Oahu did not disappoint. We knew it would be the commercial giant of the islands so we jumped right into it our first afternoon and strolled down busy Kalakaua Avenue, marveling at how much Waikiki was just like Downtown, USA yet still wonderfully tropical. The beach was slightly underwhelming as just offshore was a huge dredging barge and parts of the shoreline were closed for repairs but dozens of surfers were still patiently waiting to catch a wave and all nationalities of greased bodies were lying suntanning, so it pretty much met expectations. An hour or two at Duke's beach bar watching the sun slowly drop capped off a wonderful day.
Visiting the USS Arizona Memorial was high on our Tourist List so we toured the very moving Pearl Harbor exhibit our first morning, then hopped aboard 'The Bus' for a grand circle tour of the island. We were fortunate enough to happen to leave right at 3pm and so got up close and personal with a fair majority of the islands' pre-teen population! Somehow the views of the dramatic sheer-cliffed mountains and stunning beaches drew our attention away from their engaging personalities!
This morning we walked from our hotel over and up right to the very top of Diamond Head. We have a stunning view of DH from our hotel room, but I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I didn't remember it was an extinct volcano until we walked through a tunnel at the entrance to the state park and right into the crater of the caldera. .8 miles of ascent and stairs took us to the overlook with stunning views of Waikiki to the west and every other direction as well.
A quick trip to Hanauma Bay (nope, no snorkeling, this Pacific is cold!!), and a relaxing afternoon at our hotel's pool finally put the relaxation in our holiday.
A few moonlit cocktails beachside at the Moana Surfrider hotel, listening to some mellow guitar music and munching a few pupus and all is right with our world tonight.
Thanks, Allison
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