The Accidental Tourists: Honolulu Day 1

We were both able to sleep on the plane from Fiji, which was nice. We took off from Fiji at 10:50pm on Sunday the 25^th and woke up in the air over Hawaii at 6:45am on Sunday, the 25^th. Yeah, you can see how we got confused when we booked it! Anyway, we watched the sun rise from the plane, and at 7:15 we descended into Honolulu and cleared customs with only a small snag (Gretchen was selected for further screening – I mean, she is intimidating, so…). We hurried to the American Airlines counter to check our bags through to LA so we could get to Waikiki and enjoy the typically perfect Hawaiian day. We were chagrined to learn that the Fiji ticket agent didn’t book us on a trip from Honolulu to LA, but rather on one from LA to Honolulu. Long, boring story, but what it meant was that it was go time again for Gretchen, who buzzed around the airport doing her best to get us on the standby list for the afternoon flight to LA.

After some finagling, we made it onto the standby list, but the ticket agents leveled with us and told us we had basically no chance of getting on the flight since it was already overbooked, everyone had shown up for the flight, it was the end of a holiday weekend, and they had to pay some people to be bumped to tomorrow’s flight. A grim outlook indeed. We decided to wait to be thorough, but sure enough, the plane took off at 2:00 without us, so we made a reservation for the cheapest hotel we could find and grabbed a cab to Waikiki Beach. Even though we didn’t make the flight, our luggage did, so we were traveling light.

The weather was, as always, sunny, low 80s, gentle breeze. Man, I love Hawaii!

We checked into the Maile Sky Court hotel right on Kuhio Ave at the western edge of Waikiki, and immediately headed out to explore. Gretchen had only spent a day and a half in Waikiki, and I had been here for more than a week on two separate occasions before today, so this was an unusual situation in that I was the experienced one. I led us to the public beach park right on Kalakaua Ave, where we dipped our toes in the ocean. Refreshing and so, so clear. We grabbed a quick lunch and went shopping. At a favorite shop, I got a new t-shirt to wear tomorrow (the one I had on was rather suspect to start with, since I haven’t done laundry since Christchurch NZ) and another pair of Hawaii sleep/beach shorts. Gretchen got a t-shirt too, and we both got Hawaiian Christmas ornaments. At this point, we’d decided to stop fighting it. Hey, at least it’s after Thanksgiving!

After shopping, we headed to another one of my favorite spots, Duke’s Barefoot Bar, where we discovered that a good cover band was playing right on the sand outside the bar. We kicked off our shoes and settled down on the beach to listen and to lounge. A few feet from us, a couple was practicing what appeared to be cheerleading lifts. No one was photographing them or anything, they were just doing it. Strange, especially since the guy was easily 20 years older than the girl. We never figured it out, but they were entertaining to watch. I took a nap on the sand at one point, which was perfect. The weather was, as always, sunny, low 80s, gentle breeze. Man, I love Hawaii!

At 5:00 the sun started to set, so I suggested we head back to the public park to see the free hula show that happens every night. We copped a good spot right on the grass and watched them set up, at least until we were distracted by yet another perfect Hawaii sunset. The usual birds were squawking in the usual banyan tree, the usual tourists were watching the usual sunset in the usual weather. What I am saying is that it was awesome. Seriously, everyone, we are so fortunate – our travel snafu got us an evening in Waikiki paradise. This trip is full of surprises.

The hula show started at 6:30, by which time the crowd was huge, and it was even more awesome than usual because this day was kids’ day – so all the little girls who are learning traditional Hawaiian dance were there as well as the grown-up dancers. You guys, maybe it is touristy, but I love the hula show. I see it literally every night I am in Waikiki because it is so Hawaii, because the music is wonderful, because the dancing is so graceful, and, of course, because it is free. All of the songs are about either (a) how beautiful Hawaii is or (b) how easy it is to fall in love in Hawaii, both of which are points I agree wholeheartedly with, so I can follow along. The performers (which included a man, his wife, and two of their daughters, one of whom sang and one of whom danced and could not be any prettier if she thought about it for a year) are friendly and enthusiastic, and it is so much fun to watch them. The dad even got into the act, doing his own solo hula dance about a boy who lives on the Big Island. I was thrilled to get to see the hula show, and Gretchen enjoyed it too. And, because it is Hawaii, there were no mosquitoes biting us like there were in Fiji. Oh, Hawaii! You’ve done it again.

After the hula show, we headed off to another one of my Hawaii favorites, the Banyan Court beach bar at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider hotel. You know, a friend of mine told me recently that I have too many favorites, as if I really have to choose just one favorite. He doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Just look at Hawaii! Anyway, the Banyan Court is a beautiful open-air courtyard with delicious food and drinks and even more live hula music. We relaxed in the courtyard and listened to the hula band, which included a lady playing an electric ukelele. Afterward, we walked back to the Maile Sky Court and booked a flight from LA to DC. I will not ruin it for you, but suffice it to say our adventures are not over yet. It is going to be impossible to go back to work after this. This trip is the greatest thing that has ever happened. I challenge anyone out there to equal this trip’s scope in 3 weeks.