Aloha from Hawaii

After a 4 a.m. alarm, a 15 min. drive to the airport, and a 5 hour flight, we arrived in Hawaii.  Luckily Sue woke up to the 4 a.m. buzzer alarm from the hotel clock and didn't need the back up alarm that went off ten minutes later.  She was in the shower when the roosters began crowing from my phone alarm.  Sue hates my roosters.  I changed the alarm to a soothing melody in case it is needed again.  No need to tempt fate.

 

Diamondhead Sunrise

We checked in to the Outrigger Reef Hotel on Waikiki Beach.  Our ocean front room overlooks Diamondhead, the Pacific Ocean, sea turtles, tourists, umbrellas, more tourists, sand, palm trees, and a few more tourists.  Did I mention the tourists?  While the population of all of Hawaii is 1.42 million people, only 238 folks are locals and the rest are tourists.

Native Hawaiians were tourists themselves not so long ago.  Historically, this chain of islands was mostly settled by Micronesians, Polynesians, and Amnesians.  The Micronesians are a small people, you wouldn't even know they are here.  The Polynesians are famous for their great complexions as they almost never wrinkle.  A quick spin cycle and they are young again. The Amnesians are an interesting group most notable for their expression, "forget about it".  The largest group inhabiting the islands are the Touresians who come here from Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Sweden, and Nebraska.  A final group of settlers to the Hawaiian islands are the Samoans.  These are not to be confused with the girl scout cookies with the similar sounding name.  The Samoans are a large heavily tattooed people.  Their name comes from the fact that, when offered food, they regularly answer that they want "some-more".

We learned the most common Hawaiian terms of Aloha and Mahalo.  The word Aloha loosely translated means, say goodby to your money because Hawaii is expensive.  Mahalo means thank you for taking my money.  The Hawaiians are nothing if not polite.

Outrigger Room

On our arrival in Hawaii we made it down to the Shore Bird bar and restaurant where we started our island vacation with a Mai Tai (or two) and nachos.  While the nachos are technically not "Hawaiian", they do help you drink more Mai Tai's and the next day they remind you of what you did the day before.  Mai Tai's are a Hawaiian drink responsible for more admissions to the local hospitals than any other beverage.  Not for their alcohol content but because of the tourists blinded when they forget to remove the little umbrellas.

Sue at Shorebird Bar

 The Mai Tai's at the Shorebird Bar couldn't hold an umbrella to the Mai Tai's at the world famous Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian.  The difference was very notable, the Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai's were $15 each where the Shorebird Bar Mai Tai's were $5.00 a piece.  No comparison.  Same drink just not as famous.

This is a "famous" Mai Tai (translation $15.00)

Our introduction to Oahu was a day long photography tour.  It took us around the island to the north shore for the sunset.  We stopped off at numerous locations of unparalleled beauty.  While a couple of us "old timers" still toted the "big glass" synonymous with DSLR cameras, several on our tour had those fancy new smartphones.  It is easy to spot the old vs. the new photographers.  The old ones are hunched over and sore by the end of the day.  The younger cellphone  crowd is still smiling and ready to go out dancing.  The sad thing was that the cellphone folks still walked away with good pictures.  

Jack is Ready For His Photography Tour (pic by Sue)

Sue's Photo From Tour

Photo Tour

Photo Tour

Photo Tour

Photo Tour

Photo Tour

Photo Tour

Photo Tour

Our second day in Oahu was mostly spent drinking Mai Tai's to ease the pain of toting heavy camera gear the day before.  It ended with a luau where more Mai Tai's were consumed.  I'm not sure what the term luau means but I am told you shouldn't utter the word anywhere near a pig as it makes them very nervous.  A large bus picked us up from our hotel and drove us to a picturesque park.  Long tables were set up and the entertainment took place on a large stage.  It was here that girls in grass skirts danced to the delight of the male audience.  

Then large muscular men came out to dance and the men in the audience realized they were not in good shape.  The women in the audience just smiled.  Later some large Samoan men came out and the male audience felt a little better about themselves.

Male Dancer (Jack's Body before he discovered beer)

Our last day in Waikiki Beach was planned with a relaxing excursion to the Arizona Memorial.  This was a somber reminder of our entry into WWII.  Our bus picked us up across the street at the Trump Tower and drove us by the hospital where President Obama was born and the school he attended.  The irony of the proximity of the Trump Tower and the president's birthplace was not lost on us.   Tomorrow we board our cruise ship for our journey to the other islands. 

Arizona Memorial

That is if we decide to leave Waikiki as Sue just informed me that paddleboarders were gliding by our balcony on boards that were lit underneath with led lighting.  The pictures were great.  Too soon for sharing but wait,  Sue had great shots that required grabbing...., here is one....,

Sue's shot from our balcony of paddleboarders