We left Thursday, 9/22 around noon. It was hard saying goodbye to the boys, but it was also very nice sitting in the airport with only one bag!! Anyone with young kids knows how exhausting traveling with sixteen suitcases, four sippy cups and endless amounts of cheerios can be. Not to mention trying to contain a very active baby or toddler on your lap while trying to be courteous to those around you. So it was very relaxing to be in the airport kid free! We flew from Albuquerque to LAX, and then onto Honolulu. Honolulu was a long (5.25 hour) flight, but we talked and read books and rested. It was rather wonderful.
We arrived in Honolulu around 6pm local time, and were welcomed by a beautiful rainbow from the airplane window. We walked through the beautiful open-air terminals, smelling the amazing plumeria flowers and headed to pick up our rental car. We got the car and started what should have been a 15 minute drive to our hotel. The traffic around 6:30 was crazy—it reminded me of being in Los Angeles traffic. We spent a good hour in the car. It was ok though, because we got to take in the beautiful countryside.
When we were booking our trip, we debated on staying on Oahu or traveling to one of the other islands. Miles and his family spent two weeks on Maui when he was younger, and we wanted to go somewhere neither of us had been so we decided to stay on Oahu. Miles also wanted us to stay at a first-class resort. After he did some research and found a good deal, he booked us at the JW Marriot Ihaliani at Ko Olina, HI. First class it was, boy we were NOT disappointed! This place was INCREDIBLE… from the moment we arrived to the second we checked out, we were treated like royalty and fed like kings. We arrived to perfectly manicured grounds and large tiki torches covering the property. Free valet parking of our rental car, and a bell man bringing our bags up to our (free) upgraded room. I know all of this is pretty standard in a classy place, but we hadn’t ever really experienced something quite like this!
On the morning we left for our trip, as I was making breakfast for the boys, I happened to turn on Good Morning America. I usually don’t have the TV on during the day, but for some reason I did that day. I happened to see a segment where one of their reporters was reporting on the grand opening of a new Disney Resort in Hawaii. I only had half an ear I could dedicate to listening to it, but I thought I heard him say he was on Oahu. Hmmmm, what were the odds of that? Well, when we got to our hotel, we heard a lot of noise and saw fireworks coming from the resort next door. Turns out, the Aulani, the new Disney resort, was located just down the beach from our resort!!! There was a ton of excitement both at our hotel and next door, and a huge party on the beach! Unfortunately, by the time we were checked in and got settled and cleaned up, it was 8pm Hawaii time, and we were both starved and exhausted so we didn’t join the celebration. We went downstairs to the Napaka Terrace, which was a beautiful restaurant overlooking the pool and ocean. We enjoyed a delicious sushi appetizer and each had a great dinner, and then we went upstairs and literally crashed. We desperately wanted to explore and walk the beach, but the 4 hour time difference was killing us (it was 1am our time by the time we were finished with dinner!).
Speaking of time changes, we struggled with the time change pretty much every day, starting when we got there, and over and over each morning when we woke up wide awake at 4am (8am MST).
The free upgrade the hotel gave us upon check in included a voucher for free breakfast buffet for both of us each day of our stay. When we got up Friday morning after forcing ourselves to sleep until 6, we headed down to the buffet. I cannot say enough about the food we ate on our trip. That breakfast buffet was not only huge and extensive, but it was some of the best breakfood we had ever eaten. Eggs benedict, belgin waffles with coconut syrup, and fresh tropical fruits were the highlights for us. The rest of that day we spent on a snorkeling tour, where we got to see dolphins jumping out of the water, and sea turtles. The crew of the boat was wonderful and we had a really good time. That night, we went to a luau just steps from our resort at Paradise Cove. The food here was excellent as well, however, the luau itself was slightly disappointing. There were 800 people there, we sat on very uncomfortable plastic lawn furniture, and didn’t have a great view of the stage. This was supposed to be the best luau on Oahu, however, if we go back we would try to find a smaller luau for sure. We had met a couple on the snorkeling trip from Australia, and they happened to sit across from us at the luau, so we did have a good time talking with them.
Also on the snorkeling trip, we got to see the ship "The Black Pearl" from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean beached in the marina. The tour guides told us they filmed a lot of the movie in California, and then actually sailed the boat over to Oahu for more filming.
