The Ambitious Odometer: O'ahu

Wednesday, December 25, 2019

{CA, HI & MEXICO} Day Seven - In and Around Honolulu, O'ahu, HI Day 2

Port of Call: Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawai'i

Island: O'ahu
Nickname: The Gathering Place
Official Color: Yellow
Official Flower: Yellow Ilima

Mele Kalikimaka from Hawai'i!

Unfortunately, we had to cancel today's planned stop in Nawiliwili on the island of Kauai due to the forecasted weather and concerns over safely navigating the journey. Though I was sad to miss stopping on this particular island, it really worked out for the best. If one stop had to be cancelled, this was the best one from my perspective. It is Christmas, and that was the one island that we couldn't get Hubby to, so lucky for us, he was actually already staying in Honolulu for an extra day. It worked out perfectly that we ended up getting to spend Christmas as a family in Honolulu, and all was actually very right in my world...

We spent the morning walking around the Waikiki area of town...

and making a stop at the statue of Duke Kahanamoku...

and when the weather took a turn for the worse, we quickly looked for a place to eat.

Unfortunately, we had really bad luck!

Most everywhere that was open was absolutely slammed...

B really wanted sushi, so we found a place, waited 45 minutes to be seated and after 30 minutes of waiting for our order to be taken, we left...

By this point, time was getting tight as Hubby had a plane to catch (to Maui), and we had a ship to board!

One place on my list was Liliha Bakery for a taste of their chantilly cake, so we headed out that way for a quick lunch and slice of cake before parting ways...

On to explore the island of Maui tomorrow!

More {CA, HI & MEXICO} 2019 Fun

Day One - Los Angeles

Days Two-Five - AT SEA

Day Six - In and Around Honolulu, O'ahu, HI Day 1

Day Eight - The Road to Hana, Maui, HI

Day Nine - In and Around Hilo, Hawai'i, HI

Days Ten-Fourteen - AT SEA

Day Fifteen - Ensenada, Mexico

Day Sixteen - Los Angeles

Day Seventeen - Los Angeles

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

{CA, HI & MEXICO} Day Six - In and Around Honolulu, O'ahu, HI Day 1

Port of Call: Honolulu, O'ahu, Hawai'i

Island: O'ahu
Nickname: The Gathering Place
Official Color: Yellow
Official Flower: Yellow Ilima

Today we made landfall in Hawai'i - both our nation's and our family's 50th state!

We approached the port with much anticipation...

for several reasons...

Not only had we reached our 50th state (and the first land we'd seen in 4 days), but we were excited to reunite with Hubby, as well...

Because he couldn't be gone the entire length of our trip (2 1/2 weeks) and due to some old maritime law (The Jones Act - something about people not being allowed to board ships that are registered to another country while docked in an American port(?)...I am really not sure...It wasn't a problem in Europe, though - see "Exhibit C" below), he could neither board in Honolulu and sail home with us nor sail the front end of our cruise and leave early from Hilo, so he flew to Honolulu and is island hopping via plane and meeting up with us at each port...

Yes, it is a bit of a pain, but it is getting the job done, and it just isn't a true adventure in our family unless Hubby has some crazy way of meeting up with us late or leaving us early along the way!

Exhibit A, Exhibit B & Exhibit C

Regardless... We are sooo happy to have everyone here, in Hawai'i, and not to mention, B was happy to see a plethora of Hawai'i license plates (one of the hardest plates to find back home, obviously)!

We met our driver and set out to explore the capital city...

First stop, the King Kamehameha statue in front of the Hawai'i Supreme Court building...

From there, we cruised by the Honolulu City Lights, a downtown Christmas display...

before stopping at the Hawai'i State Capitol, so that B could run up some steps, his 48th set of state capitol building steps!

This building is one of the most unique state capitol buildings we've ever seen...

From there, we made a stop a the breathtaking Nu'uanu Pali Lookout...

It is 12,000 feet above sea level and has sweeping views of both the mountains and the ocean...

After this stop, we continued on to our tour at Pearl Harbor...

It was really something.

I've always known the December 7th date (one of my best friends growing up was born on Pearl Harbor Day), but learned more about the great tragedy and loss of life as I grew up. Only recently did I learn that the memorial is actually situated over the remains of the sunken U.S.S. Arizona...

This has been somewhere I've wanted to visit for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately for many, boat rides out to the actual memorial have been closed for years due to repairs, and I am so thankful that they started running again a few months before our trip.

All I can say is WOW...