Surf City

Evan and I began our day with what's becoming our typical trip to Eggs N' Things for breakfast. This morning we tried the Strawberry Waffle. They gave me a huge cup of fresh whipped cream, which was yummy, however, by the time we got back to the condo, my waffle was soggy from the strawberries, I guess I should have asked for them on the side. I think I'm going to stick with the omelets and other egg options, though I'm tempted to try their crepes as well. Vacation is 50% about food with me. I don't want to waste calories on food that's no good!

We left the condo this morning planning to drive across to the windward side of the island, along the Pali Highway, over to Kailua Beach (the guidebook claims the water here is 78 degrees year-round), however, about 5 minutes into the trip, Evan decided to take a nap. Since it's been difficult to go far without Evan having one of his daily meltdowns, we decided on a whim to drive up to the North Shore instead. Our ten minute drive turned into a one-and-a-half hour one, but a beautiful, scenic one at that.

Including, part of the drive just north of Kualoa Ranch on the left of Kamehameha Highway, I thought the scenery looked like a scene out of Lost. Same with Kawela Bay. It turns out from looking at the guidebook once I got back to the condo that I was right, which is pretty cool.

So, we drove along and checked out Sunset Beach, where a junior surfing competition appeared to be taking place (you can see the beach, the waves, the surfers, and the people sitting around, all from the road), drove by Ehukei Beach Park (Banzai Pipeline) and over to Waimea Bay.

Unfortunately, the waves didn't look quite as cool as Waimea Bay, so we went back to the Banzai Pipeline, parked the car, and hung out at the beach, watching the surfers and wading in the water, which I insist is warmer than in Waikiki. The North Shore is absolutely beautiful.

After all of this, I insisted on finding a shrimp truck for lunch. They are everywhere along Kamehameha Highway as you approach the North Shore, and are supposed to have the best, freshest shrimp anywhere. Picture an ice cream truck, only that sells shrimp, and that has been written all over and signed by people with permanent marker, comparable to a dive-bar's bathroom stalls. We drove down to Hale'iwa, the local surfing town, for lunch, and found a gravel parking lot along Haleiwa road, on the left directly across from the McDonalds. It had a Giovannis' shrimp truck, Hono's Famous Kahuku Shrimp Truck, some Thai place, and a truck called Food for Thought. Apparently Giovanni's and Hono's are two of the chain restaurants of the shrimp truck world. Jon seemed a bit leery, but I think I made a believer out of him.

We ordered some really great black bean chili french fries from Food for Thought, and a plate full of a dozen, peel-n-eat "butter spicy" shrimp. We had to wait, while they cooked them fresh in the truck, and it was worth it. The sauce was so good, I actually wished they sold it in a bottle so I could put it on some chicken wings.

Evan slept on the drive home, right down the middle of the island and past the Dole Plantation. The drive was pretty easy, and quicker than the oceanside drive getting up there.

Traffic was pretty bad near the condo once we got "home", so I walked to Ala Moana Center to pick up dinner and replace my Oahu Revealed book that disappeared when our car was broken into yesterday, hence why I didn't know where the Lost sites were as we passed them. Anyhow, the walk was nice, and I picked up Italian food from Assaggio's for dinner. It was good, but coming from Cleveland, with places like Little Italy and Galucci's, I'm spoiled and it's hard to compare.

Evan's in bed now, sound asleep, and I think I'm ready to head there myself.

Aloha.

Diamond Head

Today I proved to myself that I'm in better shape that I think. Jon, Evan and I hiked up Diamond Head, and I carried Evan most of the way, mostly because I'm stubborn and wanted to prove to myself I could carry the extra 25 pounds, though I admittedly let Jon carry him up the 99 steps at the very top. There was an older gentleman, maybe in his 60's, wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt who insisted on climbing up and down these steps repeatedly, saying that this is his daily exercise. We should have taken a photo of these steps, to appreciate how ludicrous this exercise regimen is.

Anyhow, it was well worth the hike, and it wasn't very crowded at all. There are great views of the ocean and the island.

Unfortunately, the two guidebooks and a friend of ours from home were all correct in that, one should never leave anything valuable in their car when parked at a tourist location, Diamond Head/beach, etc. Fortunately, we did leave our car unlocked as is advised, because, it was broken into. In broad daylight, about noontime. In the middle of a busy parking lot. The irony being that we left it unlocked in case of such a situation, and took our wallets/keys, etc with us on the hike, so that if it was broken into, at least there'd be no damage to the car (yes, this is actually what several guide books advise that you do). Rather than use the trunk button however, the person/people jimmied the trunk open with a screwdriver. Fortunately, Jon was able to fix the lock and all is right with the world, minus my new swimsuit, a beach towel, and a very expensive diaper bag that was a gift of my friend we'll be visiting in Maui.

Evan had another meltdown, but is now resting soundly, again, thanks to Elmo. :) Minus the daily meltdowns, Evan seems to be having a great time and makes friends everywhere he goes.

Jon was concerned that I am not having a good time and want to go home. All things considered, it's 75 degrees here, I don't have to work or cook, and I can get a tan. I've also managed to get some shopping in, and get to do more to "replace" what went missing today, so, I can't say that I feel the need to go home right now. Loribeth arrives on Friday night and is spending the weekend with us, and I'm sure that will be a blast as well, I'm really looking forward to it.

