Beach Life on Oahu

Obviously you can't go to Hawaii without going to the beach, and it was on the top of my list.  I'm pretty sure Joe and I made it to one every day of our stay.  We even got up early to have time to do breakfast beach side, set up our hammock between the palm trees for some reading, swim, and scuttle our butts back to the hotel to shower before our noon check out.

I love the ocean.  And I'm sure everybody says that, but I can't wait to live by an ocean.  Growing up my grandma lived a house in Connecticut and rented a house Massachusetts- both within a couple hundred steps of the water.  Actually she could tell you off the top of her head the number of stair steps down to the ocean from her house in Massachusetts.  She grew up there too, and my grandfather's side has been living in Marblehead since before America started fighting for independence.  I'm pretty sure that love for the ocean is just in my blood. The smell, the sound, it all just makes me the happiest lady you ever did see.

Because I want to be at the ocean as soon as physically possible we tried out a couple options for having breakfast on the ocean.  The best was eating at Hula Grill in Waikiki.  Tables are right outside on a second floor porch overlooking the beach.  And it was very conveniently located across the street from our hotel (the Princess Kaiulani Sheraton).

 mmmmm, coffee.

The pictures aren't fantastic because they're from my phone (sorry), but that's the view from where we sat.  And you can tell the food was good because I forgot to take pictures until I was more than halfway finished.

I had a Benedict Caprese- that's a poached egg, macadamia nut pesto hollandaise, spinach, and tomato over an English muffin- plus breakfast potatoes.  It was amazing.

Joe opted for the Fried Rice Fo' Days-  two eggs, kalua pork, smoked bacon, and kukui portuguese sausage.  It was all gone except this itty bitty bite by the time I got to taking pictures, so it's safe to says he loved it.

Each meal was just over $10.  It was also a pretty good amount of food, you just can't tell because we ate everything first.  I also very highly recommend the croissant french toast with strawberries and bacon creme.  It's freaking delicious and basically everything you could want if you're hankering for a sweeter breakfast.

Before we left I got up to get the full view from the prime seating next to the banister to give you guys a proper representation:

Not too shabby.

The other decent breakfast option is getting take out from Eggs 'n Things (way faster than the line to eat in), and eating it at the picnic tables on the beach that are right across the street.

Our closest beach was Waikiki Beach, so we spent most of our time there.

You can't tell, but Joe is one of those tiny bobbing heads.  The thing I liked about Waikiki Beach was that there are areas that have rocks to break the currents for kids and less brave souls to swim without getting side swiped by a big wave.  And then there are pasts without anything blocking you where I could float in the big waves with less people around.

Less being relative, because there are thousands of other people staying right by this beach too.

The other nice thing is that you're super close to all of the other amenities too.  There's beach chairs, umbrellas, and floats for rent if you're looking or one. There's Duke's Bar (just underneath Hula Grill) if you're looking for a beverage or some food.  And there's ABC stores literally everywhere for anything else you may want.

In an ambitious venture one day Joe and I thought we'd hunt out a less crowded beach.  We were headed for the Ala Moana Beach, but ended up at Fort Derussy Beach Park on our way there are figured that was good enough for us.  They have a large grassy area where couples lounged around on blankets and one huge family were grilling.   They also had sand volley ball courts for those more action oriented than myself.

As I explained on the hiking post, Joe was obsessed with the trees here, so you are blessed with another few tree pictures here too.

We parked ourselves in the grass for a little bit to try and catch just a bit of shade.  I had a fruit-by-the-foot that kept hitting Joe, so he got inspired to try and catch an artsy picture.

And once we cooled down from our walk we hit the sand.  It's a skinny beach (or maybe we were just there for high tide), but I think it was a little less busy that Waikiki.  Plus if you were going to grill out if would be perfect.

You can't really tell by the picture above, but they had these paddle-boats that were kind of like a four wheeled water bike/tractor.  Very strange.

On another day we made a very failed attempt at finding hikes on other parts of the island.  But we did manage to explore the other side of the island in a big loop on just one bus fare apiece and had a pretty fantastic adventure in the process.  Long story short, google maps and I are still working on our communication issues.

We took Thebus from Waikiki to Honolulu and then through the mountains to Kailua, a much more residential area on the wind ward side of the island.  The bus ride itself was so exciting.  I'm sure it's tremendously touristy sounding to someone from there, but it is an absolutely beautiful drive through the mountain jungles.

