a Fijian warrior here.
I am posing with a young maiden from Fiji. They were cannibals apparently so we were on our best behavior. JK.
This hut is typical of what a Fijian Chief would live in. The door in the back is only to be used by the village chief himself. Be prepared for one heck of a beating if you go through it. LOL.
The nose flute demonstration at Tonga was cool. They use these instruments to wake up the Tongan royalty since they are not allowed to hover over them.
Joy and I are on the canoe ride now. We got those special leis since we were VIP guests because of the Ambassador Package.
We are entering the luau now. The lovely islander girl behind us lei'd us both! LOL.
The guys here are taking the kaulua pig to the chef after getting it out of the earthen oven called an Imu.
We were seated in front of one of the smaller stages so we got an upclose experience with the dancers.
We are doing the famous "hang loose" sign here.
The dancers did a great job that night.
We are posing for a picture after the luau on the stage. Elvis Presley performed on this very set as well many years ago!
The next morning, we took a nice walk along Kalakua and got our coffee at the Honolulu Coffee place in the Moana Surfrider. We explored the historic hotel after we got our morning joe.
The lobby of the Moana Surfrider was really historic and cool!
We drove out to Hanauma Bay early in the morning so we could find a parking spot. I loved the convertible!
Hanauma Bay was created by a volcano explosion, and over time, the sea water entered the crater.
Hanauma Bay is known for great snorkeling.
Joy enjoyed swimming in the crystal clear water which was around 79'F.
I got lots of cool pictures of the fish at Hanauma Bay with my underwater 4K camera. This fish was really neat.
Here are some more fishes in the bay.
The coral reef protects the inner part of the bay pretty well from the rough surf.
This fish might be looking at me?
After a workout of swimming in the sea, we fueled up on delicious Chinese food at Kirin on Kalakua. The dim sum was delicious also.
It was another beautiful day on the island as we walked around after lunch.
The last time I went
to Hawaii was back in 1997 when we visited the Big Island of Hawaii for
my parent's 25th marriage anniversary. Approximately 22 years
later, Joy and I decided to go out to Oahu during the week of the MLK
Holiday to explore America's paradise! Southwest Airlines
recently started flights from Sacramento to Honolulu, and since I had
so many Rapid Rewards points, we decided to use some of them for this
trip to the beautiful island of Oahu! Our direct flight on the
Boeing 737-800 which was given ETOPs rating by the FAA to fly over the
open ocean for hours took about five hours and twenty minutes.
After landing into HNL, we got our convertible Camaro car rental, and we headed off to Waikiki. From the very first night, we saw the beautiful sunsets over the Pacific Ocean, and we enjoyed dinner at a popular restaurant called Duke's Canoe Club at the Outrigger Hotel. The food was delicious, and the service was great as well. Mahalo for the beautiful eye candy as well :) Mahalo means thank you in Hawaiian. We enjoyed some delicious Kona coffee too at the Honolulu Coffee Company.
We had a great first real day on the island. Our first tour of the morning was at Pearl Harbor where my wife and I reflected on the lives of the brave men and women who were killed or injured by the Japanese during their surprise attack on our nation! We will NEVER forgot what they did to us nor will he forget the sacrafices this generation made to guarantee the freedoms we share. In fact, Joy and I would stop and thank you military personnel we saw in uniform for their service to our great nation on this trip. The naval vessel took us out to the USS Arizona Memorial where we could see the sunken ship. After visiting Pearl Harbor, we went to have lunch at Nico's Pier 38. They have amazing poke! Afterwards, we finished our tour for the day at Iolani Palace, which was the home of some of the Hawaiian monarchs.
Joy and I enjoyed the Hilton Hawaiian Village a lot. This large resort featured multiple pools as well as a lagoon. The property was on the beach also. There were lots of places to eat also. It is a litle pricey, but we recommend staying there during a visit to Oahu. I loved the adult only pool deck! The sunset views from there were amazing. Joy and I enjoyed dinner at Roy's on our second night. Roy's had amazing food! I did the tasting menu, and every item was just delicious!
The next day, we went out to explore the North Shore. We drove to Haleiwa where we got to try the famous shrimp trucks and have some delicious Hawaiian Shaved Ice. I could see why surfers love the North Shore as the waves were "killer." Joy and I also hiked into the Waimea Valley to see the famous waterfall there. Several movies were filmed there including Joe vs the Volcano. The North Shore was not as busy as Waikiki! We enjoyed dinner at a top notch Japanese restaurant that night which featured delicious cuts of maguro tuna.
