What a wonderful place ~ What a wonderful time
We flew out of Newark NJ Wednesday 4/10
We stopped in Denver (oh one of my favorite places)
Snow on the mountains
It tempted this "winter loving" women to stay
After a 3 hour lay over we flew the 7 hours to Oahu HI
Met a lovely lady named Nola on the plane from AZ
We were quite alike and had many laughs along the journey.
For weeks I've been torturing my hubby that all I wanted
was to get off the plane and get my Hawaiian lei
Well, i did : )
They smelled amazing and were so beautiful
United Vacations did a wonderful job all week
they were well organized and made things so easy.
Hats off to them !
It was late when we arrived so we had time to do a little
exploring and grab a bite to each next door at Denny's.
Ocean view from our balcony
Night view
Kings Village shopping area
Every night they have changing of the guard
I got this off Internet but this was our exact view
from hotel room at night of Kings Village.
sunset
Our hotel Ohana East
I loved the flower on each door
Hard to forget about work on vacation when
your product is mounted right over your room door hah
Good old Wheelock Fire Alarms
Waikiki beach ~ surf was up !
We have a beach in NJ but I have
never seen parked surf boards before hah
My first time on the Shore of Hawaii !
Tons of white pigeons obviously they love the beach too !
Hubby testing the water temperature
Duke Paoa Kahanomoku
Besides walking my legs nearly off
I did some of this on my balcony
Hubby loved the chaise lounge in our room hah
Thursday AM our first full day there
We had a breakfast meeting with United Vacations.
Love the flower on our breakfast plates
Hula dancer entertained while we ate our breakfast
Most of our tours were with Roberts Hawaii!
After a nice photo below, they took us to Hilo Hattie
for some shopping
It was so good.
I got to meet Miss Hawaii 2012
She was beautiful and sweet
Skyler Kamaka ~ oh I loved her crown
Every girl dreams of that crown it is really beautiful
Guinness Book of World Records certifies Hilo Hattie's
400XL Aloha shirt as the "
Elvis bear for my Aunt Rose hah
Then we went to Maui Divers
WOW the jewelry was amazing
I treated my self to this Plumeria ring
The five petals symbolize:
love, faith, devotion, hope and charity.
Then I chose to open an oyster and
was praying for a pink pearl.
Well, I was blessed!
I got a champagne pink pearl.
So I had to fit it in a necklace hah
I chose a neckless very much like this but
white gold and my champagne pink pearl.
The Maile Leaf ~ legend has it that
only the kings and queens were allowed to
wear the leis. But modern ceremonies
it is worn by the bride and groom.
It symbolizes Aloha (Love)
Ho'ohanohano (Honor) and Mahalo (respect)
He found out they have The Old Spagetti Factory
not far from our hotel. We love this place.
We visited it in Colorado and Georgia.
So it was the perfect dinner place.
4/12 Friday up early for breakfast
because we had Pearl Harbor tour
Breakfast at Hula Grill on the beach
Not sure why we ended up going here 3 times ~
could it be the food ~ take a look:
Fresh Pineapple boat
The lightest waffles and berries
How about some coconut syrup on your waffles?
Oh YUM
Pineapple, mango & banana !
The view was breathtaking
See the cruise ship?
We had a friend visitor almost every morning
Pearl Harbor ~ wow so moving
Such history ~ seeing the sunken ship is beyond moving
To think of those young men still on the ship
USS Arizona Anchor
USS Arizona Anchor
USS Arizona sunken remains
More remains. We learned that there are still a few
survivors still alive today. They have the option when
they die to be cremated and returned to the.ir ship
with their crew mates who died during the battle and
who's remains were never recovered and lie in the
sunken ship. Many have chosen to do so. They have
a special diver who goes down and carefully without
touching or harming the ship puts the cremated person
inside. They treat this ship with the utmost care.
One great joy we had during our trip was meeting
and spending time with this lovely lady Lola.
She is 87 and from Australia. Talk about an inspiration.
She traveled to Hawaii alone. I told her she was such
an amazing lady and she said, "Well, I can sit home and
die or I can go and live" "I choose to live" wow
We spent Pearl Harbor day with her, the Circle Tour
and also the Luau. She had wonderful stories to tell
as she has traveled extensively. A couple of years ago
she went to New Zealand. A great lady.
I so loved her accent also! Would you believe when
I told her I was from NJ she said she knew one family
who moved to NJ. I asked her if she new the town.
She said Colts Neck. WOW small world.
We helped her carry her things as she had some
struggle to walk she was so grateful and it was
nice to be able to help her.
