Last day in Hawaii - Oahu island tour

 Aloha ohana.  It's our last day in Hawaii.  We booked an Oahu island tour.  It left at 7am and got us back to our hotel around 5:30pm.  We went to/passed so many spots, that it would be very hard to tell you all the stops.  A few to name: Waimea Falls, Halona Blowhole Lookout, a Japanese temple, Turtle Beach and several other places up on the North shore.  We stopped for lunch at Tanaka Shrimp.  We both got the butter garlic shrimp.  Yummy!  More around the island and the last stop was Dole Plantation (had to get the Dole Whip and a cold, coconut water).  We had a fun day of touring the island with about 60 other folks, learning about Hawaii from Brandon our tour guide/grad student, and a big thanks to Leno (pronounced Lee-no) our amazing driver.  We went right to grab our annual ornament (this year will be one from Hawaii) for our December holiday tree and also ordered a pizza to split for dinner.  We are exhausted, overstimulated from being talked to for 10 hours, and sweaty from a day of trotting all over the island.  We packed up for tomorrow as we fly out at 8am (Hawaii time).  We should be back in our beds around 3:30am on Wednesday...Chris and LouAnna cannot wait.  Though we've had a blast in Hawaii, we are looking forward to getting back home and to our ohana.  This will be the last blog of our trip.  See you in the mainland/heartland/Indiana very soon.  Mahalo (pronounced muh-hall-oh) for reading and following our trip!  We are tired, so here is a picture dump of the day. 

Aloha a hui hou kākou! (until we meet again, everyone!) 

Sunday in Oahu - tattoos and the luau!

 Aloha ohana (hello family)!  We are picking up the Hawaiian language just a bit while we're here.  This morning, we met with Popes at Aloha Tattoo and Chris got his first tattoo [ever] today.  It's tribal, representing strength and protection with the hammerhead shark.  It looks sick AF wrapping around his left shoulder.  He sat like a statue for the tattoo.  Nice job and wicked first tattoo in Hawaii from a native Hawaiian/Samoan/Japanese artist, Popes.  Up next, LouAnna got a tribal plumeria, also from Popes.  He was definitely on island time (not in a hurry about any of it) but he was very friendly and we were both very happy with the final products.

We went back to our room and chilled until the luau.  We had to be there at 5pm though it didn't start seating until 5:30pm.  We ended up seated directly in front of the stage, back about 30 feet or so.  Great seats!!!  We got lei'd!  Nuts!  No really, it's a nut lei...they certainly last longer than flower leis.  The food buffet was good.  Salad, ube slices with coconut flakes, rolls, steamed veggies, pulled pork, sliced teriyaki chicken, lemon and capers fish, brisket, rice, fried rice, pineapple upside down cake, coconut flan-type food, etc, etc.  But the show.  You guys, the show was phenomenal.  They took us through the different dances from nearby islands.  It was so cool.  We both loved it!

We even saw a rainbow during the show and could see the Rainbow Tower (where we are staying, at the same time).  Look at these cuties (notice the nut leis) after the Luau...still adorable even though they got rained/more like sprinkled on several times.  #hawaiiweather

Thanks for following along, friends!  Tomorrow, we have an all-day tour up to the North shore!

Saturday - Conference and Pearl City

Aloha friends!  Saturday, LouAnna was at the conference all day and it was her last day.  She said she had a great session in the morning and the afternoon was fine.  So, now she's ready to enjoy Oahu a bit before we fly back on Tuesday.

Chris made his way to Pearl City and Harbor. This was #1 on his Hawaii bucket list.  The bus was pretty full after making two other stops at nearby hotels.  The tour guide's name was BK and was voted  Royal Star's 2023 #1 driver of the year.  He knew his stuff, reciting over Hawaii's importance here in the Pacific and to WW2.  We stopped by several governmental and historical sites on our way to Pearl City.  We had a drive-through tour of what would be the Pacific's version of Arlington National Cemetry.  The National Memorial Cemetry of the Pacific is located in a crater named the Punchbowl.  Unlike Arlington, the grave markers are on the ground rather than upright.  

