Oahu Trip (Day 1)
Mr. E and I took some extra time over the Labor Day holiday weekend for a vacation in Oahu, our second visit to the island this year (Mr. E would love for this to be a standard part of our annual travel plans, since he's such a big fan of Hawai'i). We stayed in Waikiki again, this time at the Sheraton, which is right on the beach and has a lovely infinity pool overlooking the ocean.
Day 1: Thursday, August 31
SMF > SFO > HNL
We had an early morning flight (6am departure - yawn!) for our 9+ hour trip through San Francisco to Honolulu. I got up at 3:45am to do a 30-minute Zumba workout before the long travel day, and we arrived on the island around 11:30am local time, giving us the whole rest of the day to enjoy and get reacquainted with the Waikiki area. Thanks to Mr. E's status with Sheraton and some great customer service, we ended up in an upgraded full oceanview room on the 4th floor, with an amazing view from our lanai of Diamond Head to the east, the infinity pool overlooking the ocean below (the yellow blobs are pool floats), and more ocean to the west.
We were eligible for a "build your own gift bag" of snacks and treats, and I was able to select a travel journal as well, which was very helpful since we'd forgotten to pack our usual Hawai'i travel journal. Oops! We unpacked, settled into our room, and headed to the very nearby Food Court in the Royal Hawai'ian shopping center for lunch (spring rolls and a banh mi from the Pho place + large order of mixed veggies from Panda).
Given the warm temperature and strong mid-afternoon sun, we decided not to try a Museum visit via bike and hit up the local Ross and Nordstrom Rack instead for some shopping. Not too much luck, but at least we stayed cool!
When we got back to the hotel, I did my daily yoga while Mr. E went to the Fitness Center (just down the hall from our room) for a short workout. Then we headed up to the Leahi Club Lounge on the 30th floor (complimentary for our first night) to enjoy some pupus, snacks, and wine. The Lounge provided amazing views to the east and west, including a fabulous panorama of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head ("leahi" refers to Diamond Head).
Mr. E and I both wrote some postcards, and then he took care of some work while I chatted with a friendly older couple from Tampa (originally from New York) who were in the midst of their first Hawai'i visit and had already spent time in both Kauai and Mau'i. Later in the evening, we started to hear some lovely piano music and noticed that a woman who had been sitting near us earlier was now playing the grand piano located near the [unused] bar in the Lounge. Such a wonderful and unexpected accompaniment to end our first day back in Waikiki!
Day 1: Thursday, August 31
SMF > SFO > HNL
We had an early morning flight (6am departure - yawn!) for our 9+ hour trip through San Francisco to Honolulu. I got up at 3:45am to do a 30-minute Zumba workout before the long travel day, and we arrived on the island around 11:30am local time, giving us the whole rest of the day to enjoy and get reacquainted with the Waikiki area. Thanks to Mr. E's status with Sheraton and some great customer service, we ended up in an upgraded full oceanview room on the 4th floor, with an amazing view from our lanai of Diamond Head to the east, the infinity pool overlooking the ocean below (the yellow blobs are pool floats), and more ocean to the west.
We were eligible for a "build your own gift bag" of snacks and treats, and I was able to select a travel journal as well, which was very helpful since we'd forgotten to pack our usual Hawai'i travel journal. Oops! We unpacked, settled into our room, and headed to the very nearby Food Court in the Royal Hawai'ian shopping center for lunch (spring rolls and a banh mi from the Pho place + large order of mixed veggies from Panda).
Given the warm temperature and strong mid-afternoon sun, we decided not to try a Museum visit via bike and hit up the local Ross and Nordstrom Rack instead for some shopping. Not too much luck, but at least we stayed cool!
When we got back to the hotel, I did my daily yoga while Mr. E went to the Fitness Center (just down the hall from our room) for a short workout. Then we headed up to the Leahi Club Lounge on the 30th floor (complimentary for our first night) to enjoy some pupus, snacks, and wine. The Lounge provided amazing views to the east and west, including a fabulous panorama of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head ("leahi" refers to Diamond Head).
Mr. E and I both wrote some postcards, and then he took care of some work while I chatted with a friendly older couple from Tampa (originally from New York) who were in the midst of their first Hawai'i visit and had already spent time in both Kauai and Mau'i. Later in the evening, we started to hear some lovely piano music and noticed that a woman who had been sitting near us earlier was now playing the grand piano located near the [unused] bar in the Lounge. Such a wonderful and unexpected accompaniment to end our first day back in Waikiki!
posted by jms | 6:53 PM
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