2009-Feb. 19: Walking around Waikiki, Beach, and Sunset cruise.

The first day I spent a lot of time just walking around Waikiki streets and the beach.

 The famous Royal Hawaiian---It originally opened  on 1 February 1927, with a black tie gala attended by over 1,200 guests, and quickly became an icon of Hawaii's glory days.  During the depression, it was a US military R&R Center.  After the war it was sold and became a hotel again.  It closed on 1 June 2008 for renovation. It had just reopened on 20 January 2009 as a member of The Luxury Collection division of Starwood Hotels.

 The International Market Place---It first opened in 1956 as a commercial retail and entertainment center.   (On August 25, 2016, the International Market Place reopened as a modern shopping, dining and entertainment center)

 On to the famous Waikiki Beach.

 I was just chilling and sitting on the sand enjoying everything, when a guy came around drumming up business for a sunset cruise.  At a price of $20, I decided why not and splurged.

 the Royal Hawaiian from the water side

 more of Waikiki as we were shoving off.

 heading up towards Diamond Head.

 The clouds were getting pretty dark off to the East.

The weather got pretty threatening while we were out, but other than the cold wind and a little rain, it went ok.

 

It looked like the clouds were too thick to make for a great sunset, but by the time sunset rolled around, they were just right for a fabulous sunset. I thoroughly enjoyed walking down the beach back to my part of the beach and watching the sky change from yellow, to orange, to red, to bronze, ... .

By 7, I was back at the condo and pretty exhausted from the activities of the last 2 days.