2024 Trip 1, Part 2 – Oahu, Hawaii with the Webers

This post covers the last four days of our eight-day trip to Oahu, Hawaii with our great friends the Webers.

Day 5

We woke up to this view from our lanai.

This was significant because it meant the rain had moved on. With the dry weather, Cindy and I went on a 1 1/2 mile walk around the harbor, while Todd did his usual 7-8 mile walk around the city. During Cindy and my walk around the harbor, we found our dream boat. It’s a bit of a fixer, but how hard could it be to fix up?

After our walks, we all went to find a “secret” adult pool on the Hilton hotel property. We were told it was on the fourth floor of the Ali Tower. When we got off of the elevator on the fourth floor, there was no pool, only rooms. We found an employee who directed us to the second floor, where there was a pool. I don’t know how much of a secret it was, but it was not that crowded. And it had some very nice views.

After spending all morning at the pool, we had lunch at the Tropics Bar and Grill on the property. As usual, it was very good. We spent some more time by the main pool, then returned to our room to freshened up. We Uber’ed to the Ala Moana outdoor mall and did some shopping. We finished the visit with dinner at the The Bar by R. Field Wine Company, located inside the Foodland Farms grocery store. Yes, a bar inside a grocery store that you can also eat at. Genius! The girls had some wine while Todd and I tried some of the craft beer.

We started the meal with a charcuterie board that was very good. We followed that up with some crispy Calamari. There were some small deep-fried whole octopus on the tray, complete with tentacles. I was afraid to try them at first. When I finally did try one, it was delicious. That is something I will eat again.

We finished off our meal with some pizza, that was also delicious. We really enjoyed our time at the bar in a grocery store and it earned a link for that fact alone. The delicious food was just a great bonus. We took an Uber back to our hotel and had a nightcap at the Tropics Bar and Grill. We all had some tropical drinks that were delicious.

Day 6

Day six was Saturday, a day Cindy, Edie and I had been specially preparing for during the month before the trip. We had scheduled a hike to the summit of Diamond Head. The hike is only 1 1/2 miles round trip, but there is almost 600 feet of elevation gain in that short distance, and hundreds of stairs as well. We were up early and took an UBER to Diamond Head State Monument so we could conquer our hike. Our driver dropped us off well before the entrance to the park. He said they did not allow Uber drivers inside the tunnel. This turned out to not be true. So we had to walk 1/2 a mile just to get to the start of our hike. Here we are at the start of the hike with our summit goal in the distance.

The hike was steep, but very doable for all of us. We took our time and enjoyed the sights. Here are some pictures of the scenery on our way up.

Here are some pictures of the trail.

We were plugging along and very confident we were going to make the summit when an older Asian man and woman started to walk past us. We ended up talking to them and the man was 84 and his wife was 81. And they were cooking on the trail and were definitely going to summit before us. Then they had to add the kicker. This wasn’t their first time doing this. As a matter of fact, they did it almost every day. That was it. We also kicked it up a notch and even thought the older couple finished ahead of us, no one else did. We summitted with strength. Here are some of the views we saw.

We all made it to the top and were feeling pretty good. Then it was time to head back down.

Once we got back down to the bottom, everyone was feeling pretty good except for my knees. They were on fire. But I made it up and back. We ordered an UBER and surprise of all surprises; he was able to drive into the park and pick us up. Clearly the first driver was a jackwagon and hosed us. Our better driver drove us to Marugame Udan, across the street from the International Market Place. We had to try and get lunch there because Cindy had watched close to a million YouTube videos about Oahu and almost every one of them said to eat at Marugame Udan. We had passed this place a few times earlier on our trip and it had a line around the block each time. When we arrived right after it opened at 10 am, the line was just outside of the door.

We jumped into the line and were inside very quickly.

We were able to watch them hand make their noodles on site and cook them to order. Were they good? No, they were outstanding. Link worthy actually, so use it to get the best Udon noodles you have ever tasted.

You would think that when Cindy insisted on eating here, she would have had the Udon, but she did not. She had the tempura items.

And they were just as delicious as the Udon. This is an absolute must eat at place when in Waikiki. If you do not try Marugame Udon, you are missing out on a great meal. We walked back to our hotel, rested up, then got ready for our first-class sunset dinner cruise. We all got dressed up, and took an Uber to our dinner cruise.

When we were seated, there was a charcuterie board already at our table.

It was delicious. Here is the second best looking couple on the cruise.

And of course, the best looking couple on the cruise. We heard we were voted the best-looking couple because I wore my SpongeBob Hawaiian shirt.