If you find yourself in Kailua you MUST eat at Moke's Bread and Breakfast.  It's fantastic diner-style breakfast food in a wide open restaurant with outdoor seating.  We were so starving by the time we got there I ordered a breakfast special (2 eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast) plus a side of french toast and an apple cinnamon muffin to go.  The very large man next to us looked very surprised when our food arrived and quite impressed once I finished the whole thing.  It was literally the perfect breakfast.

From there we planned on doing this ambitious two hour hike that was unfortunately going to be quite the challenge to get to and from.  While waiting for a bus from breakfast closer to the hike we got forced into conversation with an abrasive, angry homeless man.  For the record, it's not that we have anything against talking with homeless people.  We are not arrogant enough to be thinking that we are above talking to them.  We both professionally work with homeless population, and do our best to offer them kindness and respect as we have no money to offer.  This man in particular was bent on calling Joe an endless string of profanities and trying to convince me that I oughtn't be with someone like him.  It didn't take long for us to decide to walk instead.

What I didn't realize was that because Kailua is so much more residential it was a serious challenge to hunt down a public entrance to the beach.  But we got there!  And just look at how beautiful (and empty) it was:

It's like a freaking postcard.   The water seemed a lot calmer on this side too.  We didn't get in because we didn't want to be salty and sandy for the rest of the day and unlike our touristy beach in Waikiki they don't have public showers to rinse off.

We decided that after this walk had taken much longer than we anticipated, and it was quite a long way yet just to get to the hike, that we'd skip it and head to our next plan- a hike up to a lighthouse on the south side of Oahu.

The bus we took for unexplained reasons wasn't going to whole way, so it dropped up off in the middle of a neighborhood where another bus would come along in 20 minutes.  We settled ourselves in a patch of shade and took in the crazy views.  Like the rest of this gorgeous island, the ocean was juxtaposed with huge, magnificent mountains.

Another bud picked us up and dropped us off at the Sea Life Park- supposedly where we could walk up to the lighthouse.  When we asked a woman at the Sea Life Park entrance how to get there, she balked that we hadn't driven.  Not a good sign.  We were supposed to talk past two parking lots before we got to the entrance.  We crossed the road where there was look out point and tried to see if we could see the hiking path (or parking lots for that matter).  That tiny dot sticking off that rock face?  That's the lighthouse.

We decided after a long hot day of walking and hunting we had no idea what the heck we were doing and might as well hit the bus back towards Waikiki.  Our proposed final stop at Hanauma Bay was on the way, so if it looked worth jumping out for a swim, we could do so.

Thank god we didn't try to find that hike.  Not only was it a mile up the road, but the hike itself was a huge asphalt incline and at 2 in the afternoon with wide open skies there was no way we were up for that.  The ride along the coast was beautiful, but the air conditioning on that bus may have been even more so.  Not surprisingly, we reached Hanauma Bay and decided to take our little butts back home.

Since our bags were still packed we scooted back to our Waikiki Beach and scoped out a spot to hang up the hammock to rest our tired legs.  We read a little in our books and relaxed as the sun set.

I have to say, it was one of the most stunning sunsets I have ever seen.

Mahalo for reading!



If you've been to Oahu and have other beaches you loved please leave comments to fill in other readers on places to try!

Hiking the Wa'ahila Ridge

I am very blessed to have come from a family that loves traveling.  My brother was even named after the patron saint of travelers (Christopher, to save you the googling), and was born in Germany so he's literally been traveling his entire life.  He's got a passport from when he was an infant that would make nearly anyone jealous.  My dad traveled a lot for business when we were little, and his stories, post cards, and foreign dolls and trinkets always filled me with a passionate curiosity about how large and strange the world is.  My parents often say that traveling is one of the best investments you can make because you will always have those memories.  

When we travel, my dad diligently plans how we get there and where we stay, but beyond that it's almost always left in the air.  Perhaps one or two specific events we want to attend, or a couple of things we would like to cross off the list during our stay, but nothing is ever set in stone.  It's a process of waking up, getting some breakfast, and saying, "so what do we want to do today?".  It changes based on the weather, our energy level, or planning around meals so there's little point to planning ahead.  And the vast majority of the time the things we've loved the most have been a spur of the moment decision.

