With a 3 a.m. wake up call and 13 hours of travel behind us, the Clark's, Maximuk's, and Thurlow's had finally arrived, at 2 p.m. Hawaiian time, with half the day still ahead. We checked into our room and had a rainbow waiting outside our window. Let the relaxing begin...
The boys attempted the paddle boards on our first full day. They did fairly well and only bit it a few times. Apparently, standing and paddling alone wasn't exciting enough because they spent half of their allotted hour on their heads.
The hotel grounds were great. We had penguins, flamingos, a view of Diamond Head, several swimming pools, beautiful sunsets, turtles that swam near the shore, and a guy that sunbathed as close to naked as you can get without actually being naked EVERYDAY.
We ventured away from the hotel and visited the Dole pineapple plantation on our way to the North Shore.
We hit Waimea Bay Beach on the famous North Shore. These waves were no joke. The boys risked life and spinal cord by daring to swim and there is no doubt that they were the waves' bitches. They left the water lighter on dignity yet heavier due to the insane amounts of sand deposited in their shorts.
The least noteworthy and largest discrepancy between expectation and actual experience for the entire trip... the Hilton Luau. The highlights were an impromptu, on-stage hula performance by Ryan, Kevin and Rachel being forced to do the anniversary dance, and reading the horrible, yet comical, reviews for the luau while in the dinner line... while fun, definitely not worth the astronomical price of admission.
Pearl Harbor... something to see and experience in person
We did and saw many things on this trip, but a lot of our time was spent relaxing on the beach or by the pool... miss it already.
We got a real kick out of learning what our Hawaiian names are. As you could probably guess, Kev's name came up on multiple occasions.
We were able to hook up with the "Paradise Cats"- KSU alums who now reside in Honolulu. We joined their watch party for the KSU/Miami game at 9:30 a.m. The Cats pulled out an exciting victory winning 28-24.
Around this time our friends departed and Kev and I realized we only had a few days left to pack in everything we wanted to do in Oahu.
First on the list...you can't go to Hawaii and not have a surf lesson. Here we are, Kev shredding on the top row of pictures, Rachel on the bottom. Kev claims the instructor said he "may be the best first-timer he's ever had"... must have been his first day :) For me, I can now say I did it and be fine if I never do it again. Kev, on the other hand, is ready to start considering only surf destinations when planning future vacations.
We took the scenic coastal route back to the hotel after our morning surf lesson. Here are some shots from that drive.
We hit the beautiful and popular Hunauma Bay for some snorkeling early in the morning to beat the crowds. The water here was crystal clear and the views of the reef from the top were incredible.
Next, we hiked up to a 150 ft waterfall, Manoa Falls. At the base of the trail, we saw a television crew filming a parachute stuck in a tree for an upcoming episode of Hawaii 5-0. This is also where portions of all six seasons of Lost were filmed.
After the falls, we visited the the "From Here to Eternity" beach where a famous scene was shot for the movie. Right next door is the "Blowhole". We saw a turtle swimming in the distance and snapped some scenic shots.
We had another early morning on our last day when we started with a brisk hike to the top of Diamond Head. Here's the view from the top.
And, for our final excursion, what else.... a booze cruise.
This was an amazing trip with beautiful scenery (no, I'm not talking about the naked guy on the beach), great company, fun activities, relaxation, and loads of good times. I hope we get to do it again someday.
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