The food was top notch. We had a steak and lobster combo that was really good. And the dessert bites were very good as well.

After dinner, it was time for the sunset.

After viewing the beautiful sunset, we went back to our table and watched the jazz pianist, singer, and flutist.

On our return to the harbor, this was our view of the city.

We had a blast on our cruise and it more than deserves a link. If you want a great dinner sunset cruise, or a whale watching cruise, check with the Star of Honolulu before anyone else. There is a link below.

Day 7

The day started off as another beautiful rain free day. We got up and while Todd did his usual 7–8 mile walk, Cindy and decided to walk to the point of Ala Moana Park, a place we could see from our lanai.

Our total walk would end up being about 3.5 miles, but we felt up to it. Along the way, we saw all of these people getting into canoe like boats and paddling out into the bay.

From the point of the park, we could see surfers, the ocean, and our hotel.

We even saw a Red Crested Cardinal.

On our walk back, we stopped at an outdoor restaurant area that had a fake wave with a surfboard. Of course, we had to take a few pictures.

Another thing we had come across many times and saw again were the crazy intersections. They were of the type where all the lights would cycle red and you could cross the streets in any direction. It made walking around easier, and the traffic a little slower.

Once back at the hotel, we all put our bathing suits on and headed to the pool. Once we were comfortable, it immediately clouded over and sprinkled lightly on and off for several hours.

The delicious bloody marys we drank made it easier to tolerate the weird weather. We had lunch at Tropics again and it was still really good. The girls returned to our room while Todd and I went to the Enterprise car rental place on the Hilton property to rent a car for the next day. The process was very fast and easy and all we had to do was show up to a certain floor of the parking structure the next day and pick up our car. Todd and I returned to our room and we all had some charcuterie and wine we had purchased at the Foodland Farms grocery store in the Ala Moana outdoor mall. Later that evening, we took an Uber to Uncle Bo’s Pupu Bar and Grill. We had several locals tell us we had to eat at Uncle Bo’s, so we did.

We started with Uncle Bo’s Big Nachos, which was wanton chips covered in ham, kalua pig, onions, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese. It was good, but not the best thing I have ever eaten.

This pretty much described the rest of the meal. It was good, just not great. So, there is no link for them. We returned to our hotel, had some desert at the Tropics Grill and called it a night.

Day 8

Day 8 was a Monday, the day we decided to rent a car and do a self-guided tour around the island. We arrived at the designated floor in the parking structure and there was a line to pick up cars. We were third in line, but unfortunately, there was only one person assigning the cars and it was a slow process. It took about 45 minutes to get our car. That really wasn’t too bad, but it seemed unnecessary since we had already booked and paid for the car. That cost them a link. Once we received our car, we were off to Leonard’s Bakery, famous for their malasadas, a Portuguese donut without a hole, and pao doce, a Portuguese sweet bread.

The malasadas were delicious. We did not try any of the pao doce, but they looked delicious as well. If you are looking for a great place to get some baked good and delicious malasadas, use the link below to get to Leonard’s Bakery. Our next stop was at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. This is a must stop when on Oahu. You must stop here not only to honor our brave soldiers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom, but also because it is a beautiful place to visit.

Here is how it is described on their website. “The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is in an extinct volcano near the center of Honolulu, Hawaii. On either side of the grand stairs leading to the memorial are eight courts of the missing on which are inscribed the names of the 18,095 American World War II missing from the Pacific, excluding those from the southwest Pacific, and 8,210 American missing from the Korean War. These names were listed on the Korean War Courts of the Missing at the time of the dedication in 1966. Two half courts have been added at the foot of the staircase that contain the names of 2,504 Americans missing from the Vietnam War. At the top of the stairs is a chapel flanked by galleries containing mosaic maps and descriptions of the achievements of the American armed forces in the central and south Pacific regions and in Korea.”

In case you didn’t do the math, there were originally 28,809 names of missing American soldiers from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. That is a sobering number. The good news is with today’s technology and DNA advancements, they are identifying unknown remains on a regular basis. Here is a wall with unknown soldiers who have been identified over time.

All of the dots are unknown remains that have been identified. Here is another interesting thing about the cemetery; it is full right now, but every time an unknown soldier is identified, the family is notified and if they chose to have the remains moved, that opens up a spot for one of the military personal on the waiting list to be buried there. And it happens quite often. Here are some pictures from the memorial.

Here are some pictures from the mosaics of the Vietnam and Korean wars.

Look at the detail that was placed into these mosaics. It was amazing.