While some people travel with plans for guided tours, activities, and schedules down to the minute, that is not a way that I have ever traveled.  When we were on a Mediterranean cruise we opted only once to do a planned excursion.  This special case was because this trip would take us to the isle of Capri, the site of my parents' honeymoon.  And we were celebrating their 20th anniversary so it was a necessary pit stop.  I would venture to say we lasted maybe 40 minutes on the tour before asking our guide where we could meet them to get the boat back at the end of the day.  We roamed tiny cobbled streets looking at beautiful gardens and the ocean beyond before our very hungry selves stumbled upon a restaurant on a hill.   As I've mentioned before, I was an extremely picky child.  I basically at nothing but noodles and bread until I was in college.  And at this restaurant I found a lemon and cream linguine that was the best thing I had ever tasted.  My mom still brings up how enamored I was with it.  And it was delicious- light and creamy and citrusy.  Plus eating in an Italian restaurant that opens right up to the street on a tiny hill on an island in the Mediterranean is about as perfect as it gets in my book.  And I can tell you right now, there's no way you can plan that kind of day.

So it's probably because of the way I grew up, but I love to travel by the seat of my pants.  I will most definitely pack water, snacks, sunscreen, and a hammock in my bag (I mean, I was a girl scout once upon a time) but from when we leave that hotel room we could do anything.  

When we left for Hawaii I had three items on my list of things to do:

1.  Swim in the ocean.

2.  Drink a daiquiri on the beach.

3.  Take a hike in the mountains.

Preferably more than once.

After some diligent Internet research in the hotel lobby, we found a hike that wouldn't take long, was nearby, and was easily accessible by public transportation.  In other words, perfect.

We set out to walk to the bus stop that would take us up to the hike.  We had about 40 extra minutes before the bus would come, which we figured was plenty of time to find a place to eat on the way.

 a canal along our walk

If I haven't mentioned before, Joe also studied biology in undergrad and is a total science nerd with me. He had me stop to look at and take pictures of many a cool looking tree on our trip, and this is just the first.

 our view of Diamond Head from our walk

So in a very lucky turn of events we came across this establishment not too far from our bus stop.  Rainbow Drive-In specializes in plate lunches.  That's basically a dream come true for a Rochester, NY girl like myself.

For those not from Rochester, one of our famous foods is a Garbage Plate- mac salad, home fries, two meats (I go with cheeseburgers), all smothered in your condiments and covered with meat sauce if you know what's good for you.  If I'm lucky I'll get one next time I'm home and share it with all you supportive fans.

In any case, Rainbow Drive-In offers a more Hawaiian variety, obviously.  From what I gathered it's usually rice and mac salad for your base, and then whatever your entree of choice is.  They offer food and sandwiches, but I always feel like I should go for what they do best or accept the consequences.

Joe and I opted to split a Loco Moco Plate.  That's a burger patty, gravy, and three scrambled eggs on top.  And given my love for gravy, I was pretty pleased with my choice.

Unfortunately for us, by the time we ordered a half hour had already passed, and I was convinced we should try to make the bus if we could.  This one only came once an hour, so if we missed it we'd have some serious time to kill.   So we ran our butts to the bus stop and scarfed down our delicious lunch as we anxiously awaited our ride.

Thankfully, it came a few minutes after we finished our delicious lunch, and we were on our way!  This bus ride was insane.  It wove its way up a small residential neighborhood stationed what I thought was rather precariously on the side of a mountain ridge.  Kind of like riding a donkey up the side of Santorini, except your in a big public bus.  So strange and a little frightening.  I mean not to our fellow riders who were running errands for dog food and coming home from work, but to us at least.  But check out these views!

 nbd, that's just Honolulu and the ocean way below us.

We took the bus all the way to the top of the neighborhood and got out to see THIS.

Just the inside of Diamond Head, is all.  And gosh, do I love the ocean.  Plus we even made it to the right place.  Underneath that cute li'l man sign it just says park on a plank of wood.  So we're not even lost!

But we were just totally in the middle of a neighborhood.  I particularly liked this overgrown little lot:

Joe started sun burning basically everywhere (he's more Irish than me) so I got him this hat for his birthday.  Neither of us wanted anything reminiscent of a fedora, but this seemed sufficiently Amish to match the beard.