On Wednesday, we explored the Kailua side of the island in the morning. Lanikai Beach was so beautiful. This beach was not as crowded as Waikiki either, and we loved the white sands and the calm waters. There were two small islands off shore also. We even got to try some authentic Hawaiian plate lunches which put L&L BBQ to shame! SHAME! ABSOLUTE SHAME! LOL. As you can tell, we enjoyed Fat Boy's Teriyaki chicken a lot! Afterwards, we went out to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had the Ambassador Luau Package so a tour guide took us around the different island villages where we saw shows from the islands of Samoa, New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga. We also got a canoe ride around the park. After the tours were done, we had a luau to attend there. The luau featured a buffet as well as a show. Later that night, we went to the evening show called Ha, the Breathe of Life. It was a Vegas quality production! We loved it!
The next morning, Joy and I got our coffee again at the Honolulu Coffee Company before driving out to Hanauma Bay to go swimming in the pristine waters. It is recommended to get there by 8:00 AM to get a parking spot. I snorkeled among the coral reefs there and got lots of cool pictures of neat fish. Some of these fish were new to me since I mostly snorkeled in the Caribbean and Tropical Atlantic before. The water was cold when we got in, but it warmed up within a few minutes. I had a rash guard on also. The water temperature was around 79'F this time of year. We loved Hanauma Bay!
Oahu was way better than I thought! A lot of people talk down Oahu compared to the other Hawaiian islands, but we enjoyed our trip a lot!
After landing into HNL, we got our convertible Camaro car rental, and we headed off to Waikiki. From the very first night, we saw the beautiful sunsets over the Pacific Ocean, and we enjoyed dinner at a popular restaurant called Duke's Canoe Club at the Outrigger Hotel. The food was delicious, and the service was great as well. Mahalo for the beautiful eye candy as well :) Mahalo means thank you in Hawaiian. We enjoyed some delicious Kona coffee too at the Honolulu Coffee Company.
We had a great first real day on the island. Our first tour of the morning was at Pearl Harbor where my wife and I reflected on the lives of the brave men and women who were killed or injured by the Japanese during their surprise attack on our nation! We will NEVER forgot what they did to us nor will he forget the sacrafices this generation made to guarantee the freedoms we share. In fact, Joy and I would stop and thank you military personnel we saw in uniform for their service to our great nation on this trip. The naval vessel took us out to the USS Arizona Memorial where we could see the sunken ship. After visiting Pearl Harbor, we went to have lunch at Nico's Pier 38. They have amazing poke! Afterwards, we finished our tour for the day at Iolani Palace, which was the home of some of the Hawaiian monarchs.
Joy and I enjoyed the Hilton Hawaiian Village a lot. This large resort featured multiple pools as well as a lagoon. The property was on the beach also. There were lots of places to eat also. It is a litle pricey, but we recommend staying there during a visit to Oahu. I loved the adult only pool deck! The sunset views from there were amazing. Joy and I enjoyed dinner at Roy's on our second night. Roy's had amazing food! I did the tasting menu, and every item was just delicious!
The next day, we went out to explore the North Shore. We drove to Haleiwa where we got to try the famous shrimp trucks and have some delicious Hawaiian Shaved Ice. I could see why surfers love the North Shore as the waves were "killer." Joy and I also hiked into the Waimea Valley to see the famous waterfall there. Several movies were filmed there including Joe vs the Volcano. The North Shore was not as busy as Waikiki! We enjoyed dinner at a top notch Japanese restaurant that night which featured delicious cuts of maguro tuna.
On Wednesday, we explored the Kailua side of the island in the morning. Lanikai Beach was so beautiful. This beach was not as crowded as Waikiki either, and we loved the white sands and the calm waters. There were two small islands off shore also. We even got to try some authentic Hawaiian plate lunches which put L&L BBQ to shame! SHAME! ABSOLUTE SHAME! LOL. As you can tell, we enjoyed Fat Boy's Teriyaki chicken a lot! Afterwards, we went out to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We had the Ambassador Luau Package so a tour guide took us around the different island villages where we saw shows from the islands of Samoa, New Zealand, Fiji, and Tonga. We also got a canoe ride around the park. After the tours were done, we had a luau to attend there. The luau featured a buffet as well as a show. Later that night, we went to the evening show called Ha, the Breathe of Life. It was a Vegas quality production! We loved it!
The next morning, Joy and I got our coffee again at the Honolulu Coffee Company before driving out to Hanauma Bay to go swimming in the pristine waters. It is recommended to get there by 8:00 AM to get a parking spot. I snorkeled among the coral reefs there and got lots of cool pictures of neat fish. Some of these fish were new to me since I mostly snorkeled in the Caribbean and Tropical Atlantic before. The water was cold when we got in, but it warmed up within a few minutes. I had a rash guard on also. The water temperature was around 79'F this time of year. We loved Hanauma Bay!
Oahu was way better than I thought! A lot of people talk down Oahu compared to the other Hawaiian islands, but we enjoyed our trip a lot!