2021 – Oahu, HI

We started out on a sad note (for us). We had to drop Frankie off at the sitter for 12 days. He seems thrilled though. Then it was off to Charlotte for a long layover (part planned, part delay). Hope to get into Honolulu around 6pm tonight! [Update] We arrived around 6:15 pm and got to the hotel around 8:30pm. At that point we had been up for about 24 hours so we hit the sack. Flight was great but really didn’t sleep much.
Day 1 – Of course we were up at 4:30 am so we watched the sun come up and had some Starbucks to get going. Our view is just amazing. This hotel complex is huge and has so much to see. More pictures and updates later.
Day 2 – We spent most of the day today at Pearl Harbor. This is something every American should experience. It was truly moving and amazing. We spent the rest of the day at the resort watching some football and having some beverages (watching late games at 3 in the afternoon is awesome).
Day 3 (Part 1) – We started by walking over to IHOP for a $50 breakfast for two. Still can’t get used to these prices. Our next stop was the Lyon Arboretum. We walked quite a ways uphill to a less than spectacular waterfall but the entire area was a beautiful jungle. Very much worth it.
Day 3 (Part 2) – After getting our 10k steps in before 11am, we drove to the eastern coast of Oahu and stopped at some of the overlooks. The size of the waves and the ocean colors are mesmerizing.
Day 4 (Part 1) – This was our view at breakfast today. We both felt this deserved its own entry.
Day 4 (Part 2) – We started the day off by going to the Dole Plantation. It was very pretty and we did the maze (extremely large) and the gardens. We also had a Dole Whip (pineapple flavored ice cream). The best part —- we didn’t see one single pineapple during the entire visit. We also explored more of the north coast.
Here is a quick Frankie update. He seems to be having a great time with Google. He may not want to come home.
Day 5 – We drove all the way to the north end of Oahu to the Kualoa Ranch. It is massive and nestled between the mountains and the ocean. We went on a 2-hour ATV tour and saw many areas where films such as Jurassic Park and Jumanji were filmed. Extremely fun!

Day 6 – Nothing to see here. We enjoyed the view, relaxed, and watched Tampa Bay win again. It’s fun living in a city with a good NFL team!

Day 7 – We had intentions of hiking Diamond Head today. After breakfast we drove over but the parking lot was already full and they turned us away. We drove the coastline instead and saw some more beautiful coastline views. We relaxed at the resort a bit and then did an escape room! It was very well done and hard but we got out with 1:03 to spare. We then went to Roy’s for some really good seafood!
Day 8 – Well, I finally gave in. Siga kept bugging me to go on the submarine that launched near our hotel so I finally agreed. We rode a boat out about a mile to the sub and tied up to it. About 40 people got off and 40 more of us got on for a 45 minute cruise down to 110 feet. Quote from Siga “Never ever again!”
For all the non-believers out there, this is the sub we were on diving with the next batch of suckers —- I mean tourists.
Day 9 – Today was a chill day. We enjoyed the views and the resort, had a great last dinner in Honolulu, and saw the sunset. We’re going to miss our 20th floor view of the ocean but it will be great to get back to our backyard oasis and Frankie!
Lighting of the torches. This poor guy has to do this every night at sunset. We figure he must be the new guy.

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