And we're there!

seriously breathtaking. 

And as if I'm training to be an annoying mom with a camera, I couldn't help but take some photo-ops with the sign.

Joe and I can't pick which is funniest, so I suppose it can't hurt to post them all.

 So we started the trek down the road into the park a little concerned that the hike was  a road.  Even if it had been, take a look at those trees!  So amazingly tall.

 cool trees #2

Some of the trees had leaves that were these little wispies that covered everything.

 cool trees #3

And then there's weird fern trees that grow in layers?

 cool trees #4

Plus the regular looking evergreen trees have rounds of bumps.  And again, they are SO TALL.

 cool trees #5

About this time after marveling at trees all the way in, we hit the parking area with some covered picnic tables and benches and a building.  And then I saw this.  A FERAL CHICKEN!

And then I realized it was not just one loose chicken but a whole flock of chickens!

I will admit it, I chased the chickens.   Seriously, how often do you come across a flock of wild chickens?!  I couldn't help it.  They're fine, don't worry.  But I still have no idea why the park has chickens to begin with.

Before we even hiked anywhere, this place has beautiful views.

Even my cool-as-a-cucumber was totally geeking out already.  Check out that cheesin' grin!

So we started up!

 Joe really likes when a tree gets cut down and then grows out of it's own stump.  Something like the nature version of sticking it to the man.

I like the views with a peek of ocean best.

The hike itself was not particularly challenging at this point, just a long, wide, walk up.

Plus, the trees changed and we got these skinny trees that reminded me of itty bitty birches.  For the record, I have no training in trees.  But they're pretty!

cool trees #6 

And this is so I can show I was actually here in a photo album I'll never actually put together.

As we went on our walk got skinnier and skinnier.

And the fact that it's called a ridge for a reason clicks in your head.  It doesn't help that the ground is covered in those pine tree wispies from earlier.

Meanwhile, Joe thought this moss was really cool too.

And then because it's a ridge and not just a mountain you get to the top of you get to descend these wispies.

Joe's still excited by nature, so he distracted me with how cool this is.  I really have no idea why something that looks like this is formed in a tree, but it is really neat to look at.

 cool trees #7

The benefit of hiking all along the ridge is that you just keep having amazing views.

And more down.

So we got up to the top of the ridge at one point to see these crazy views.  The slightly faster guy ahead of us had stopped to take pictures, so I politely offered to take his picture if he wanted.  Looking thoroughly disgusted at me he said no and briskly descended the next path.  Still not sure what was going on there, but it is pretty!

And then the sun shone through, making a lovely pitstop even better.

Joe and I also took turns telling each other how much it looked like Jurassic Park.

And then was one of my least favorite parts- the very thin path between two complete drop-offs.  But hey, at least you'd get caught on one of those bushes, right?

Somewhere around this point we ran into two girls covered in mud asking us if we had started recently.  They had apparently started at another end of this trail at 9am.  It was probably 3 or 4 by the time we saw them.  We figured we'd just walk until we didn't feel like it and turn around since god knows where they came from.

Joe found this awesome little log ecosystem:

 cool trees #8

And then we ran into some more unbelievable views.  And a real steep decline, of course.

 And we were still quite pleased with our life choices that led us to this point.

We headed back soon after once we hit a steep thin path I deemed not worth it.

And it's time to inch my way way down the parts I bear crawled up the first time.

Man, I love ocean.  While I look at the far off waves, Joe found some more cool plants, obviously.  According to him those bubbles are seeds- but that's what he remembers from 7th grade science so it may or may not be real.

cool plant #9

And it's time to make it back along that skinny ridge.  At least it's better the second time over.

Joe also pointed out that he really liked these tree canopies for a reason I don't recall...

cool trees #10 

 the view of where we hiked

And we're back to the beginning!

But don't think the tree pictures stop there- check out this weird sap!

 cool trees #11

 cool trees # 12

Having come to the end of our hike, I pulled the hammock out of our back pack to kill the 40 minutes of time until the next bus in the best possible way.

Heaven on Earth, baby.

p.s. if anyone has any info on the plants that we thought were awesome but knew nothing about, please share!  I'd love to have some more factual information to pass along :)