We found Hawaii has many Australian visitors.
And also many, many from Japan.
On the ride home we got to see the Kings Palace,
Governor's house, State house, Hawaii 5-0 location
Gilligan's Island location.
National Cemetery of the Pacific
"The solemn pride that must be yours,
to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom"
On Memorial Day the children make leis and place
one on every grave
That must be something to see
(photo from internet)
Aloha Stadium
For dinner we went to Jimmy Buffet's
I had the most delicious pulled pork sandwich ever !
Even my water with lemon had the spirit !
4/13 Saturday Breakfast at Eggs n' Things
Hubby's crepes
After breakfast we had a helicopter ride over the
island. YIKES
It really was magnificent to see the island from above.
The volcano's ie Diamond Head, the pineapple fields,
it is so lush green just beautiful. The water was
so many colors of blue. We even saw some playing
whales. I was quite scared to death most of the time
and unfortunately quite motion sick but I enjoyed
what I could. Gary really enjoyed, it so that made
me happy.
Makani Kai Helicopters fits 6 people plus the driver
I was still pretty nauseous so I didn't want to walk far.
We grabbed dinner at a real nice Japanese restaurant.
I had the best tempura. Yes, I can eat when I am
motion sick hah
4/14 Sunday
We wanted to find a local church but since we had no
car we were a bit strapped.
But the Lord provided a service right in our hotel
It was a lovely Christian man who has volunteered for
years doing a service in the hotel.
There were about 15 people in attendance.
Some from Canada, California and Gar and I NY/NJ crew hah
This was the beautiful bulletin.
He sang lovely songs and signed some songs.
He spoke on the rich man trying to get into heaven.
He told us about the homeless folks in Hawaii and the
bad problem they have with Meth. Very sad.
You see these young and old tanned surfer dudes
strung out and homeless all over the place.
He gave us this beautiful bible
Pineapple coconut !
Banana Macadamia Nut Muffin
Amazing fried rice with scrambled eggs.
The Hawaii folks eat rice for breakfast a lot.
We spent the day relaxing and shopping.
We didn't eat here but Gar loves his lobsters.
Literally one on every corner.
But I liked them, great for tourists.
Nothing you can't find here that you could need.
Aloha Brings Customers
37 of these in a two mile radius in Waikiki
Beautiful furniture made out of Koa wood.
Another one for Aunt Rose
Great shopping area
Oh my goodness ~ I can't describe with words how
good these were. Portuguese donuts.
Peach and strawberry.
It rained on Sunday night pretty hard so we
ate at the restaurant in our hotel.
It was Taiwan food. Very good.
First time I had it.
4/15 Monday
Today we were up early breakfast at the Hula Grill again.
We had to run off to our Circle Tour
It was 8 hours ride around the island.
It was such fun!
We saw:
Hauama Bay, Mormom Temple, Waimea Bay, Dole
Pineapple Factory, Diamond Head, Kahala Estates and
Kualoa Ranch, Bill Gates house (WOW), the spot they
filmed From Here To Eternity, the show LOST, Hawaii 5-0,
Jurassic Park and Battleship.
Pictures don't do it justice.
The colors are so vibrant.
Bamboo !
Wild chickens with sweet baby chicks
Replica of temple in Tokyo ~ built without any nails
Here are some of the beautiful flowers of Hawaii
and this hula girl hah
How beautiful are these white birds?
4/16 Tuesday
Back to Hula Grill then off to shop at the
Ala Moana Mall ~ 15th largest mall in US
It was magnificent. Open air.
Flowers everywhere.
Food Court ! WOW huge
All Gar wanted was his ICEY
He got it ~ Pina Colada
After shopping we had the Luau at Paradise Cove
The food was really good !
The show was fun. Costumes beautiful.
Gar and I joined in the fun !
I have to say the "coconuts" amazed me hah
I've never quite been a coconut sized girl hah
4/17 Wednesday time to go home ; (
We had breakfast at an Irish pub.
Moose McGillycuddys
Gar enjoyed his breakfast
ride to the airport.
God gave us this special treat on our way to the airport.
Do you see the rainbow?
Weather - only vacation to a warm spot that
I can remember not one second being hot.
It was 82 but always a cool breeze daily.
Not humid so pleasant.
Not one bug bite.
Love the relaxed attitude ~ Hang loose
People warm and friendly and very helpful
Gar bought himself a Ukulele (ooh-koo-ley-ley)
If something tastes good you say ONO
We are both so thankful for this gift from God
to visit Hawaii and do not take it for granted.
James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
