Blizzard? Check. Tornado? Check. Heatwave? Check. Earthquake? Check. Hurricane?
Seriously? Now our fair commonwealth is being threatened by a hurricane, too? What’s left? A volcano?
I must admit that there is a bit of me that is excited at the prospect of a major storm. I’m just having trouble believing that all of these sorts of natural disasters (granted, the earthquake yesterday was not a disaster…but you know what I mean) are all happening in the same calendar year.
Speaking of the earthquake, I did actually feel it. I had just finished lunch and was leaning back in my chair playing “Words with Friends” on my cellphone. It suddenly felt as if a large truck was driving outside my window….except there was no truck and I’m on the third floor. Then I heard some of my knick-knacks (of which I have many shelves full) rattle slightly.
I thought I might have just imagined it, or that it was related to some possible nearby construction. Still, I immediately typed an instant message to Randy asking “Was there just an earthquake?” Not a minute later I started getting emails on the Harvard Law School distribution list asking if others felt an earthquake. Crazy. I was expecting that while I was in Hawaii, not here.
Oh yeah, Hawaii. Back to that.
So we flew Hawaiian Airlines from Kona to Honolulu. Despite the flight being not much more than 30 minutes in duration, they still proceeded to provide beverage service. And by beverage service I mean the flight attendant walked up the aisle with a box filled with sealed plastic cups of papaya (or was it guava) juice. He then immediately walked back down the aisle to collect the empty containers. And ta-dah – we landed in Honolulu.
We stayed at the Hilton Prince Kuhio (AKA Hilton Waikiki Beach), a 37 story hi-rise a block from the beach. We got a room on the 33rd floor with a balcony overlooking the mountains and skyline. After seeing the ocean view rooms I think I actually prefered our view. After such a spectacular experience on the Big Island, I was a bit disappointed with Waikiki Beach. Within hours of our arrival we were offered drugs and were propositioned by prostitutes. Randy said it best when he said that Waikiki reminded him of Las Vegas mixed with Miami’s South Beach.
For the record, I think he meant that in a negative way. Plus customer service there was the worst I’ve experienced…ever. And that includes trips to North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Service was slow, food was mediocre, and at multiple places they screwed up the orders. I think they realize that their customer base is all tourists who aren’t likely to return anyway so why bother trying.
Waikiki Beach itself was much smaller than I had anticipated. Fortunately, our hotel was near the widest section. But there are actually sections that were so small that the beach didn’t even exist because waves crashed against a seawall at high tide. On the plus side, the water was warm and lovely, and the section of beach we used had a barrier to keep the waves to a minimum.
The next day we met up with Randy’s Australian cousin, Darren, and his wife, Fiona. The day after that we rented a car and decided to get out of cruddy Waikiki and explore the rest of Oahu. That was probably our best decision on the island. Within fifteen minutes were were out of the grittiness of Waikiki and passing by lovely coves and cliffs. We had lunch along the eastern coast of the island at the scariest little dive restaurant I’ve ever been to (complete with a 2+ inch cockroach running by my foot after we’d ordered). But we survived.
We ended up snorkeling along the North Shore (where in the winter the biggest surfing waves can be found) over some really cool coral reefs. Then we got some wine, crackers, cheese, and sweet nibbly things and sat on the beach to watch the sunset. Nearby, 220 lb sea turtles came ashore to rest after an exhausting day. It was pretty damn cool.
On Saturday, I was the worst American ever and skipped their visit to Pearl Harbor. It’s apparently such a popular destination that if you don’t go by tour group you can be stuck in line forever (and if you arrive too late in the day, you can be turned away). The tour they picked required getting up at 5am…on a Saturday…on a vacation. I just coulndn’t bring myself to do it. Plus, it ended up being nearly 7 hours long (including transportation to and from Pearl Harbor) and they weren’t fed the entire time. I need my food at 2 hour intervals or I’m one cranky S.O.B.
Sunday was our last day there (spent at the beach, naturally). Randy’s flight left around 4pm so he packed up and headed out around 2pm. My flight didn’t leave until nearly 9pm so I saw him off and returned to the beach. AHHHHHH.
All in all, the honeymoon was amazing. I never need to see Waikiki again, but would definitely return to the Big Island or to any of the other islands in a heartbeat. Hell, I’d return to Oahu as long as I could spend my time in the quieter parts of the island.
Who wants to join me?
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I agree with you 100% about Waikiki, been there done that don’t need to go again. I also loved the Big Island and would go there again. Plus, just think of the islands you didn’t get to see this time. I really think another trip is in order. Glad you had such a good time. 🙂