Aloha!

I have quite a few memorable events and daily moments from the last month that I am looking forward to sharing here, but I am skipping all of those things (in spite of my OCD tendencies which are weeping in despair at the bucking of chronology that is happening) BECAUSE.....because because because because BECAUSE, J and I are in HAWAII! RIGHT NOW!

HAWAII! HAWAII! HAWAII!
(B has texted me this cheer at random moments for the past 3 months - there has been no shortage of enthusiastic buildup for this vacation!) 

Classic boarding

We flew from Phoenix to Honolulu this afternoon with our friends B & M. We all sat separately (cheap tickets), and I was in a window seat, which made me feel a little claustrophobic and anxious. BUT when we descended in Hawaii, there was no seat I'd rather have had - I gazed out the airplane window, my forehead pressed to the pane, searching for the first site of island sand. When my eyes were scouring the water, I noticed a shape in the water, lighter than the water and the shadows from the clouds - a thing! When all I'd seen for hours was water water water! At first I thought it was wreckage in the water, and then I realized it was kind of....moving....ohmygosh I think that's a whale! I am pretty sure it was a whale close to the surface of the water, based on how high we still were and the size of it. People, I know I would be skeptical if I heard that story, but I'm telling you, it was sea life! Thrilling. (And I kept thinking of Life of Pi).

And then we continued descending - I turned away from the glass to mouth the words "I just saw a whale!" to J across the aisle and two rows down, and then remembered I was watching for land so I quickly turned back and had my first view of a Hawaiian island! It was small and undeveloped, I'm not sure which it was. And then a few minutes later, I saw golden sand, palm trees, and ombre water, aqua to turquoise over reefs to deep royal blue - it was beautiful and so very Hawaii. (Maybe Maui?)

Surreal. Magic.

And then we finally landed in Honolulu, collected our baggage, straightened out a connecting flight schedule change, and took a cab to our hotel, the Aqua Palms Waikiki.

 

Pretty flowers in the lobby

When we got up to our room, we realized we could see the ocean from our balcony!

 

We threw on our swimsuits and were off to the beach.

We stayed just across the street from the Hilton, which is beachfront property, but there are shops and restaurants galore on the property, so our walk to the beach was the equivalent of walking a few blocks.

Our foursome in front of pretty waterfalls outside of the Hilton - can't believe we're in HAWAII

And then we were THERE, on Waikiki beach, in Hawaii. So amazing.

(And I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't thinking of the Brady Bunch Hawaii episode once we were on the sand..... and basically every time I daydreamed about our Hawaii trip since it's inception - tiki curse, anyone?)

First time on this side of the Pacific! The water was SO WARM.

Doesn't this look like a postcard?

We swam for a while, raving about the (surprising!) warmth of the water and how beautiful the beach is - some of us may have gotten a little emotional over the loveliness, maybe.

And then we walked, first along the beach.

where we saw this turtle pop his head out to take a breath (I totally screamed when I first spotted the turtle bobbing right below us)

and then eventually realized there were three turtles (you can see two in this photo, one just beneath the other underwater).

After watching the turtles, we made our way off the beach to forage for food amongst the Louis Vuitton shops and Starbucks on every other corner. B & M found a vegetarian place and J and I ate tacos - korean short rib and shrimp for me, tuna for him (yum), and then we walked back to the beach to watch the sunset.

Tomorrow: Pearl Harbor Memorial and then flying to Kauai - more soon!

Aloha!