After leaving the cemetery we headed towards Pearl Harbor Visitor's Center.  The drive was probably 15 minutes or so on Oahu's main interstate, the H1.  On the way there, BK continued to display his knowledge of the events leading up to the war.  Once we got to the visitor's center, BK went over the instructions at least 3 times with us repeating each time.  The guy didn't want anyone to be confused about what to do.  Our tour was split up into 2 groups, for the Arizona Memorial.  We had a 10:15am and a 10:30am ferry over to the memorial.  We were given strict instructions, not to take any phone calls, play on the phone, or take photos after we landed and were entering the memorial. Somehow there was a photo of the USS Missouri in Chris' camera reel... oops!  Once upon the Arizona Memorial, the mood was pretty somber.  Not many people were talking, and if they were, it was a hushed tone.   

After the ferry ride back to the vistor's center, Chris decided to go ahead and purchase the extended package of boarding the USS Missouri.  Cool fact about the layout there, the remains of the USS Arizona is facing out to sea, whereas the Missouri's bow (front of the ship) is facing the Arizona's bow.  This was done to signify the start of World War II in the Pacific for the US and the end of the War.  

The USS Missouri is freaking HUGE!!! Chris might have gotten lost a couple of times, he should have opted for the guided tour rather than going alone. The only things that were small on the ship were the doorways, and living spaces for the sailor's on board.  

The Missouri was a floating city, it had everything on there from a lawyer and post office to a kitchen just for making donuts.  In 1992 the Missouri was decomissioned.  What's not posted is a photo of the computer room for the sailors... think back to school a room full of Compaq Presario desktop computers and CRT monitors and that's what you would have seen on the ship.

Chris made it back to the bus around 2:30pm and back to the Hilton around 3:15 or so.  LouAnna returned around 4:30pm.  We had dinner at a restaurant here on the property because L is so tired from learning and networking.  Nothing exciting but the food was good.

We went to bed kinda early (9pm) because it had been a long day for both of us.

Friday - conference and fireworks

 Aloha friends!  LouAnna was at the conference all day and Chris hung out on the resort property.  She had great sessions all day and she would say that this was her favorite of the conference!

Chris scored us some free tickets to the Luau on Sunday night.  Nice!  He knows a guy.  😉  Chris met LouAnna at her conference and from there, we walked to dinner at Jade Dynasty.  L got the kung poa chicken with rice and C got the stir-fried beef with bell peppers and rice.  Both were very good, as was the complimentary, hot, green tea.

Friday nights, there are fireworks here at the Hilton Hawaiian and we could see 98% of them from the balcony of our room!  No way!  It was short and sweet but nice.

Goodnight moon over Hawaii.

Thursday was fun!

Aloha friends!  So, a fan and lighterweight blanket were just what LouAnna needed to sleep so much better!  Huzzah!  What a full day!  So, other than conference stuff; what did we do today?  We did the Atlantis Submarine trip.  What is it?  It is the largest passenger submarine in the world (bigger ones are used by the military and don't have big ole windows all along the side). 😉  It had room for 64 people, but only a little over 20 signed up for the cruise.  That was really fun.  We saw "half the cast of Finding Nemo" as our MC said, along with a sea turtle, several eels, and a couple Eagle Stingrays.  We went 108 feet down and parked on the ocean floor.  They partnered with the University of Hawaii to see if coral will grow on concrete, any guesses???  It doesn't so they created a bunch of artificial habitats so the coral and fish (and friends) found their way to the area and made their homes.

