Paradise found

I have such a wonderful husband. He had to go to Hawaii for a military conference and asked me to go along. Okay, twist my arm! The room was paid for, we had enough air miles, so basically it was a free trip!
Eddie and I talked about what we wanted to do on our trip...
1. Moose's
2. Haleiwa Cafe
3. Matsumoto's
4. Duke's
5. Shorebird
6. Bravo
7. Maui Taco
For those of you that haven't been to Oahu, our whole list consisted of our favorite places to eat!!! I'm happy to say we hit each on our list.


We got there Saturday afternoon. I loved getting off the plane and breathing in the scent of Hawaii..surf and plumerias and the warmth. Our first stop was Moose's (#1). This used to be our favorite bar to go to in Waikiki. You could go upstairs from 4-7 and have half-priced pupu's (appetizers) and drinks. Then, around 9pm the dancing would start. When we arrived on Saturday the upstairs was closed. Turns out the upstairs isn't open anymore until 9pm. Bummer! Guess things change in 5 years. So, we sat in the restaurant and shared a sandwich and had a few drinks. Not the same though.


On Sunday we were wide awake at 6am so we hit the gym. After that we headed to the North Shore and went to Haleiwa Cafe (#2). This is a total hole in the wall surf cafe, but it is soooo good! It was just as good as we remembered and some of the same waitresses were there. In the winter the waves on the North Shore are pretty big so we hung out and watched them and the crazy surfers for while.

Sunset Beach

Nothin' better than Starbucks on the beach!

Notice the warnings on these signs. The waves are huge and the surf pounds the beach. When you live there, you learn not to put your back to the surf. The waves come crashing down behind you, sometimes sweeping you off of your feet. This is mean, but I think it's funny to watch the tourists come take pictures near the surf. Whole busloads of tourists got out while we were sitting there and all of them came and stood by the surf to take pictures. One guy was dressed in pants and tennis shoes. As he was getting his picture taken the surf came crashing in behind him and soaked him up to his knees. I couldn't help but laugh a little. I know, mean.

The waves building up...

...and crashing on the shore.

Our next stop was Matsumoto's Shave Ice (#3) in Haleiwa. Shave ice is tradition in Hawaii and it is so much better than snow cones. The ice is very fine. I like it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the bottom and now they pour sweetened condensed milk on top (this is new since we've been there), but I had to try it. YUM!! So good when it starts to melt and mix in with the ice cream.

Eddie got vanilla and raspberry

I got pineapple, banana cream and coconut.

One thing we noticed as we drove to the North Shore is that there really aren't any pineapple fields anymore. When we lived there, there were acres and acres of pineapples. We were surprised to come upon these fields of sunflowers. We've never seen them there before. Aren't they beautiful?

Sunday afternoon we headed to Duke's in Waikiki (#4). They have live music outside on their patio which overlooks Waikiki beach. It's always packed and is really a fun atmosphere.

On our walk to Duke's. Diamond Head is in the background.

Funny story...my mom was getting her hair done on Thursday and her hairdresser, Vonda, said "I was in Hawaii on Sunday at Duke's and I saw this girl walk up the stairs that I thought I recognized. I said to my husband, that looks like Lucy's daughter, Traci, but it can't be her because they don't live her anymore." Imagine her surprise when my mom told her it was me! Small, small world.

Monday morning Eddie and I went on a run (we were up at 6am again) through Waikiki. It was very refreshing to run through town when the streets weren't packed with people. After Eddie left for his conference I grabbed my morning Starbucks and then went to the hotel restaurant to get a belgian waffle with bananas, macadamia nuts and coconut syrup. This was another of my favorites! The weather was rainy every morning I was there, but cleared up by about 10am. I headed to the pool at 11 and baked my skin until 3pm. On this day, here was what was on my agenda...

...a Lava Flow and The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. http://www.thelastlecture/ I highly recommend this book and watching his actual lecture at the website. Very motivating, gripping, really makes you take a look at your life, puts into perspective that you never know how much time you really have on this earth. I read it in one afternoon.

My view from my lounge chair.

Our view from our room.

Monday night we headed to The Shorebird (#5). We didn't discover this place until the end of our stay when we lived in Hawaii. It's kind of fun though. You order your meat, and then you take the raw meat, season it however you wish, and grill it on this huge grill.

Tuesday...gym, Starbucks, pool. On today's agenda...

...a Mai Tai and The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Neffenneger. I've had this book for about a month. It was for my book club that met early November but it's over 500 pages and I never finished it. It's really interesting though. This guy travels through time (it's not sci-fi at all) and the chapters jump back and forth between past, present and future. A little confusing. Sometimes I have to go back to the beginning of the chapter to see which "tense" I'm reading about. After two days at the pool I'm in the last quarter of the book.

I took this while driving...shh..don't tell.

Tuesday night we went to Bravo, an italian restaurant (#6). They have the best homemade rolls all drenched in butter, salt and garlic. We had lasagne with half red sauce and half white sauce. (My best bud, Liz's favorite!!) Afterward we went and saw Quantum of Solace. I know, I know, going to the movies while in Hawaii? However, it's rare that we even get to go to a movie so figured we'd take the opportunity. Loved Casino Royale...Quantum of Solace? Not so much.

My pedi in the sand at Waikiki Beach...my last day.

Wednesday...Gym. Check. Starbucks. Check. Swap meet to buy lots of souvenirs? Check. Pool & Sun for 4 hours? Check.

On our walk to Maui Taco.

Wednesday night we hit the last place on our list, Maui Taco (#7). They have huge burritos filled with all kinds of yummy stuff.

Oh my, the salsa choices are endless! My favorite is the pineapple in the middle.

Good stuff!

However, after arriving back at our hotel about 30 minutes later I was completely sick to my stomach. We had to leave for the airport within the hour and I wasn't sure I would be able to leave the toilet long enough to get on my flight which left at 10pm! I wasn't throwing up, just severe stomach cramps. I took a bunch of Tums and just prayed I would make it to the airport. Luckily, I was able to get everything out of my system before my 5 hour flight. It would have otherwise been a miserable trip home!

I was determined to get a picture of the sunset before I left. Each night I missed it for one reason or another. On my last night there I managed to get this one. Isn't it perfect? I was greeted in Seattle by 43 degree weather and rain. However, nothing can shake my high from my trip to Paradise...for a while anyway!