On Saturday, we spent the morning getting some sun, and then around 12 we headed into town. We were told about this huge swap meet near Honolulu that was the perfect place to pick up some souvenirs. For those of you who have been to Mexico, it sounded a lot like the street shops there—people selling souvenirs, bartering on prices, etc. We drove down to USS Arizona Memorial Stadium, and unfortunately the Swap Meet was closed because the college team had a football game there that night. So we drove down to Waikiki beach, had lunch (again, excellent food!), and also went to a free army museum. We did some shopping, and then headed over to Aloha Pier 6 for our sunset dinner cruise. One note on Waikiki beach—we were SO SO SO glad we did not stay down there. The beach itself was beautiful, but the area around Waikiki we found dirty, crowded, and exactly the opposite of what we wanted. You could barely find a chair on the beach itself, and the hotels were so close together there were no ocean view rooms, just views of the hotel down the street! Our hotel was just a 15 minute drive from Waikiki, but that 15 minutes made all the difference in the world as far as noise, crowds, etc. My husband did so well picking our resort, we could NOT have been happier.
The dinner cruise itself was ok. The food was buffet style and very similar to the food we had at the luau. After we ate, we could go outside to see the ocean, and that was really the highlight. We didn’t really like that the dining area was enclosed, and the service we had there was horrendous. However, the boat took us past Waikiki shoreline and past Diamond Head, and then back. The sunset was so beautiful, and so for that, it was worth it. Next time, we will skip the dinner part and simply take a boat ride at sunset.
On to Sunday. Ah Sunday. We had a lot of decisions to make on what we were going to do on Sunday. We thought about golf, or going snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, but as it turned out, we did nothing. And let me tell you, doing nothing in Hawaii is blissful. We woke up around 7am (still, our time, we slept til 11 so that was bliss in itself!). We were being lazy and turned on the TV, and there was the NFL. On TV, at 7am. Can you say WEIRD? Even weirder, football NIGHT in America was on at 1pm. Weird weird weird! Anyway, we watched some football, had breakfast, then spent a relaxing morning sitting by the ocean. We also went over the Disney Resort and got a few souvenirs for two very special little guys. We headed back up to the room around 11, watched my Packers beat the Bears, and enjoyed some really good salads from room service. Maybe you think it is odd for us to spend time watching football in a hotel room in Hawaii, but by 11, we needed a break from the sun, and we were hungry. Football watching is one of our favorite things to do, but it is very rare that a) our teams are shown on TV, and b) that we can sit down and watch an entire football game without distraction. On this Sunday, we could do both. And it was perfect. Besides, once the game was over it was only 1:30pm! We spent the rest of the afternoon in the ocean snorkeling, and at the pool. Below is a picture of the hammer-head sharks that were in the lagoon on the grounds of the resort. Don't worry, this wasn't a place you could swim!!!
For dinner that night, we went to a restaurant called Roy’s that the concierge at the hotel recommended. Although our anniversary was in June, this was our anniversary trip (because who wants to go to Hawaii in June?!), and so the dinner at Roy’s was our anniversary dinner. After we got there, we realized that Roy's is a “chain” restaurant—sort of. They have a few locations in Phoenix, and in a few other mainland states. Anyway, who cares? This food was TO DIE FOR. We started with a sushi roll consisting of cooked scallops and steak, with some fried potatoes on the top. I say potatoes and sushi and you probably think 'what the!?'. Well my friend, so did I. But our server recommended it and said that we would not be disappointed, and we were NOT. Oh my gosh- this was the BEST food I have ever eaten, hands down. I wanted to order it for dessert. The potatoes were just tiny little slices fried that gave the roll a little crunch. Even Miles who doesn’t care for sushi thought it was amazing. It was followed by our entrees- I got filet served with cheesy rissotto and Miles had rib eye and shrimp. Again, absolutely amazing. They brought us a sweet mango mousse for dessert to top it all off. Oh my gosh, I was SO glad to know that there are Roy’s on the mainland. I tell you, we may just have to take a roadtrip to Phoenix for that sushi roll!!! See the picture of the two of us below, it is by far my favorite of the whole trip, and not only because you can see that beautiful sushi creature in it.