Hands down, this is a must stop when on Oahu. Of course there is a link at the end of this post.

Our next stop was at the Ko Hana Distillery, in the center area of the island.

They distill rum from sugar cane that is grown on the island. At their distillery, they have rum tastings, so of course we had to try some. It was top notch rum and not only can we recommend their rum products, but we can also recommend a visit to this distillery via the link below. After our delicious rum adventure, we were off in search of lunch. We ended up at some roadside food trucks that fit the bill. Were they link worthy? Not even close, but their food was fine and it filled us up.

With stomachs full of average truck food, we were off to the North Shore Macadamia Nut Company.

Here you could get your own macadamia nuts and crack and eat them.

They were fresh and delicious. This is a recommended stop so there is a link at the end of this post. Almost across the street was Haleiwa Beach Park, a place we were thought we thought we may see some sea turtles. Even if there were no sea turtles, the view was pretty nice. Here is the view.

The views were amazing, and we eventually saw a sea turtle swimming near us.

We headed up the coast a bit and got to see some sea turtles sunning themselves on the beach.

As we headed back toward Honolulu, we stopped in the town of Haleiwa for some shopping and snacks. Our snack stop was at Matsumoto Shave Ice.

This is a very popular stop and there was a line that was halfway around the outside of the building.

Even though the line was long, it moved very fast because of how organized their system was. There were several menus on the way to the cashier and you were expected to know what you wanted when you reached the cashier. You ordered and paid there and walked by their shave ice “assembly line” where you could watch your treat being made.

At the end of the line, you were handed your shave ice and you left the store to eat it outside. Here I am with my tasty treat and Todd is admiring his behind me.

I don’t know if their shave ice is any better than anyone else’s, because it is basically ice with flavoring on it. Not a super hard or complicated thing to make. But the overall experience was fun, so they earned a link. Use it to try some for yourself. We made it back to our hotel just in time to see another sunset.

We got ready for dinner and headed off to the International Market Place again for dinner at Herringbone.

There were two interesting “puffer fish” trees by the entrance.

The food and service were outstanding. I had the fish special which was a grilled tuna steak on a bed of calamari and asparagus. It was off the chart great. Todd had a grilled fish dish as well and he loved it. Both Edie and Cindy had the lobster roll and once again their meals were a hit.

The Herringbone Restaurant was very link worthy. You know where to find it.

Day 9

After a great trip, it was time to pack it up and head home. We took our shuttle to the airport and after getting through security smoothly, we had lunch at the PGA Tour Grill. They had food with golf related names and the food was average at best. What do you expect at a restaurant in the terminal of an airport. Our flight was fine, but there were a few screaming children near us they were loud off and on. I had my earphones on and really wasn’t bothered by it. When we landed at LAX, it was raining. This was the first time I have ever boon on a plane that landed while it was raining. Luckily, everything when well. We took our shuttle back to the Parking Spot, and Todd drove us all home.

The next posts will cover Cindy and I traveling back to Missouri for a 3 1/2 month stay. Aloha until then!

LINKS

Diamond Head State Monument

Marugame Udan

Star of Honolulu

Leonard’s Bakery

National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

Ko Hana Distillery

North Shore Macadamia Nut Company

Matsumoto Shave Ice

Herringbone Restaurant

2022 Trip 3B – The Big Island of Hawaii, Days 5-8

This was the second half of our Hawaiian trip. So without further delay……..

Day 5

We scheduled an all day waterfall tour that picked us up first thing in the morning at our condo. We were the last to be picked up, so Cindy sat in the second row and I sat in the front next to the driver. Not an ideal situation, but we made the best of it. Our first stop was at Mauna Kea State Recreation Area for a bathroom break and to look at the snow tipped Mauna Kea Mountain. It was surreal to be in Hawaii, known for its beautiful beaches, and to see snow tipped mountains. Here are a few pictures of the mountain and our tour van.

Our next stop was at Kaumana Caves State Park, on the east side of the island near Hilo. Kaumana Caves aren’t really caves, they are a lava tube that was discovered when the road was built through the area. We got to hike down into the lava tube and it was well worth the time. Here we are going down into the lava tube.

And here we are inside the lava tube.

If you are interested in learning more about Kaumana Caves State Park, there is a link at the end of this post.

Our next stop was at the Wailuku River State Park to see Rainbow Falls. The falls are a merging of two rivers that created a beautiful waterfall that caused rainbows to form in the mist. The rainbows we saw were light and did not photograph well. There is a small rainbow in the below picture. If you see it, you can make a wish that will come true after you sent me $40.

