 |
| Julie Happy to be Back in the U.S. |
After 10 days of sailing, we have arrived back in the U.S.A. We were up, dressed and ready for immigration by 6:30 AM. Since we have been to Honolulu several times, we did not have any trips planned. Our main objective was to find a UPS store and buy boxes and packing tape. We have to have our rooms packed up and luggage and boxes ready to be taken off the ship before we get to San Diego on the 13th. We have to get boxes and tape either here in Honolulu or in Hilo.
We located a UPS store a few blocks from the pier and headed into downtown Honolulu. As we walked into Honolulu, it dawned on us that although we have been in the area several times, we have never really been in Honolulu proper. We have always been in Waikiki. It has somehow never occurred to us that the two locations are different. So this morning we just went walkabout through Honolulu on our way to UPS. We found an open air farmers market selling fresh fruit and malasatas, a Portuguese donut, and ended up at a coffee shop named “Bad Ass Coffee” in recognition of the donkeys that were used to carry Kona coffee from the plantations to the markets in days gone by. Did I ever mention that the coffee on the ship was really bad? Bad Ass Coffee was a little better, but only a little.
 |
| Honolulu Christmas Display |
After we located the UPS store and purchased boxes and tape, we continued our walkabout with a visit to the city hall where they were getting ready of the annual Christmas Shopping parade and had a display of Christmas trees set up. It still did not feel like Christmas with 80o temperatures and native palm trees. We had lunch at the Mission House Museum and slowly made our way back to the ship stopping at the Aloha Towers mall for an after lunch coffee and some coconut & Pineapple ice cream.
 |
| Christmas in Honolulu |
 |
| Waikiki Sunset from Halekulani Hotel |
A group of us had made it a point to have one nice dinner in each of the countries we visited on this voyage and Hawaii would be our last in our adventure. We decided to go to the House without a Key restaurant at the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki. We were able to find a table outside and toasted the Hawaiian sunset for a final dinner. It was a beautiful sunset with sail boats on the west and Diamond Head stood our prominently to the east. The meal and wine were very good and everyone was a happy camper as we left the restaurant and headed down the beach for an after dinner stroll in the sand. We ended up at the Moana Surfrider Hotel – the “First Lady of Waikiki”. Earlier in the day we bought a print at the Mission House Museum of the back deck of the Moana Hotel and wanted to see the real thing while we were close. We also walked through both the Moana Surfrider and Royal Hawaiian Hotels and then caught a cab back to the ship.
No comments:
Post a Comment