We arrived in Waikiki in the late afternoon on Tuesday, March 20, and checked into the Resortquest Waikiki Circle hotel.
This hotel, built in 1962, is right across from some great surfing breaks (Queen's and Canoes). Our room was on the twelfth floor (two down from the top). In the morning I'd take the elevator down, pick up my board from the lockers (borrowed from Internet buddy Nords), walk across the street, and paddle out. Here's a shot of the hotel from the beach:
We had an oceanfront room. I could watch the surfing, and count the surfers before going out. For example, in this photo the Queen's break (just to the right of center) has about 18 surfers. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, I surfed it with only 6 other surfers. On a crowded day there would be about 25. The larger Canoes break (on the right) could have over 100 surfers on it.
That's Lena about 30 feet out from the shore with her two arms up.
Here are three photos stitched together:
And here's Lena checking out the view:
Lena would relax on the lanai (balcony) while I surfed, reading the paper, practicing her choir pieces, or knitting. The air temperature was usually about 82 degrees during the day, 70 at night.
And here's the beach itself, with Diamondhead in the background, and the hotel at the left.
Most of the sunsets looked like this. On Saturday and Sunday, there were movies on a screen set up on the beach.
Here are some shots from a trip up the east coast of Oahu. This is Hanauma bay, a popular snorkeling destination. We snorkeled there later in the trip.
These next two photos show Sandy Beach, where we stopped and I body surfed for a while. The guide book says that this is the most dangerous beach on the island, since the waves have a tendency to pick you up and drop you on the sand.
We'd usually have a few 5 minute rain showers during the day, and you can see the wet streets here:
"Shave Ice" is a lot like a snow cone, but since the ice is shaved very thinly, it's a bit more sophisticated. Here I am dropping much of mine on the sidewalk.
Twice we had a Ramen bowl and sushi at this restaurant down the street. We also had some authentic Hawaiian food at Ono's and several other interesting restaurants.
On Saturday we drove up the center of the island to the North Shore, which is more deserted. Here are two typical beaches. The different hues of blue don't come across in the photographs.
This one was part of a campground.
On Sunday we met up with my Early Retirement Forum buddy, "Nords," and his daughter, and surfed at his favorite beach: "White Plains." One of the highlights occurred when all three of us caught the same wave, and surfed in together.
He's holding the 9 foot board that he lent me, and I'm holding a 10 foot rental.
We had a picnic afterwards:
Once (OK, twice) we picked up a McDonald's breakfast (I had Spam, Eggs, and rice) and ate it on the beach before sunrise.
On Monday we left the rental car at the hotel and walked about five miles to Don Ho's restaurant in Honolulu. We passed the Ala Moana beach park, a typical Oahu park with palm trees and short grass:
Here we are at the restaurant, having a Pina Colada.
On our last day, Tuesday, we had a Dim Sum lunch down the street from our hotel. Lena's holding my arm so that I won't eat more barbecued pork buns than she.
Our Tuesday red-eye flight back to the mainland went smoothly, and on the plane from San Francisco to home, there were only three passengers total! -