I've also been watching the surf reports to see if the Big Wave competition is going to take place at Waimea Bay while we're here. Hmm...watching surf reports vs. watching the news about how much snow we're getting in Cleveland. I'll take my chances with the beach and the surfers.

Later.

Yesterday

I didn't get a chance/feel like writing yesterday, which could mean I'm finally starting to relax. Yesterday morning, Evan and I went around the corner to Egg's N' Things again for breakfast. The best thing about this place is that, their breakfasts are both delicious AND huge. Yesterday, I ordered a spam, green onion and cheddar omelet (spam is a very popular protein item here in Hawaii, so I figured I'd give it a try). The omelet comes with either pancakes, rice or potatoes. I've been getting the 3 pancakes that come with it. The omelet and pancakes can been enough food for both me and Evan for breakfast yesterday and today. The spam omelet actually tastes better the second day. Anyhow, it made it worth the 40 minutes Evan and I waited for our food, even though I called in the order ahead of time.

Once Jon woke up (he worked until 2am), we all went to the Waikiki Aquarium. It was just perfect and large enough for Evan. He loved it, until he got tired and had a meltdown, banging his head on a fish tank where I was sure he broke his nose. I think he's still a bit jetlagged, even though his sleep schedule has adjusted very well. Hopefully today will be better. Driving back was an adventure, because all of the roads in Waikiki are one-way, but we actually made it back pretty easily once I looked at the map. Coming back to the condo from the East side of the Waikiki, where the aquarium and zoo is, taking Ala Wai Blvd. to Niu worked very well. Turn left on Niu, which , at Kalakaua turns into Ala Moana where the condo is.

Anyhow, Evan and Jon took their naps, I sat on the lanai and worked on my tan. We all went to the Ala Moana Shopping Center in the afternoon. They have a great, but very interesting, food court. Since about half of the tourists here are Japanese, there are literally 6 different asian noodle places. Since Jon is a huge asian noodle fan, we had to walk around and look at all of them. Once he realized he didn't know/understand what was on the menu at about half of them, even if it was written in English, we settled on the Japanese noodle place, I think it was called Soba-ya. Their menu was pretty easy, some combination of either soba or udon, hot or cold, plus tempura shrimp and vegetables, or teriyaki chicken. The noodles were way better than the generic "Japanese" chicken teriyaki noodle places we have in our food courts at home.

Finding anything in the shopping center can be very confusing. Picture a multilevel strip mall within a parking garage. Jon learned this when trying to go to the grocery store on Sunday night.
Anyhow, we went over to Ala Moana Beach Park after lunch. Evan made some friends, which he does anywhere he goes, and we walked around looking for seashells and just generally letting Evan run off some loose energy. Once he nearly had his second meltdown back at the condo, we decided we'd stay in the rest of the night watching Elmo and eating Mexican leftovers while Jon went to work. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I don't know what I'd do without Elmo.

I'll try to post more pics later.

Lorelei

Getting Better

After sitting on the lanai reading a book while I work on my tan, eating some yummy pizza and sipping a mai tai beachfront at the Hilton Hau Tree Bar, and watching Evan learn to 1. drink from a straw (not the Mai Tai), 2. walk on sand, 3. put his feet in the ocean, and 4. kick around in the pool and go under water, I'm starting to feel better. Jon's off to work, and Evan and I are off to shop.

Later.

No more jetlag

So, since it literally took me about 2 minutes to set up this blog, I thought I'd get one started, just for fun. A few friends have asked that I send pics to them as we are gone for 3 weeks in Hawaii. The first two weeks we are here for my husband's work, staying in a condo in Waikiki. Friends of ours will be making the same trip in the spring, and want the scoop on the place and what's around here, so here's the details:

We're staying in unit 18A at Canterbury Place in Waikiki on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. We got in yesterday afternoon, after spending Saturday in Los Angeles. I highly recommend stayinbg overnight in Los Angeles and then traveling the second 5-hour leg of the trip the following day. That could be one of the best travel decisions we've ever made. Our son Evan has already managed to adjust to the time difference as a result, and was also able to sleep for two hours on each of the five hour flights.

I had my first positive experience with airport security yesterday, at LAX suprisingly. Someone there clearly, clearly understands customer service. Traveling with Evan can be difficult, and I dread going through security with him as a result of past experiences, but the TSA staff at LAX were so helpful and understanding that I actually wrote TSA a note complimenting them last night. Who thought I'd be praising a government service? I wish they could bottle the kindness and enthusiasm the staff there had, and incorporate it throughout all government agencies.

Anyhow, we arrived in Oahu yesterday. After issues with the rental car place, where I ended up saying "I hate Hawaii, I want to go back to Los Angeles", we ended up driving off with a yet-to-be-cleaned convertible Sebring. Clearly my pseudo-east-coast mentality and need to be in control and high expectations, which I totally acknowledge, will be "challenged" here. Which is fine, maybe I'll learn to relax.

















We're about to walk around the block to "Eggs N Things" for breakfast. In the meantime, here's some pics. One is of the Honolulu Airport, right where you get of the plane. The one at the top is the view from our condo.

Aloha!