Paradise. That’s exactly what Hawaii is. And the BEST part? It’s ‘Merica baby! Anytime I can combine my love for the tropics/beach/beach bumming and the GREATEST country in the entire world, we have a winner. Hawaii is a winner and if all else fails, we will pack up our things and become forever salty on the beach somewhere between Bellows and Waimanalo, eating fish tacos and reading trashy novels (me…Not the hubs..he’s not all that into trashy novels). Without further ado, here are just a few photos from our adventure, Part I…

Obviously fish tacos were the first thing on our mind when we landed in paradise…okay, maybe not literally, but pretty up there! We went to Duke’s, right on the beach in Waikiki and basically inhaled our meal. Dukes is a very popular and crowded restaurant with fruity drinks and live music. It seems that locals frequent this establishment, so I cannot call it a “tourist trap,” but in a way it is. Overpriced food that isn’t the best we had on the island. Still worth a visit for the live music and fun atmosphere!

 After lunch at Duke’s, we ventured out for our first “toes meet sand” moment. Waikiki Beach is PACKED- made us glad we were only staying for one night, however, it was still better than being in the “big chill” back home. Our timing for this trip couldn’t have been more perfect- below freezing temperatures at home, while perfectly sunny in Oahu…and yes, we brought this copy of the New York Post with us from JFK with the sole purpose of taking this exact picture and rubbing it in… :p

 Our first Hawaiian sunset at Waikiki Beach. 

We stayed at an airbnb in Waikiki-just two blocks from the beach where all of the beachfront resorts are. We have stayed at an airbnb numerous times before and loved the experience, so opted for one for our entire trip to Hawaii. This particular one was just for one night though.

Remember the fish tacos we had earlier at Dukes? Well, these were much better and much cheaper! We went out on an evening walk after watching the beautiful sunset and came across a line of people that seemed excited and happy. We joined the crowd and were rewarded with delicious food and some comedy. I ordered shrimp tacos, which are made to order, and the pan was left on with oil in it. I turned to the hubs and said “oh no, that looks like it’s going to cause a fire!” Sure enough, a flame went up in the pan and a grease fire was born. As a New Yorker, my reaction was that of “OMG! There’s a fire! Where’s the extinguisher? Is anyone going to put that out?” Instead, the employees just looked around, shrugged their shoulders and seemed in no hurry to put out the FIRE. People. There is a FIRE. After what seemed like years, someone took the pan with the fire and walked to the back to put it out. A minute later, she came back out with it and said “I’m not sure what to do with this? How do we put it out?” The whole thing unfolded before my eyes in a matter of minutes and obviously wasn’t that big of a deal, but it set the tone for Hawaii- just laid back, one step at a time, chill…something us New Yorkers aren’t always too comfortable with. Surf N Turf Tacos

Our first morning in Hawaii was also our last day in Waikiki. We spent the morning at the beach, the hubs surfing and I reading (probably a trashy novel :p)                                                                                                                                           

We spent the rest of our trip in Kailua. It’s about a 30 minute drive from Waikiki, and while the cab was around $60, the bus was $2.50/each. Guess which one we picked? Since we take the bus daily in NYC, a bus is not a big deal for us, so we packed up our things and took the bus to our next destination. One thing to know if you plan on taking public transit in Oahu: you can’t bring luggage with you. We got around that by packing our stuff into book bags instead of luggage. We travel light anyways, so this presented no challenge.

Our first day at Lanikai Beach. This beach is amazing! Such a breath of fresh air after the packed Waikiki Beach. Lanikai gets a bit crowded with locals on weekends, but since we were here during the weekday, it was perfectly perfect. We got here from our airbnb on a tandem bike. The hubs did the pedaling and I did the sightseeing 🙂 We loved this little beach town- we stopped by and got huge slices of pizza, looked around the local surf shop and overall just relaxed. P.S.- President Obama vacations in Kailua…’Merica!

 A beautiful sunset in Kailua…

On our first morning in Kailua, we looked up some suggestions for breakfast. One place stood out- simple, local, fresh, good ratings and a short walk from our airbnb. We ordered the two most popular breakfast dishes: Egg Roll with rice and Macadamia Nut Pancakes. I wasn’t exactly sure what the Egg Roll with rice would be-but I expected a fried, typical “egg roll” with some fried rice inside. What I got as an actual, literal egg roll stuffed with rice. It was DELICIOUS. And everything I love in a breakfast dish. Savory, filling, yummy, and with a little bit of siracha, spicy. The pancakes were equally delicious and I could eat a plate right now. The Food Company. We returned for dinner and another breakfast within the course of our stay in Kailua.

                        

And there you have it folks…part I of Hawaii. The water is more beautiful than these pictures can ever show and the trip was every bit as relaxing as we’d hope it to be. We usually don’t go back to the same place we’ve visited because the world is SO big and there is so much to see…however, I think we’d make an exception for Hawaii. It’s small, yet so large. So much to see and experience-we might just have to book another visit. But not yet-for there are a few bookings ahead that will lead us on a different type of adventure 😉