And here are a few more pictures, sans the rainbows.

Check the link at the end of this post for more information about Wailuku River State Park and Rainbow Falls.

We were off and our next stop was for lunch, viewing a private waterfall, and a possible dip in the pond beneath the waterfall, at the Inn at Kulaniapia Falls. We had a decent box lunch of teriyaki chicken and rice on a balcony with a view of the river and falls.

After lunch, we hiked down to the pond at the based of the waterfall. Cindy was brave enough to go in. I was not.

After her refreshing dip, we walked back up to the main lodge to wait for the van. While we waited, we were watching the koi in the man made pond at the entrance. Cindy realized there was food on the rail and helped a few of our older tour companions feed the fish. Young or old, people just love to feed fish.

I have included a link at the end of this post to the Inn at Kulaniapia Falls. Before you book a room there, read the reviews. We found the place to be interesting, but off of the beaten path. If you want to visit, I would not stay for any more than 2 days unless you really want to get away and do very little.

Our next stop was at Akaka Falls State Park. There was a less than 1/2 mile round trip walk to see this over 400 foot water fall. It was really beautiful. Want to learn more? Check out the link at the end of this post.

Our final stop was to take a ride into the Waipio Valley, located on the northeast side of the island. We had visited the Waipio Valley lookout on Sunday, but did not go into the valley. On the drive to the valley, it rained so hard, it was hard to see the road a few times. Luckily for us, the rain stopped the second we arrived for our Waipio Valley tour. For this tour, we got into a very sketchy van that looked like it was in poor condition. Had we known how steep and poorly maintained the road into the valley was, we may not have gotten into the van. I tried to get a picture of the van without offending our driver, who was a local. I was not successful so there is no picture. But here is a picture looking through the front window going down the steep road.

The yellow “Falling Rock” sign on the left side of the picture is only about 20 feet down the road, yet the entire post is out of view. Once we safely reached the valley floor and could stop praying, we stopped for some wild horses that were pretty friendly. I was finally able to get a picture of our van. It is the white windowless van below.

We continued through the valley and son of a gun if the sketchy van didn’t drive through a river that was at least two feet deep.

We survived that too. Here are a few pictures from the coast and within the valley.

We drove back up the crazy road and returned to our much safer van. It turns out that 9 days later, the city closed the road due to….. “A recently released geotechnical assessment outlining the rockfall and landslide risks associated with traveling along Waipio Valley Road has led the County of Hawaii’s to close Waipio Valley Road to visitors until further notice.” Wow. There is a link to the Waipio Valley at the end of this post.

Our tour driver returned us to our condo. We cleaned up, went out for dinner at a local restaurant that was fine, but nothing special, and returned to our condo where we called it a day.

Day 6

How do you possibly top a day looking at beautiful waterfalls? How about touring a seahorse farm and breeding facility. And that is what we did. But first we had to stop for Cindy’s morning coffee. When she got her cup, we had to laugh at how badly they messed up her the name. It definitely was not CINDY.

So Sydney and I headed off for our Seahorse adventure.

Our tour started with viewing the tanks used to breed and grow the smaller seahorses.

Next, we saw the tanks they used to grow a type of seaweed they used to feed the seahorses and sold to other companies. Cindy tried it and said it tasted salty and a lot like the ocean. Not too surprising.

Next we actually got to have a seahorse hold on to our hands. Now that was really cool.

The tour ended with checking out some more seahorses in tanks.

Once the tour was over, we walked around the beach next to the seahorse farm.

If you are visiting the Big Island, the Seahorse Farm and tour is an absolute must visit. There is a link at the end of this post.

We headed south down the main road and ended up at St Benedict Catholic Church, also known as “the Painted Church.” This is a practicing church that is famous for all of its old paintings. From their website (link at the end of this post): “This present church was erected in 1899 by Father John Velghe. Without any professional training and using house paint on ordinary wood, he beautified the church with his paintings. In those days few Hawaiians could read and so he taught with pictures-most successfully. ” Here are some pictures of the grounds.

And here is the inside.

This was an interesting and enjoyable stop. We highly recommend it when on the big island.

Our next stop was at the Bay View Farm for some shopping and coffee. They had a nice view from their patio.

We drove on the road closest to the coastline and really enjoyed the views. We passed Magic Sands Beach, and I had to stop. First off, the sand was not magic and was actually pretty plain. And it seemed like there were more lava rocks than sand. The beach was only OK, but it was still Hawaii.

