Living the Aloha Hi: November 1997

1998 Oahu---1st trip to the Islands!

Hawaii was one of those places I'd heard about and thought would be neat to go see, but I never really thought we'd make it there. I happened to see an add in our Post Dispatch newspaper Travel section advertising a TWA Getaway Vacation package to Oahu for something like $699@. Airfare and hotel for a week! Sounded good to me!! So I asked Ken if he wanted to go to Hawaii and to my surprise he actually said yes. So I booked it before he could think about it and change his mind. We even made it a trip without the kids. They were well into their high school years now and didn't mind being left home---with Grandma keeping an eye on them. At least they didn't think they'd mind it. Anyway---I mentioned the trip to my sister and she and her hubby waffled back and forth about joining us. Ultimately they did join us for 5 nights---much to my hubby's despair.

Our accommodations were in the Maile Sky Court and the airfare was from St. Louis (the good 'ole days when St. Louis was a hub for a major airlines!). I had visions of an island paradise with blue water, lots of palm trees and beautiful weather and that's exactly what we found! It was Nov., so we did have off and on rain, but also lots of rainbows.

Views from our room

Any trip to Oahu has got to include a trip to Waikiki. Originally Waikiki was a vacation place for Hawaiian royalty. Waikiki only covers about 1.5 sq. miles, but it is packed with hotels, restaurants, shops and even a few parks. The main attraction to me is the beach. It has had problems with erosion which even led to importing sand from California back in the 1920's and 30's. Now they don't import sand anymore, but they work at sustaining the existing sand. Waikiki Beach sits at the base of Diamond Head and is on the south (drier) side of the island.

All the times we were there the surf was pretty calm. About half of the beach has a long rolling surf great for surfing. Although I haven't tried surfing, it's fun to watch. I have tried snorkeling at Waikiki beach and although I have found pockets of juvenile fish along some of the rocky areas, I wouldn't consider the snorkeling very good here. It is great for catching the sunsets, though.

Daytime views weren't bad, either!

the Hilton by the beach

I loved walking around beautiful Fort DeRussey park---not too many grassy areas in Waikiki. The tall hotel past the far end of the park is the Maile Sky Court where Ken and I stayed.

Not a bad place to stay for a budget hotel. Liked that it had a Denny's on the ground floor, too.

Not knowing anything about the island, we went to the island orientation and signed up to do a couple organized excursions. Even bought a photo taken of us at the orientation.

The first excursion we signed up for was to the Arizona Memorial. Initially I really wasn't that excited about going initially, but once I got there, I was overwhelmed with the history of the place. So very worth it. Only bad part about it was the tour guide on the bus and the unairconditioned bus! We were suppose to get a city tour with the excursion, too, but it was so hot on the bus that he ended the tour and took us back to the hotel early.
This was pretty much all we saw of the city;

When we got to the memorial, we were scolded to be back at a certain time. Not once, not twice, but repeated told to be back or he would leave without us. But in spite of him, we had an enjoyable time there.

Names of the men who died Dec. 7, 1941 on the USS Arizona.

painting of the ship in the museum.

On another day we took a trip around the island.
Along the way, we stopped at the Byodo-In Temple. It is a non-denominational Buddhist temple replica of a 900-year-old Buddhist place of worship at Uji in Kyoto prefecture of Japan.

It is a fascinating place to wander around.

Inside the Temple is a nine-foot gold and lacquer covered Lotus Buddha, the largest wooden Buddha carved in over 900 years. Outside is a three-ton, brass peace bell. Surrounding the temple are large koi ponds that cover two acres.

Then we continued on towards the North Shore. I was looking forward to seeing the huge waves you hear about all the time. Along the way we went through the mountain through some long tunnels.

Also stopped at the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Interesting farm.

Finally got to the North shore. I was surprised how small the waves looked. Even though they were still around 8' high!

More views from the bus

Brigham Young university

the North shore

Even though Carolyn and Tom didn't go on the bus tours with us, we all agreed that we had to attend a luau---so we chose Germaine's Luau: It began with a tropical Mai Tai greeting and traditional Hawaiian music to set the festive mood of the evening. Then we witnessed the Imu Ceremony and chowed down on a really good buffet. We booked this luau because it was advertised as being on the beach. I anticipated fantastic sunset views, but was disappointed to find the beach was actually roped off. They kept us corralled in their Hawaiian Village were there were crafts and activities as well as the food and the stage where the entertainment of the songs and dances of Hawaii and Polynesian culture took place. It was fun, just not what I expected.

We also wandered around Waikiki on our own. The hotels and shops are impressive. So are the crowds!

Loved seeing all the flowers in the middle of winter!

one of the elite hotels

Even took the Hilo Hattie's shuttle to their store

That's a big shirt at Hilo Hatties!

Back to wandering around town.

Some resorts even had exotic birds as part of their landscaping.

Banyon trees and all their aerial roots which hang down from limbs. We don't have trees like this in St. Louis.

We also don't have Cardinals like these in St. Louis!

After Carolyn and Tom's 5 nights were up, Ken and I had 3 more days to pack some more fun into. I had read about snorkeling and Hanauma Bay and thought it would be fun to give it a try.

Didn't take long to get me hooked!!!! Now we plan vacations around snorkeling! This was before I had an underwater camera, so I bought a couple cheap disposables.

I'd say the cheapie camera and editting with Photoshop Elements (that I used on these in 2024) turned out pretty good.

On our last day, Ken and I decided to do a submarine tour. I was really shocked when we went down about 100' and it was like daylight down there. Pretty cool. Here we are getting ready to board the shuttle to the submarine.