|
Friday, April 9, 2010
On our first day on Oahu, we traversed the island. We went to Nuuanu Pali. Overlooking the 985 foot cliffs of the Koolau Mountain Range, this is one of the best views on O'ahu. It was here in 1795 that King Kamehameha and his warriors defeated the O'ahu armies by sending them over these steep, forested cliffs and claiming his victory and uniting the Hawaiian Islands. It is the windiest place on the Island, but the view was fantastic!
Continuing around the loop of the island, we stopped at a fruit stand so Darby could get a coconut to drink! She had wanted to do that the whole time we were in Hawaii and this was a prime opportunity! We continued on, passing the Chinamen's Hat on the east coast of the island up toward the North Shore! We were starving by the time we got up there so we grabbed some lunch up on the North Shore at Shark's Cove and then headed toward Haleiwa in search of some beach and solice. We found a practically deserted beach on the North Shore that was gorgeous and spent several hours relaxing there and soaking up the sun! The kids made a fort and we swam with the sea turtles just an arm's length away! The turtles just hung out at our feet all afternoon surfing and playing in the water. It was a great day. One the way back to Honolulu we stopped at Matsumoto in Haleiwa for world renowned Shave Ice.
For our last night in Hawaii, we headed down into Waikiki for some dinner. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed walking through Waikiki. The Italian cuisine at Aracino Restaurant was delicious. It was a great evening for a stroll.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Saturday morning, April 10, we decided to take a hike up to Diamond Head at Sunrise. There were SO may tourists! That was one thing you didn't see in Kauai! I couldn't believe there were so many Japanese ladies in heels hiking Diamond Head. They seemed to be taking it in stride!
After hiking Diamond Head, we stopped by the Kahala Hotel and resort to see the dolphins. There were five of them, but one little fellow came over to pose for photos! They had gorgeous flowers all over the property. From there, we headed back to the hotel for some fun by the pool before check out. The pool at the Hawaiian Hilton was great - in fact, there were multiple pools. Mark and the kids had a blast playing on the slides! We have enjoyed every second of this trip and stayed out at the pool soaking up until the last minute! After cleaning up, we headed out to lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe Honolulu! The kids enjoyed the Hard Rock experience.
Once at Pearl Harbor, we were disappointed that the Arizona Memorial was closed for renovation so instead, we decided to visit the USS Missouri, the ship upon which the Japanese surrender at the conclusion of WWII. First we watched thePearl Harbor fil at teh Visitor's Center, and then we headed by bus over to the Missouri. Although we would have liked to go on the Arizona Memorial, as it turned out, this was so fascinating and we could have spent many more hours there than we did! We were the last people on the Missouri at closing time and we headed back to the Visitor's Center on the last bus.
From Pearl Harbor, we were off to the airport for the long trip home. We had to fly from Honolulu back to Maui first to catch our flight home. It was a red-eye so we arrived home on Sunday afternoon exhausted! It was a wonderful trip! One more state checked off on the Blount family travel map!
|
