Lulu Welcomes You To 8 Days in Waikiki

This is Waikiki at sunset right before what looked like a storm coming. Either I slept thru it - or it never happened. 

Where will she take me next? In the last 6 weeks we have been to Disneyworld with the kids - London - Morocco - Gibraltar - Oxford - then Richmond for the holidays with the kids - now Waikiki/Honolulu/Oahu/Hawaii for 8 days.

Yesterday started out with a 5 AM wakeup in Richmond and a quick car ride to the airport. Then after a short ride to Atlanta - it was an Airbus 330 for 10 hours to Hawaii. Luckily we had a nice wide exit row seat so we had 6 feet of empty space in front of us. I call it "the poor man's first class." We touched down on schedule at 4 PM local time. We landed due west on the Reef Runway which means we did a low flyby of Diamond Head and Waikiki.

Landing from the east - here is  slow flyby of Diamond Head

Since we only had carry-on bags - we went right to the curb and hailed an Uber Cab on my iPhone. He was there immediately with a Toyota van and whisked us off to our first hotel at Hyatt Place. We will spend the first 3 nights here for a conference - then walk down the beach a few blocks to our ultimate destination - The Moana Surfrider Hotel. For years we have crashed this famous hotel - Lulu finally found a government rate there that won't break the bank. 

After a little supper - we walked the beach until dark. It looked like a major storm coming - the waves and the wind were coming on shore. 

Waikiki from our plane is so exciting. You can see the church right in the middle. Our usual condo is right behind it 

I am up at 5 AM - the town is still dark and asleep. Everything is calm - no evidence of a storm - no wind - just a pretty view of the mountains - Diamond Head - and the street lights  - from our 12th floor lanai. 

Lulu has to presentation at a convention a couple of days and then the rest of the time she is mine. 

This is the marina in downtown Honolulu. This is where Gilligan left on his 3 hour cruise --- a 3 hour cruise.

The last 4 nights we will stay at Lulu's ultimate destination - The Moana Surfrider. I do not know how she managed it - but she got it at the government rate.