A Delightful Week in Waikiki

We were restless.  It had been over a year since we had taken a flight anywhere.  The frustration was palpable.  Should we risk COVID and travel by plane?  Yes, we decided to risk it all!

And what better place to go than Hawaii?  

Of course we were afraid that rising COVID cases would preclude us from going.  But there was good news that made our travel a lot less tedious.  Hawaii implemented a new directive that obviated the need to have a COVID check prior to arriving.  All we had to do was present proof that we were vaccinated!  That saved us at least $200 and a considerable amount of time waiting at the airport.

Our travel day arrived soon enough, and with fresh masks on our faces, we boarded the plane.  The flight was completely full.  Everybody wanted to get away, apparently.

We arrived at Honolulu airport in the late afternoon.  I had arranged a rental car at Thrifty Car Rental prior to the flight, so we headed to the Thrifty lot.  There we waited in line for over an hour to get to the rental counter.  Brutal.  I was tuckered out after that.

After that ordeal was over, we drove over to the Ilikai Hotel, at which we had rented a condo for one week.  The view from the condo's lanai was so relaxing.  It was Wednesday, and my wife's birthday was 3 days away.  

That week we took the opportunity to drive around the island a bit, going as far as Turtle Bay on the North Shore, and Ko Olina on the Leeward Coast.  The drive to the North Shore was filled with beautiful views and hidden beaches.  We had dinner in two great restaurants, 3660 On The Rise, and Hoku's at the Kahala Resort.  We even stopped off at Leonard's Bakery for their malasada puffs.

But our return to Moana Falls was probably the highlight of the trip.  We went on Friday, which was a cool and cloudy day.  Heavy showers were passing through, so we were lucky we had one umbrella between us.  Although the weather was blustery, the walk up the mountainside was more fun than I remembered last time.  The views of the trees and forest floor were surreal.  The bits of light that were poking through the tree tops gave the impression of a landscape from several millennia ago, like a Jurassic park.  We did not make it to the top to see the falls this time, but that was ok with us.  We got what we came for.

We only had the car for only a few days, so the rest of the time we walked around Waikiki and took Ubers here and there.  The vacation was over quickly, but by the time we were boarding the plane home we were already talking about our next trip.  Or should we move here to live?  Well, we'll save that for another time.