Monday was a sad day because it was going home day. Luckily, we didn’t have to leave until 9pm, so we had the whole day. We planned to go to the north shore to see the waves, eat some shrimp, stop by the Dole Plantation for some pineapple ice cream, and then head to Pearl Harbor before getting to the airport. The bellman at the hotel told us we should go to Pearl Harbor first, that if we got there at 3 we wouldn’t get tickets. So we switched the plan around and headed there first. We are SO GLAD he told us that! We got there at 9:15 and the next available tickets weren’t until 11:45! So we toured the USS Bowfin which was a World War 2 submarine and spent time at some of the museums at Pearl Harbor. Tickets for the USS Arizona Memorial are FREE, so that was great. We paid $10 each to tour the Bowfin, but it was money well spent. If we had had more time we would have toured the USS Missouri, but we saved that for next time. Here are a few pictures of the Bowfin. It was facinating:
Bathrooms on the sub:
The USS Bowfin:
The Arizona Memorial starts with about a 20 minute video of the events leading up to Pearl Harbor, and the actual day of, including some real footage of the attack. You leave that theater in silence, there is really nothing to say. Then you take a boat ride across the harbor to the actual memorial, which is built above the wreckage. It was definitely an experience we will not soon forget. They have all the names listed of the people who died on a big wall, and also they listed the names of those survivors who have since died and been interred on the ship. I asked the guide about that, and he told us a fascinating story. He said when one of the survivors dies, their family is taken by private boat across to the memorial after hours, where they are then given a proper military funeral. The deceased is creamated, and their ashes are stored in a water tight urn. One of the navy divers then takes the urn, and swims it down to an area of the Arizona where there is a large crack in the ship. He then swims the urn through the crack, and places it in the area where most of the men died, where he will then rest for all eternity with his shipmates. This was a fascinating story, and it really put some more humanity to how dedicated these soldiers were. We didn’t take very many ‘smiley’ pictures at the memorial. Anyone who has visited knows what it feels like seeing that boat in the shallow harbor. It was something we are glad we did, but it was very humbling and sad at the same time. Here are a few pictures we did take from our visit to the USS Arizona Memorial:
The Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri:
From there, we went back and ‘said goodbye’ to our beautiful resort, and then headed up to the Dole Plantation. This was a place we could have spent a whole day. They have a train tour of the property, the worlds largest maze, and tons of other fun stuff to do. We really were just interested in the ice cream at this point. Fresh pineapple ice cream. It was INCREDIBLE. It even had that sort of acidic taste that pineapple has, but in a good way. They had a full blown café there, so if you visit, you can plan on lunch there if you want. We had ice cream for lunch.
Our last stop on the trip was the North Shore. This is the part of Hawaii that is famous for its 30-foot waves. The Pipeline is the beach where surfers flock, and where they hold a lot of the surfing competitions. We drove the stretch of the north shore, and it was very different from the side of the island that we stayed on. We were affirmed once more that we made the right choice in where we stayed, but we were glad to be able to see these beaches. We got out and walked one of the beaches, and watched some guys surfing. It was cool to see, but we also noticed a lot of rocks close to shore, so we decided not to get in the water. Also, we didn’t want to travel for 16 hours covered in salt water. For dinner, we stopped at one of the numerous shrimp trucks that line the north shore. We have friends who used to live on Oahu, and they reccommened Giovanni’s shrimp truck. I am SO glad they did! The truck is covered in graffiti and had they not recommended it, we probably wouldn’t have stopped. But they serve you a dozen shimp with two scoops of Hawaii’s amazingly delicious sticky rice. We chose Shrimp Scampy, and it was, like most of the food we had on our trip, to die for. Just a word to the wise, however. If you are traveling and will be up for 16 or so more hours, garlicky shrimp may not be the best choice. Unless you pack your toothbrush in your carry on.
As the sun was setting we left and started making our way back to Honolulu. From there, we took the red eye flight back to LAX, endured a 4 hour lay over, and finally made it home around 12:00 on Tuesday to a sweet, airport reunion with our boys!
To sum up, here are a few of our favorites from the trip:
• JW Marriott Ihaliani—we recommend this place to ANYONE traveling to Oahu. Classy, beautiful, and well worth the cost of the room.
• Ko Olina’s Ocean Adventure for snorkeling
• Dole Plantation for pineapple ice cream
• Pearl Harbor Memorial (remember, go early!)
• Roy’s Restaurant for dinner… Must. Get. Sushi!
Things that we would skip:
• Paradise Cove Luau. Try to find a different luau-maybe a smaller more intimate one
• Sunset Dinner Cruise- we would rather have bought dinner somewhere else and just taken a boat ride at sunset
For the full set of pictures, check out my facebook page, I’ll post them… eventually!
Aloha!
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