Hawaiian Paradise

Back in February, right around the time Maryland was hit with the second +15 inch blizzard of the year (the one that shut my office down for one week), we booked a trip to Hawaii. We knew we wanted to take a trip this year since last year we were tied up building the house and missed a year of "real" travel. Brad left our destination up to me and since the Euro wasn't favorable to the dollar, I chose Hawaii. Now, we are already back from our vacation with lots of stories, scenery, and memories to share.

If you have read my blog lately, you also know that this really was our last "big hurrah" before a baby comes into the picture and I am grateful I have been feeling so well besides fatigue. Vacation is a time to take naps anyway, right? My upcoming posts will go through our vacation a few days at a time to show some photos and explain what they are of and where they were taken. You'll notice I have alot more to say about Kauai than Oahu. Not only did we spend more time there, but overall we enjoyed Kauai more - the scenery, the traveling, the people, etc. Also, by the time we got to Oahu on day 6, I think we were tired and really wanted to relax and veg out even more.

We spent one night in Waikiki to kickoff our trip. Actually, we spent one night in Waikiki because we found such a better deal on plane tickets that we decided to leave one day earlier than planned after our rental was already booked. So, we used some of my Hilton points, thanks to my regular NYC trips, and stayed for free in Waikiki. Our room had a wraparound balcony so we had views of Diamondhead and the ocean.

While Brad went for his run (cheer for him on 10/31 if you live in DC!) I walked along the street that runs along the beach and took pictures. Waikiki beach was not as pretty as I expected. The strip of sand was pretty narrow and it was very crowded. I guess that's what happens when you are a city on the beach where most tourists stay. There is a barrier that prevents waves from coming ashore which makes it a safer place for keiki (children) to swim.



We had a wonderful dinner at Duke's Canoe Club after getting wet trying to take pictures on the beach. Their salad bar was delicious, but their seafood luau was divine! Scallops, shrimp, fresh island fish and vegetables in coconut cream sauce, with steamed rice...mmmmm!

We were quite tired since HST is 6 hours behind EST, so after dinner we went right to bed. In the monring, we loaded into a 15 passenger van and headed back to the airport for our flight to Kauai.