Day-1 – Traveling to Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii

Well Carmen and I are going to the Hawaiian Islands.  We will visit the four major islands: Oahu, Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui.  We decided to use a tour company for our trip to Hawaii this time.  Between the hotels and flights, we felt the price point was better on the tour than booking everything by ourselves.  So we are using Cosmos and going on their Splendors of the Hawaiian Islands (tour #8140).  And they will handle the luggage so we don’t have to. 

Our flight left Orlando, Florida at 7:25 am and our first stop is Salt Lake City.  We have an hour and a half to make our next gate, but as things go, it is only 2 gates down from where we land.  Hopefully we are as lucky on our way back since we will have only 30 minutes. 

We are back in the air for our longest portion of the trip.  I was able to watch three movies on the way over.  At least it took care of a lot of the fight time.  Arriving in Honolulu we collected our bags and meet our connection.  After receiving our flower lei, we transferred to our ride and onto to the hotel, the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, just in time for the 5 o’clock traffic jam.  Who cares, we are in Hawaii.

We settle into our room and find ourselves on the 24th floor with an ocean view, how great is that?  We have a great view of the beach and ocean, especially with the sun going down.

We dump our carryon bags in the room, our big bags are already here, and head over to the beach for the sunset.  Unfortunately, we miss the sunset as it is already down by the time we get to the beach.  But who cares, we are in Hawaii on Waikiki Beach: white sand, blue waters and Diamond Head in the background!  Here is Carmen on the beach with Diamond Head in the background.

 

Walking along the beach there are surfers and catamarans in the water.  There are still quite a few people along the beach lingering after the sunset.

Many of the hotels have restaurants along the beach with flaming torches.  So far all of the prices for food is at a 50% premium from the mainland, but that is the price you pay when on vacation.  

We decided to return to the hotel and on the way through one of the hotels to get to the main road to get back to the hotel, we passed this group playing traditional and contemporary Hawaiian songs.  We finally ate dinner across the street from our hotel at the Rock Island Café which has a 50’s theme.  Food, music and surroundings were all good.  However, since it has been a long day and we have an early meeting, now it is time to head to bed.