HoHo Bus - Honolulu, Hawaii !!!!!!

Thursday, February 8, 2024

A place where you cannot take a bad picture!

 

I am petitioning the federal government to move Hawaii closer to Tennessee so that we can all enjoy it more!  What a beautiful place!!  Today is the island of Oahu and more specifically, Honolulu.  Home of Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach, The North Shore and so many other wonderful places to enjoy.   Trouble is that we are only here for one day and there are only so many hours in the day.  Not complaining but a little more time here would have been nice.  This is our third time here and so we wanted to do as much as possible but also some new things.   So we didn’t sign up for the Arizona Memorial.   Have been there and it is an iconic tribute to that group we all know as the greatest generation.  Such a deeply moving and sobering remembrance to WWII and the men and women of that time.  Some friends went, and made this picture, and it bears posting.

In order for us to get around to seeing as much as we could, Vialula and I got tickets on the Ho Ho bus.  Hop on Hop off.   We picked the blue line due to the destinations along the way.   It is more an open-air trolley than a bus.  It travels a route and people can hop on or off as it moves from place to place.   We stayed on all the way to the end of the route at first so that we could get a feel of where we wanted to go.   As the trolley followed the coastline, the views were unbelievable.  The water was absolutely beautiful and exactly what you would expect to see.    Huge waves crashing on the rocks below us as we hugged the coast.   Our guy knew what he was doing but one false turn and we would be smashed against the rocks, not unlike the waves coming ashore. 

We jumped off the trolley at Sea Life Park in Waimānalo near Makapuʻu Point.  Imagine a gulfarium nestled between the stunningly blue ocean and the tall volcanic mountains. I would be happy just to work in the gift shop!!! This is a training and rehabilitation aquatic park where they train dolphins, study and work with various orphaned or hurt animals and get them ready to be returned to the sea, as well as aquarium style exhibits complete with sharks and turtles, fish, etc.  And it is a very hands-on learning experience.   We saw several groups of kids learning and working with the dolphins.  

My first local beer of the day was called Kona Light.  I was pretty parched so it went down without too much trouble!

After a couple of hours at the park we hopped on the trolley again and headed back towards Honolulu.   We jumped off at a place about halfway up diamond head and had a great burger for lunch.   The place was called Diamond Head Market and Grill, and it was more like a local hangout.  No tables.  You ordered in this window, and you waited and then picked it up at another window.  $47.00 for two mushroom burgers, two fries and 2 cokes.  Everything is expensive in Hawaii.   Sat on a bench and munched away.

After eating, the next trolley coming along took us to the Rodeo Drive of Honolulu.   It is right down near the beach area and we walked along the much too expensive shops to that big pink palace known as the Royal Hawaiian, Waikiki.  It was built back in 1927 , has been on more movies and TV shows than you can shake a stick at.  While it may be old it is still a 5-star resort and a coveted destination on the beach.  Waikiki beach was pretty crowded today as we made our way down the sandy way.   It was pretty much perfect weather and with the beautiful waters you couldn’t ask for much better.  Vialula lost her shoes and took a stroll in the blue waters with Diamond Head in the background watching over it all.  People out surfing, wind surfing, parasailing, sun bathing, swimming.  Not a bad place to spend some time and money. But bring lots of the latter.  

We made our way around the big fancy hotels and got back up into the hustle and bustle of the shopping district so that we could find our next pickup point.  A quick stop to enjoy what is known as shave ice (not shaved ice) and back to the ship we went.    

It was an evening sail away so we got to watch the sun set over Honolulu and as the lights began to turn on the area took on a much different but still beautiful setting. 

On the seas now until Guam on February 18th.  Aloha until then.

LeRoy & Vi