Late last year, my mom reached out to me with an opportunity to go to Hawaii with her – specifically Oahu (Waikiki Beach). She had a work conference to attend for 3 days so her employer was paying for her airfare and hotel for those days, and she wanted me to tag along by just paying airfare and then we planned to tag on a few days to the hotel on our dime to make the trip a week. Not a bad deal for Hawaii! I couldn’t say no to that, so thankfully my husband graciously let me go and spend time with my mom and travel to a new place while he took care of the homestead.
The trip was March 16-23 and we had a blast. The days my mom was in her conference, I rented a car so I could explore the island, do some waterfall hikes and just enjoy some solo time in a beautiful place. We got in on a Saturday night, so that night we just went to dinner at a restaurant in the hotel area. We stayed at Hilton Hawaiian Village because that’s where her conference was held. This is a huge place with restaurants and shops. It isa great beachfront hotel and even has its own man-made lagoon on the beach for swimming, paddleboarding, and such. Everything within the Waikiki area is walkable as well.
Our first full day in Hawaii was Sunday and it was a day we got to spend together so we first took a walk into downtown Honolulu and got breakfast at Eggs ‘n Things, a popular local spot. Their claim to fame is their Rainbow Pancakes. And while it’s not my typical breakfast, I of course had to get them for the sake of it. They were delicious, but way too much for me to finish. The pancake batter has chopped macadamia nuts in it, the syrup was also macadamia nut and that fruit – the FRESHEST and best tasting fruit I’ve ever had. I never knew what good kiwi was until this trip I tell you!
After that we did some shopping, then we made it back to the hotel to spend some time at the beach. Waikiki is the most crowded beach on Oahu, but it was fine and we still enjoyed ourselves. We bought some beach chairs that we later paid forward to a hotel guest as we were leaving (this is very important to the locals to not have a bunch of items bought that end up in landfills), all we asked was that they do the same with them when they are done with their trip.
For the evening we just hung out at the hotel’s main bar which was right by the building we were staying in. We made it a goal to try all the “Hawaii” drinks, like Blue Hawaii and Mai Tai’s. This is us enjoying our first (and last) Blue Hawaii. Definitely not my kind of drink but had to try it!
On Monday, I woke up very early and did a sunrise beach walk with my mom.
After that, I rented a car and drove about an hour or so to the North Shore of Oahu. This is the famed spot where some of the best waves in the world are (Pipeline) and some of the biggest and best surf contests are held here. On the way there, I passed by the Dole Plantation, and then I hiked Waimea Falls. The whole Waimea Falls area is so pretty and all of the flora of Hawaii can be found there. My favorite of course – the hibiscus. I saw so many different types.
This place really impressed me because it’s all paved and set up like a gardens area for tourists, and when I was headed back to the parking lot, there was even a bar where I could get a pina colada in a pineapple! Yes, please! This was my breakfast!
I ended up at Sunset Beach Park on the North Shore to do some sunbathing and surfer-watching. These pictures don’t do this place justice, it’s so beautiful and that water is spectacular. I only went in a little bit because it’s actually quite a drop off do to the rolling nature of the pipe waves.
If you look closely you can see the TEENY tiny surfers way out there – that’s how big and far out those waves are!
After hanging out there, I took a recommendation from another mom and daughter I ran into in the car rental line (also from Boise, ID, where I was born and they live a few streets from my mom!) and went to the public beach access at Turtle Bay Resort. They said it was great snorkeling and had a little tiki bar.
My 2nd meal that day was also a pina colada. It was a weird day where I didn’t really eat until the evening, but the pina coladas kept me sustained. LOL.
Stay tuned for the Recap Part II. I didn’t want to write a week’s worth of activity in one post – too long!
