We left Tallahassee at 5AM - and by 2:30PM we were enjoying the atmosphere that is only Waikiki - 5000 miles away. Throw in there a 10 hour flight (with support hose on) a 5 hour stop in Atlanta - and take away a 6 hour time zone jet lag - and you can imagine how happy we were to get here.
We were lucky enough to have seats in the big exit row - we call it the poor man's first class - because we had about 8 feet of empty space in front of our seats. It was really nice for getting up and walking around - plus it was close to the bathroom and kitchen - every grayhead loves that.
While watching the GPS - we flew by MAUI and were able to look down into Haleakala - that famous gigantic volcano. We skirted by MOLOKAI where we once rode mules down to the Leper Colony. They refer it to as Hansen's Disease - and it has been cured - but about 50 patients still choose to live there. One time as late at the 1960's - they were barred from leaving.
We landed right on time - got our rental car - and drove to downtown Waikiki - our favorite section of Honolulu. It is a bit hokie here - but we love the festival and Polynesian atmosphere. Our room is on the 15th floor and our car is on the 5th floor. It is a quite a task climbing the really steep and tight ramps with the car.
We unpacked - showered - then walked up and down Waikiki Beach. We wandered to our favorite Denny's on the second floor overlooking the beach - only to find that they changed it to Lulu's of Waikiki. It is a chain of four restaurants. After supper - we found a hula show on the sand - and finally found a stand selling Pineapple Dole whip - our island favorite. They have other flavors now but we stuck to ours. On our first trip here - our family toured the Dole plantation and canning factory. The cannery is gone - but this memory lives on. Aloha!
