Yesterday was a really, really long day. First of all, this time change is no joke. I'm writing to you from my bed, in my pajamas, barely keeping my eyes open and it's just about 9 pm Hawaii time. But, for you guys back on the east coast, it's 3 am. Going to Vegas helped a bit, but not as much as I would have liked. We were all up around 7 this morning, despite the fact we didn't get to the condo on the North Shore until about midnight Hawaii time.
First of all, our flight was delayed- not a ton, but not ideal when we were already supposed to land at 9:30. But, we did get on the plane, even if it was 40 minutes late. So long Vegas and you're dry, dry air. For real, I just can not take the dry air. I feel like I'm shriveling up, I can't apply enough chapstick, and I'll be thirsty for the rest of my life. (Has anyone seen Rango? When he's all dried out looking for water? That's me in dry climates, every single time). But, I digress.
A long plane ride, but we were super excited. Hawaii! Yay!
It's just under 6 hours from Vegas to Hawaii, but Hawaiian Airlines served us snacks, and dinner- all complementary.
Dinner actually wasn't too bad. It was everyone's first experience with airline food, and we didn't hate it. In fact the corn salad was delicious, and we all finished our pasta.
But the landing, just like the last time I went to Hawaii was not great- lots of bumps and dips. Plus, everyone but Peyton had caught a little tiny bit of my head cold. And that tiny bit was enough to make us all really feeling it in the ears. Everyone was pretty grumpy, so there's no 'we've arrived pictures for you'.
We made it though, sometime around midnight, and we all threw our stuff wherever we could and headed off to bed.
We're staying on Oahu, as our cruise runs Saturday thru Saturday and departs and arrives in Honolulu. We've got three nights on the north shore in a Condo before hand, and two nights in a hotel in Waikiki afterward.
Our condo is at the Turtle Bay Resort, so we have access to the pool and restaurants and beaches that go along with the resort.
It's very 'North Shore' Hawaii, big enough for all of us, and a plus with a condo vs. a hotel room is that we've got a kitchen. Yay for saving on meals. Oh, and we have a washer and dryer, that really helps. (Mom saw us and said 'Oh my gosh, only three bags?' I thought I had done a good job packing, but she seemed really impressed).
We also have a nice little screened in patio that overlooks the Turtle Bay Resort golf course. Funny enough, right outside is a putting green, so the boys like to watch people totally whiff on the easy putts.
Our first stop today was at the Dole Plantation, where James Dole first started growing pineapples over 100 years ago.
We have the 'Go Oahu' cards, which you pay a flat fee for- and then they include all these attractions. It doesn't matter how many you go to, but ours were through Costco so we have four days to use in a two week time period to go to any of the attractions we'd like. Today we used them for the Dole Plantation Train Ride and Maze.
The train ride was a little over 20 minutes and took you all through the fields of various things grown at the Dole Plantation. Of course there are lots of pineapples and bananas, but there's also coffee, papayas, avocados and the like. But, we were excited to see the breadfruit- since we always hear about that in our country project, but had yet to ever even see it in person.
There is also a garden to walk through- and some really cool sights to be seen.
Plus some other fun attractions. The boys were more interested in feeding the koi, and less interested in being in the hula girl picture.
Then we made our way through the Pineapple Garden Maze, which nobody was very good at but me. It was all Survivor style with a middle, and then sections to go out into and located 'stations' or signs about the various Hawaiian Islands. You then scanned a QR code on your cell phone to see how many you could find, and in how long. I was the best at finding the stations though. We found 4 of the 8 in about 20 minutes, and everyone was done.
We rewarded ourselves with Dole Whips. Yes, that's right. I was at the home of the Dole Whip today, and it was glorious.
Asa and I split a dole whip in a waffle cone, and I so wish they had these at Disney, it's what I got the last time I was here, and it was awesome then too. (Disney's don't come in a waffle cone, and they aren't as flavorful)
Of course we all nosed around the gift shop for a bit. Asa decided he just had to try the Spam Sushi. I know it's a thing in Hawaii, but I just can't get behind it. (And yes, I did try it- it's just spam on top of rice. BLAH!) But we did picked up some cute souvenirs. Shout out to Allison who is back in Florida watching our furry friends. I got her and I both matching Dole Plantation magnets, so we could be magnet twinsies again!
After the Dole Plantation, we headed out to this place on the North Shore that used to be an old sugar mill, working with sugar cane. Now it is centered around coffee and chocolate, but they turned the whole processing center into a really cool gift shop stop.
Plus they give you free samples, and a little coffee lesson. I wasn't as happy with the coffee without my chocolate silk milk creamer, but Asa was thrilled.
While Asa and Peyton went on a hunt for their favorite hot sauce to buy, the rest of us nosed around. We just don't get the fascination with spam. I mean, I know it's an island country thing, but I just can't get behind it.
We continued on our trek of the north shore stopping at Givonni's Shrimp Truck. I ate here last time, and it was the one thing I really wanted to have again. Their garlic shrimp scampi is the best shrimp I've ever had, and I talked it up so much, I was worried everyone would be disappointed. They were not, instead they totally agreed with me. Best. Shrimp. Ever. (And we had some little friends --and baby friends-- visit us for lunch, which is always lovely. The boys enjoy the 'wild' chickens as much as I do!)
We headed over to the North Shore Marketplace and made our way around the shops and coffee places. We found pictures of all the 'Lost' actors at one of the stores, and Asa found a fun coffee mug at another.
We considered maybe hitting another stop on our Go Card, but instead decided to swing my the grocery store and head back to the Condo. We picked up some snacks, things for lunch and dinner while we're still here, and dessert, in the form of Ted's Pies- which are famous for their awesomeness on the island. Fun fact: groceries are friggen expensive here! It was nearly $6 for a gallon of milk. (But only 69 cents for our pineapple!)
We headed back to the condo, and then out to the Turtle Bay Resort beach.
Apparently we missed some seals. I was so sad, I would have loved to have seen them. Apparently there was a whole section roped off for them.
But we did climb out on the rocks, which had little tide pools in them.
This won 'favorite part' of the day for about half of us. (Calib tries to power-through things like this, even though I know he hates them. Meanwhile Peyton could do this stuff all day, everyday). We found some crabs, and a few fish, and stayed away from the edges at the waves crashed against them. (Safety first!) The pictures don't really do this place any justice, but here they are anyway.
After climbing around the rocks, poking at the tide pools, we spent some time in the Pacific. It's chilly, but not too bad for this Floridian.
Asa made us all pasta for dinner, and then there were some games
Plus for dessert we had our Ted's Pie (which was pretty freaking good pie), and some Pineapple Wine from the Dole Plantation (also pretty decent).
And now, I am ready for bed. Asa and I did run out to the golf course right outside our patio for a cute dip kiss picture tonight. I think it came out pretty good.
Next Up: The Polynesian Cultural Center!