We took an Uber to Iolani Palace and were guided around by Isaac, a seasoned (30 years!) volunteer docent, who is also a Big Island Hawaii native. You have to dress up to attend the palace as it's considered holy and sacred ground.  It was beyond beautiful and very well preserved and restored.  I'd recommend this tour to anyone who enjoys learning about people from history.  You can tell the royals were well-loved by their people.  It is a wonder what Hawaii would be like if the USA hadn't taken and annexed it.

Bathroom with working toilet, bidet, and running water

You can barely see our Docent, Isaac.

We had to walk across the way and snap a picture of the King, as well. 

Dinner was at Tropic Bar and Crafthouse right on the resort because again, LouAnna is also here working from her laptop and learning so she can become even more supportive in her role at work...she is so tired but it's Hawaii, so she's emailing from the beach so don't feel too terrible for her.  ;)

Ahi salad

Wagyu Brisket

We hope you're enjoying our trip details.  Mahalo.

Wednesday - boring day

 We didn't get caught in a hurricane or anything; Wednesday was just boring.  LouAnna did NOT sleep well last night and then went to her conference while Chris chilled on the resort property.  

There was a welcome reception tonight but L has had a full day of learning and listening (and she was very tired) so we bypassed that and bought our own dinner of pizza here in the resort and enjoyed listening to the rooftop luau and one of the resort's bar's live music...all from our balcony and went to sleep early.  Boring.  You were warned.

Mahalo Kona, Aloha Waikiki

 Aloha friends!  What a day it has been?!  We had another great night's sleep and woke up bright and early (7am and 7:30am) to another beautiful day in Kona.  Our check out was 11am so we ate breakfast and enjoyed the last of the views 🏖🌴 before showering, packing, and heading to the airport.  We returned the rental car and then they shuttled us to the Kona (KOA) airport where checking our one bag was quick and easy.  We were leaving out of Gate 4 - that's one of 5 of the KOA open-air gates.  The breeze and shade made the wait not bad at all.  We walked out to the plane, took the ramp up, and found our way into the exit row (window - no one in the middle 👏 - aisle) for the extra leg room and enjoyed the 30-minute flight back to Honolulu (Oahu island).  

Our Uber driver (Lawrence, a military veteran from NY who has lived on Oahu for 40+ years) took us to the Hilton Hawaiian which is a beachside resort-type property with shops, restaurants, and 3 pools right on the property.  Is this real life?!  We check in and things get better.  He asked if we wanted to upgrade to the Rainbow 🌈tower - the one from TV you guys - we said yes - YOLO!!!!!!!!  😂😂  We walk into our room and it has TWO balconies!  We have the doors open to both at the same time and the cross breeze is amazing.  Look at this view!  💝 We cannot believe we'll be here for the next 6.5 days!

We broke ourselves away from the room and made our way to get some food.  We stopped at a shop first and Chris (C) now has two shirts made in Hawaii - aka Hawaiian shirts 😏 or it is a double Hawaiian shirt or a Hawaiian-Hawaiian shirt and LouAnna (L) has two dresses also made in Hawaii...you get the idea.  Watch for them to show up in pics this week.  😉  We passed a tattoo shop and LouAnna was pretty sure that's where she wanted to get inked up before returning home.  First, food.  So, we found an Italian place close by that had a trio of bruschetta that L wanted to try.  Dinner choices were: mushroom risotto with shrimp for L and C got the 12oz rib eye.  Yummy and the service was really good and fast. 

We stopped back by the tattoo shop and set up the appointment for Sunday morning.  Let's go!  We walked around more shops, snap a few photos, then take the leftover risotto back to the room and then put on our swimming suits and head to the beach.  Let's get C into the Pacific Ocean for the first time, already!  The beach is sandy and the water is warm.  We took a sunset stroll along the beach - are we in a Hallmark movie?  Plot: Simple but adork'able midwestern couple go to Waikiki for the first time - stop me if you've seen this one.  

Alright, LouAnna has her conference starting tomorrow.  We need to get to sleep.  Goodnight moon, from Waikiki.