After a full day, we were pretty worn out. We stopped at the local market and got some premade food, and headed back to the condo.

Day 7

This was our day to visit Volcanos National Park, near the south side of the island. Instead of taking the shorter route through the center of the island, we decided to take the scenic drive along the coast and around the southern tip of the island. Our first stop was at the southernmost bakery in the United States, Punalu’u Bake Shop.

We had three jelly donuts and a piece of bread pudding. The donuts were fine, but nothing special. The bread pudding was pretty darn good.

For those interested, there is a link at the end of this post.

Our next stop was Punalu’u Beach, known for its famous black sand beach and supposedly the fact giant sea turtles have been known to sun bathe at this beach. Look at this beautiful beach and jet black sand.

But what would be the odds of seeing any giant sea turtles? 100%.

Now that was well worth the stop! There is a link to this beach at the end of this post.

We continued on to the Volcanos National Park (link at the end of this post). Our first stop was to see Mt. Kilauea’s caldera. Even though there is no active eruption, the caldera still is quite active with smoke and steam. Many people told us if you go at night, you can still see some lava. We decided to keep to daytime viewing.

Next we saw some steam vents near the caldera.

We walked along a few of the walking trails, and the views were really nice.

At one overlook, we could see the volcano monitoring equipment.

Our last stop was at the Nahuku – Thurston Lava Tube. This is a really well maintained, and lit, lava tube that involves a short 1.5 mile hike. It is around 500 years old, and well worth the stop and hike. And guess what, there is a link at the end of this post.

After our lava tube hike, it was after 1:30 PM and we were getting very hungry. We headed off to grab some lunch at the historic Kilauea Lodge and Restaurant. The lodge was built in1938, has rooms available, and the restaurant is highly rated. Here is the entrance, grounds, and a plaque.

The lobby is home to the famous “International Fireplace of Friendship,” whatever the heck that means.

After checking out the fireplace, we walked over to the restaurant that closed at 2 PM. It was now 2 PM. And we were getting very hungry. So we quickly drove down the street to the Eagles Lighthouse Cafe. It was very good local food.

Our second to last stop on this adventure was at the Volcano Winery. We stopped in to do some wine tasting.

The wines were average at best, but they had a mead that was very good. It was a fun stop we can recommend for both wine lovers and non-wine lovers. If you attend AA, pass on this stop. There is a link to the winery’s website at the end of this post.

On the way back to our condo, we stopped for dinner at the Seafood Bar and Grill. Once again, a nice meal at a fun place.

Day 8

After a week in paradise, it was time to return home to California. Since our flight left later in the day, we started with some shopping at the Kona Farmer’s Market. We always love walking around different farmer’s markets, and this was enjoyable as well. Our last lunch on the island was at the Pine Tree Cafe, where we were able to eat on the patio overlooking the ocean. Check out these views.

After a delicious lunch, it was off to the airport. Our airport terminal was outdoors. Check this out.

Only in Hawaii.

Before I end this post, here is some information we learned about lava. There are two distinct looks with lava. The smooth, billowy looking lava, and the rough, jagged looking lava. They are each created by different conditions. When the lava is very slow moving, it dries as it moves and is called Pahoehoe. It looks like this.

The fast moving lava flows create a jagged type of lava called A’a. It looks like this.

There are two additional interesting types of lava we learned about. One is called Pele’s Hair, which are long glassy strands of lava created when thin amounts of lava are ejected from an eruption and spread thin by the wind.

The other is a Volcanic Bomb, a hard rock created when a blob of lava is ejected from an eruption and dries and hardens before it hits the ground.

Our last lesson I still cannot understand. There are five, yes five, oil refinery facilities that refine oil into gasoline in Southern California, an hour or less drive from our house in California. So follow this interesting trail. Freshly made gasoline can be made in California and get put on two tankers. One tanker drives one hour and puts the gas into the underground holding tanks at my corner gas station where I can put it into my car. Here are the prices for that gas.

The second tanker is placed on a ship where it sails several days across the Pacific Ocean and then gets placed into the underground storage tanks for tourists like me to put into our rental cars. Her are the prices for that gas.

So the gas that only takes an hour to ship to my house is more expensive than the gas that gets shipped across the ocean to an island? Crazy is all I can say.

Enough learning for one post. We arrived home safe and sound just after midnight and got some much needed rest.

Our next trip is 6 weeks at our Missouri house. This trip we are taking the dog, so that should be interesting. See ya then!

LINKS

Kaumana Caves State Park

Wailuku River State Park

Inn at Kulaniapia Falls

Akaka Falls State Park