Return to Oahu! (Days 5 & 6)

Beachfront Yoga, Foodie Bike Tour, Packing, ABC Bag

Tuesday, April 13

I did a short walk along Ala Wai Canal before Zumba in the room. Then I had time to eat some fruit before heading out to my 9am beachfront yoga class near the Aquarium. Despite the noisy helicopters at the beginning of the class, the hour of yoga was lovely, although I remembered why I'm not always a fan of outdoor yoga (noise, bugs, damp grass). I chatted with Mom on my way back to the hotel with a stop at the Reserve Starbucks for egg white egg bites and coffee to round out my breakfast. Weird experience there with a couple who entered in front of me with the guy not wearing a mask so the staff had to ask them to leave. What was he thinking?!

Mr. E got his breakfast at Ali'i Coffee again, and we had a bit of time in the room to journal and plan for Memorial Day travel before going to the Kuhio Beach Hula Mound to meet up with Kelly, our guide for a foodie bike tour with Bike Tour Hawai'i. He shared a wealth of information about multiple subjects, including lots of history and culture of Waikiki and Honolulu as we rode through the area and stopped at a few scenic points along the way.

Our tour lasted nearly six hours! The first food stop was on the road to Diamond Head, where Mr. E and Kelly had fish tacos from a favorite local taco spot and I had avocado toast with roasted beets, feta, basil and a side of arugula salad from Ars Cafe next door. We were able to procure a table on the sidewalk at Ars Cafe so could eat rather leisurely as we chatted with Kelly. Then we went just a block farther to Diamond Head Market & Grill to pick up a blueberry scone to share and some shrimp for me just in case the next stop didn't have anything non-meat based. We biked in and around the Kapahulu neighborhood and landed at our next stop, Da Ono Hawaiian Food, for pork laulau (Mr. E), squid luau (me), and purple sweet potato (shared). Next up was fresh made-to-order tuna poke with shoyu, sesame seeds, and nori at Ono Seafood, followed by pineapple-filled malasadas at Leonard's Bakery (one to eat, one to take back to the hotel -- or mainland! -- for later). We finished up by sharing a strawberry and pineapple shave ice at the kiosk in the Royal Hawaiian shops because the line at Waiolo Shave Ice, our original destination, was just way too long. 

The return route took us along the north side of Ala Wai canal and also by the international grocery store area where we had attempted to see a Lunar New Year celebration two years ago during sabbatical. We cut through a local school to a bike trail and admired the colorful murals on several of the buildings.

Being able to follow a local guide through these areas was such a treat as we wouldn't necessarily know how to navigate all of these routes and paths on our own. At the end of the tour, we walked back to the hotel to get cleaned up, pack and organize for the morning, and finish up our snacks and drinks before tomorrow's departure. Mr. E procured a new travel journal and bag at an ABC Store as part of our leave-taking activities.

The bike tour was very, very generous with the amount of food and portion size, even when we began sharing items during the second half. We would definitely book another tour with this company and will highly recommend them to friends and family who visit the area. Kelly also took lots of photos that he air-dropped to Mr. E's iPhone and then sent a link to a video he created for us the next day. Great experience and customer service!

HNL > SFO > SMF

Wednesday, April 14 (last day)

Early morning Zumba for me and then all of our final packing to get ready for our 7am Charley Taxi pick-up and drive to the airport for our 9am flight. The airport was so empty! Both of people and of businesses! Luckily, one of the open spots was a bookstore so that I could procure another book for the latter part of the trip back home.

We lucked out again with no one in the middle seat between us on the big 777 that took us to SFO, though the rest of the plane looked quite full. We had just enough time to enjoy some snacks (cheese and bean burritos, carrots, string cheese) and wine (for me) in the United Club before our quick small jet ride to SMF. Our checked bags arrived faster than usual, so we were home by 8pm to unpack, start some laundry, make a trip to Market 515, and get lots of scolding and snuggles from Calypso.

When do we go back??!!