ALOHA--Yeah,Baby!

Saturday, the 14th, we flew out with Gary, Kelly's husband, to Oahu. Long day, long flight--even though we gained 3 more hours. We arrived in Honolulu about 7p.m. and went to the Hilton Complex. Really lovely. We all were looking forward to this stay.

Checking in

Living Room

View from our balcony

After our strenuous vacation schedule (strenuous and vacation don't seem like they should go together), we decide Sunday should be casual and up to each individual. We walked the beach, explored local shops, went to church, napped and basically just enjoyed the location and the day itself.  In the evening we took a taxi to Uncle Bo's, a restaurant highly recommended by our concierge as having local cuisine at reasonable prices.  The meal fulfilled all expectations. Personally, I think the highlight of the night was when Wayne tried to hail a pizza delivery car for our taxi home. I thought that was a brilliant idea!

Monday was my bakery quest day.  Curious about the island specialties, I was told malasadas are THE Hawaiian pastry and the place to get them is Leonards. Malasadas are Portuguese in origin and are like a thick doughy donut covered in sugar. Leonards sells thousands of them each day. Leaonards was also an hour walk from our hotel--the grace in that being I should be able to walk off the calories of at least one if not two!

Wayne and I both agreed the malasadas are a great way to start the day!

Pearl Harbor was the next item on our agenda. Gary, Cameron, Wayne and I boarded our taxi for the trip.  I figured it would be a pretty safe ride when I saw the other passenger in the cab:

Wish she could  have been with us on that scary, nighttime coastal ride!

Our first stop at Pearl Harbor was the decommissioned battleship, the Missouri,  The first question I heard asked about her was from a young boy on the tour. And the answer was "Yes, this was the ship used in the film Battleship."  I just keep rubbing elbows with the stars.  :)

Huge, powerful and intimidating! And so historic.  I didn't realize this was the ship where the final surrender of WWII occurred.  I especially appreciated all the extra tidbits Gary shared about the ship and life at sea.  His Navy background added a lot to our tour.

Next stop, the Arizona Memorial.  At one time, the attack on Pearl Harbor was just part of our Nation's history that I  learned about in school. Having lived through 9/11, the horror of this event seemed so much more real to me. I went to honor my parents and all those who lived through this war and especially to honor those who didn't live--the soldiers, sailors and civilians who died that day.

In its own way, more powerful than anything else we have seen on this trip. 
 May God grant them and us peace.

Tuesday the 17th,  Gary rented us a candy-apple red jeep to check out the North Shore, home of great beaches, sweet waves and roadside shrimp stands. On our way we stopped at the Dole Plantation.  Here we learned how to choose the best tasting pineapples (no soft spots, eyes all the same size and a slight fruity smell), and all about Dole pineapples.

Our next stop was Romys Shrimp Stand, so popular, we waited an hour for our dinner!

Kelly was a bit put off by the beady little eyes of her shrimp...



I however celebrated my inner shrimp!

The North Shore was cloudy and misty for us this day, but because of the mist we were able to experience another gift of the islands.  A rainbow seemed to follow us all the way back to our hotel!

...just another day in paradise!  :)