Well, we started out our vacation by arriving to Honolulu an hour later than scheduled because of weather. We had an hour to drive to our hotel, so we were really wishing we would have booked a hotel in Honolulu the first night! We were pretty tired. But that morning I woke up bright and early at 6am (because it was 8am Oregon time) and watched the sunrise! That might just be the first in my life! :) J/k. I am not an early riser- so sunrises are usually pretty low on my priority list. But- I was glad we saw it! The wind was blowing pretty hard, so I had a hard time wanting to go in the water like we had planned. I also had no sunscreen, and seeing those pictures of me, you know how that could practically be a death sentence. That first day I was in my sweatshirt and jeans most of the day, and just walking small distances from the car to a building was already burning my face. We decided to go to the Dole Plantation for something to do, and on the way down stopped at Ted's Bakery. They had good sandwiches!
The Dole Plantation was not at all what I expected. I thought we were going to get a tour of where the can pineapple or something- but we entered a cute little gift shop, and then rode the train through the farm and learned a few things about Mr. Dole and pineapples! It was pretty fun. There were other things to do as well, but that's all we did. We did purchase a couple pineapple cones- those were good! and I got a bracelet with my name engraved in Hawaiian.
On Tuesday we drove down to Waikiki. We didn't have a plan of what we were going to do- so we did a little shopping, had lunch, then decided to hike Diamond Head. That was a lot of fun- it made me want to do more hiking and walking dates here! After we finished that, we decided we should go to the beach. The parking there is pretty non existent, so Jared was trying to persuade me to walk a couple of miles from where we could park. I somehow persuaded him to drive down to the beach where I saw parking, just to see if we could get lucky- and what do you know- we got the last parking spot on the curb next to the beach!! Wow!! So- we walked along the beach, then went and walked down the strip, bought a couple T-shirts- then ate at The Cheesecake Factory. They have really good food! It also happened to be Jared's birthday, so we had dessert there as well. We loved it! I think the closest one to us now is up in Portland.
On Wednesday we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. I really liked it. So many things to learn, and so little time! My favorites were the River Raft Show- (even though it rained on us through about half of it) and learning about Samoa. Jared's favorite was New Zealand. We didn't have time to watch all the shows- and it was time to go to the Luau. We sat with a couple from New York- who had been to all the islands, and were evacuated to the top of a hotel room during the Tsunami (yikes!) and two other couples from California. I was brave and tried new food- and found I didn't really like it. But- I was proud of myself for attempting it. After the Luau, we went to the show HA- Breath of Life. It was a good show- but a bit too long for me. I did like watching the fire dancers at the end. That was a long day!
Thursday we took a walk along the beach by our hotel, then went swimming in the pool. I was ready to attempt snorkeling, but they wouldn't rent us snorkeling gear because of the surf. So- this was our biggest lay back day. The nicest thing about Hawaii was having no set times to be anywhere, and no children! I missed them- but didn't worry too much about them, because I knew they were in good hands! Thanks Sharon and Michelle! My mother-in-law and sister-in-law flew in to watch our brood while we were gone.
Friday we drove to our friend Joseph & Crystal Nielsen's house. Jared and I went to High School with Joseph. He took us snorkeling in the ocean near his home, but I couldn't do it. I was hyperventalating- and couldn't calm myself down. So Jared went. I stayed on the beach. I did manage to see a few tropical fish, though! Afterwards, they fed us dinner! They were such gracious hosts, and we really appreciated their hospitality!
Saturday was our last full day in Hawaii. We did manage to snorkel in the shallow bay next to our hotel, and I did much better. Knowing I was in shallow water and not out in the open ocean probably helped a great deal! I got to see lots of cool fish- two or three I recognized from Finding Nemo! I really wanted to see a sea turtle- and someone said one was out there, but I got so cold out there, I had to go back in. About 5 minutes after I got out and warmed up, Jared found the Sea Turtle. I knew this was my only chance, so I got back in my snorkel gear, and went out there. That sea turtle was HUGE!!! It was amazing to see it, just hanging out at the bottom of the Bay. I thought I could try and do more, but I was shivering SO BAD, I just had to go back to the beach. I had a lot of fun, though! My only regret was that I let the wind stop me from going snorkeling every day! We spent the rest of the day at Waikiki Beach again. We didn't get as good a parking spot, but the walking was good for me. We almost decided to eat at Planet Hollywood, but decided to eat at The Cheesecake Factory AGAIN. :) I tried the Mahi Mahi- which I have never had before, because I generally don't like fish or seafood of any kind. I liked it- but for the price, if I had to choose, I'd just go for the chicken! Then, we walked the Beach all the way back, and watched the sunset. It was nice. We decided to go to the airport early, and it was a good thing because we got lost. We ended up getting to the airport on time, though.
The night before, I checked to see where our seats were, and it gave you an option to try and change seats. I tried to change Jared's seat from an isle to a window, but nothing seemed to happen- so I figured it was no big deal and just closed it. We stayed up late that night and Jared checked us in online and printed out the tickets. But the tickets said we had no assigned seats and to talk to someone at the airport. I thought I had screwed something up by trying to switch seats! But it turned out that everyone on the flight had to get a seat because they switched planes or something. We did get that window seat- but no sleep was found. the flight left at 1:15am Oregon time, and arrived at 6:30am. We got to see the sunrise- but since we didn't sleep from the time we saw the sun set in Hawaii, it just seemed to me like one VERY long day!
One other funny thing: while waiting to board the plane home, we ended up sitting next to a couple that had our same last name! (no relation) But it was funny because they were calling up last names of people, so when they called up "Brewer" both Jared and the other guy went up. It was for us, but there was a little confusion when they saw there were two Brewer families on that flight!
All in all, our 10th Anniversary Trip to Hawaii was awesome! It was so nice to spend alone time with my husband, and be able to see all the beautiful sights there. I loved seeing the crystal blue oceans, and snorkeling of course! and everything else there! It made me want to just move there! Being in a place where its about 85 degrees year-round is definitely a place I could deal with, as long as I had sunscreen! ;) It's sad that I can't plan a trip for next year.... although next time, we'll probably take the kids!
