Hawaii!

Well, we're back! We just went on a vacation to Hawaii, and it was quite a trip! We've never been to Hawaii before, and I can't say that everything went flawlessly, but we had a really good time. We were there for 4 days and 3 nights, which ended up being just about perfect. Had we planned just a little better, we would have been able to get everything done that we wanted, but we came darn close, and if nothing else, it left us a few things to do on a return trip (someday). We did a ton, and I know that some will want the details, so I'll do my best to hit it day by day, and then hopefully Meredith will come on and post and fill in some of the gaps.

Day 1
This was the most "exciting" day, but not in a good way. We got up early to go to the airport, and it was a good thing we did, because we went to check in at the self-checkin (being the savvy travellers that we are) and there was no reservation for us. OK, a little nervous. We go to the desk, and they basically say that a ticket was never issued for us. Now we're panicked. I call up Travelocity (who I used to buy the tickets back in MARCH), and they say that indeed the tickets were never issued. Meanwhile, Meredith is checking up on how much it would cost us to get tickets on the spot. Try $4400! We're pretty upset, and I kinda chewed out the Travelocity guy. I know it wasn't his fault, but I needed him to see that it was Travelocity's fault. Granted, I should have called to confirm (it was the one reservation I didn't call about...go figure), but Travelocity had all of the tools...they just didn't come through. To make a long story short, after an hour on the phone Travelocity booked us on a direct flight to Honolulu and ate the difference between my original price and the price of the new tickets (they ate over $3300). By now, my nerves are shot, and I'm pretty antsy all the way up until we get checked into the hotel.

The flight was nice...for a 7 hour flight. We got there and took the Airport Waikiki Express (info here) to our hotel, which was a nice deal ($14 round trip for each of us). We stayed at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (details here) on rewards points. It was a pretty decent hotel. The rooms were nice, but you are really paying for location on this one. Here's the view from our balcony on the 14th floor:



We got there pretty late in the afternoon, so we just kinda walked the beach. We managed to catch a pretty awesome sunset though:



The rest of the night we spent recuperating from the 4 hour time zone lag.

Day 2

On Day 2 we got up and laid out on the beach for a while. I'm a bit too high-strung to lay around for forever, but we had a nice time. We went out pretty early, so we didn't have to deal with the crowds. After that, we went and picked up our rental car...an 05 Mustang Convertible! I got a good deal from being a Marriott Rewards member, so check on that if/when you go.



We put the top down and headed out to the Polynesian Cultural Center in La'ie (www.polynesia.com). It was a spectacular drive. We took the most direct route, but saw some wonderful scenery. We arrived shortly after the PCC opened, and it was a good thing! If you buy a package ticket you can come back for a total of 3 days, and if you have time, you really should. There is TONS to do and see. The PCC is really a pretty neat place. I initially bristled at the price (we got the Ali'i Luau, which was $80 per person), but you really get your money's worth. Most of the presentations are interactive...we danced/played/made lots of different things, and there were tons of shows to see. We also visited the La'ie Temple Visitors Center, which was a wonderful experience. This is one of the few shots of us together that we got on our entire trip (something about handing our camera to a stranger on the beach...):



On the way back we managed to persuade the driver to drop us off at BYU-Hawaii so we could walk around a bit. It was cool being there, and we bought a few shirts and made our way back. By that time the canoe show was going on, where they dance in the middle of the river on canoe-born platforms. It was a cool show, and just a hint of what was to come later. The Luau was amazing! It was buffet-style, so naturally we ate until we were sick. That's also where we got our coveted flower leis. They were beautiful. The Luau also featured a pretty nice show, and we got to go up and dance on stage for celebrating our anniversary. They also had a group performing from Japan...pretty neat!

After that we went to the Horizons show, which was a great experience. I'm not going to post up any pics of that (I'll leave it to Meredith), but it was really neat.

Since the night was pretty much spent, we headed back to the hotel.

Day 3
We got up early on Day 3 in order to hit the USS Arizona Memorial before our car rental ran out (we ended up making it back with about 8 minutes to spare!). When you go, be prepared to spend nearly half the day there, between standing in line, waiting for your group to be called, and then to partake in the movie and finally going to the memorial itself.

I really enjoyed going to the memorial, but not in the same way that I enjoyed the other places. To be perfectly honest, as I'm writing this now, I'm holding back tears. It was a very emotional place for me, as were the Arlington National Cemetery, the WWII Memorial and the Enola Gay exhibit in D.C. I'm something of a WWII history buff. For some reason the stories of the men and women that were willing to lay down their lives for their families and the freedoms they enjoy really touch me. And these men...struck down with little or no warning...I just don't have words. I guess their loss saddens me, and at the same time I feel an immense pride for being one of their countrymen. Being on the Memorial itself, I fought back tears the entire time, especially at looking at the wall full of names of those who perished on this ship alone. I have to confess that it made me almost a little angry seeing people taking smiling photos on the Memorial...you don't do that kind of stuff in a cemetery. We don't have many photos from that place, again because I'm such a baby about it, but here's one of the memorial from the shore:



One of the disappointments from the trip was not being able to visit the USS Missouri (seen on the left of the Arizona Memorial in the above photo), which was the site of the Japanese surrender at the end of the war, but again, we'll do that on another trip.

The rest of the day we spent exploring the countless shops along Waikiki, including the International Market. That place reminded me a lot of the fairs in Brazil...most of the stuff comes from China. It isn't bad stuff, but not the highest quality ever. The good news is that you can haggle prices, so we got a couple of good deals. We also hit Hard Rock Cafe and picked up another set of souvenir glasses (we're up to 6 now) with our meal.

Day 4

We were going to try to hit Hanauma Bay on day 4 at the behest of our friends, but that's really something we should have done on day 1 or 2. It was just too stressful to do it on our last day...especially since we had to check out. Again, next time.

We kinda just goofed off on our last day. We went to the zoo, which was actually pretty cool (I'll let Meredith talk more about it), and walked Waikiki again. We found a cool restaurant called Cheeseburger in Paradise (named after the song we're guessing, but there were thankfully no mentions of Jimmy Buffet anywhere (NOTE: I know that since I grew up in Florida I should like him more, but the only dose I can take of him at this point is about 2 lines of a song at a time. They overplayed him a little bit on the radio down in FL, and I'm still getting over it. The same with Journey and the Eagles. Amazing bands, yes. But I can't handle them in large doses.)). The burger was among the best I've ever had, and we just had a good time.

Well, after that, we went back to the hotel, grabbed our stuff, and waited for the shuttle. The rest you can probably guess...pretty standard return trip stuff. One cool thing we did was upload our pictures to Costco's photo center on the web from our hotel room on Thursday morning. When we got back on Friday morning (overnight flight), we just ran into Costco and grabbed them. Easy as pie!

Like I said at the beginning, we really loved our trip. It was nice to spend some time with Meredith, and remember how much I really love her company. Hopefully we can get back to Hawaii someday, but if not we have some really great memories.

Aloha and Mahalo (thanks)!
Steve