MariaVida

Tuesday night back in Waikiki, Pat and I had dinner at a beach front restaurant called House Without a Key. There was live Hawaiian music and a hula dancer, it was really nice, but super pricey and limited in vegetarian choices. Great atmosphere though.

Wednesday we spent the morning on the beach relaxing and later that evening Nick came down from Lanikai and picked us up so we could spend the night with him and Maggie. We had a great time drinking wine and hanging out on their porch.

They live in a super cute little studio guest house a block from the beach. They took us on a hike that was literally in their backyard, the Pillbox Trails.

It was a great hike with amazing views.

We snorkled and hung out on the beach by their house before returning to Waikiki for the night. Friday, Pat and I met up with a friend of ours and her boyfriend, they were in town for a wedding. We spent the afternoon at The Edge, an infinity pool bar overlooking the ocean.

Doens’t get much better than this!

Friday night, Garrett took us out in downtown Honolulu, China town. We had a blast our last night of the trip and were able to see Nick and Maggie one last time before heading to the airport on Saturday afternoon. All in all, it was a perfectly timed vacation, fun, relaxing and beautiful!

Aloha! I’m back from an amazing, perfect, relaxing vacation in Hawaii. We stayed in a hotel in Waikiki beach 2 blocks from the ocean. We arrived around dinner time last Friday and after checking in, Pat and I went exploring on the beach. I was suckered into buying a handmade lei off one of the local high school students (typical) – and here I am, my first steps on Waikiki sand since 2004.

The sun was setting and we decided to grab drinking at a beach side bar. I enjoyed a cocktail called a melanage a trois…a blend of vodka and rum infused with pineapple, it was delish (and strong!). Jet lag had set in and after a meal and some margaritas we were definitely feeling the effects of a long day of travel (not to mention our alcohol tolerance was almost non-existent after the time off). Saturday morning I was wide awake at 5am. Being that we were behind Pacific time by 3 hours that makes sense. I went for a run starting along the beach and then cut over to the Ala Wai Canal. Luckily, it was early enough that the sun was barely up and it wasn’t too hot. We grabbed breakfast and were on the beach by 8am. Before 10am I had already been out for over an hour surf at the main break. It wasn’t super crowded, the waves were teeeeeny tiny. I ended up taking out a 9’6″ longboard and had a blast!
Saturday night Pat’s fraternity brother, Garrett who lives and works in Honolulu came out in Waikiki with us. We had dinner and drinks at Dukes Beach Bar (awesome) and hit up a few local bars including Nashville (a country bar), Shorebird for some karaoke, and Coconut Willy’s.

Awesome night! Sunday we packed up Garretts JEEP and headed to the North Shore for a day of snorkeling, fresh food and exploring. On the way up we stopped at the Dole Plantation….

We snorkeled at Shark’s Cove where Garrett showed us some reef holes that you could dive down into and swim through. It was a true test of lung endurance and got my adrenaline pumping!

After a ‘shack lunch’ we relaxed at a very mellow Waimea Bay (the waves don’t go off in the summer time). We climbed the big rock and jumped off into the ocean, it was awesome!

Monday my girlfriend Maggie who I went to college with came down to Waikiki to hang out.

She, Pat and I hiked Diamond Head Crater and then went to dinner with her fiance, Nick (another buddy from college). Tuesday, I surfed a local break called Populars (aka Pops) and it was amazing! About a 15 minute paddle out but so worth it. We spent the afternoon checking out the US Hawaiian Army Museum and Pearl Harbor.

Garrett picked us up from Pearl City and took us down to Sandys, a beach in Hawaii Kai – it was beauitful!

Part 2 to come….