Hawaii Part One

June 2015.  Oahu, North Shore.  

Our first morning we woke up to this beautiful sunrise.  I tried to take the picture to really show what the colors were, I didn't want to make it look more rich in color that it was.  I was a little shocked in the morning on the beach when the little crabs came out to say hello.  We also saw a lady riding her horse in the waves of the ocean.  It was so beautiful to see someone riding her horse, it's a dream of mine to ride a horse on the beach.  

                                     

                                     

 Willie and I found a great condo on the beach on the east side of the island.  We didn't stay much there but when we did it was fantastic.

 After getting ourselves ready on day one we traveled on over to the temple.  I must say that it was a great experience to visit one of the first temples built in this dispensation.  I loved seeing the architecture and the celestial room where everything was such a brilliant white.  I enjoyed spending time in the temple making sure I took part in the most important thing on the Hawaiian Islands.

Another walk on the beach in the evening.  A little chilly most of the time we were on the beach, it was really windy and the water seemed cold to me but the company was great.

My review of this place.  We ate chicken, because that's pretty much all they had.  The sides were all the same.  It was good but not a place I would return to.  

 Now this joint, AMAZING!  Willie and I ordered two different meals and enjoyed both of them very much sharing halves.

 Coconut, Macademia nut shrimp.  Yum!

 The cowboy burger, Yum!

The chickens and roosters walking around the place were fun company.  Honestly, they are everywhere on the islands.  I'm surprised we never hit one while driving.  We had the afternoon to go to a beach so we hit up Turtle Bay Beach which really wasn't all that awesome.  Good for what we wanted, but the sun set came to soon.  We read a lot while on the beach.  As the sun was defending we took off to find Sunset Beach to enjoy, well, the sunset of course.  And here it was.  I laughed when I saw so many people on the beach with their cameras out.  The selfie stick was ridiculous, I can't believe how many people were buying and using them.  What ever happened to asking someone for some help to get a nice shot of you with an awesome scenery?

A visit to the USS Arizona and the Missouri as well as the air museum.  I would like to say this was nice to see again and it was good for Willie to experience it for the first time.  If we come back though, I think I will be okay to not see it again.  It was interesting to see the Missouri this time around and learn more of the Japanese with their kamikaze strikes and to see how kind the U.S. was.  Willie is standing next to the spot where a Japanese plane hit the ship, you can kind of see the dent on the side near his thumb.

 Some friends of our went to Hawaii recently and took a photo like this, so we did likewise.  Not many folks were walking around when I was setting this up but hey that's what random benches are for because seriously how effective would the selfie stick be?

 After visiting WWII we visited the dethroning of Hawaii.  It was a beautiful palace and I'm amazed at the Hawaiian Royalty's advancement in technology.  Pretty cool.  Sad that the U.S. just came and took it.

 Dinner was divine.  I have been craving Duke's for over 10 years.  It did not disappoint.  For future purposes we ordered these items..."Baked Duke's Style", the fresh fish of the day baked in a garlic, lemon and sweet basil glaze.  Also, another fresh fish of the day Suateed Mac and Nut and Herb Crusted, lightly dusted in parmesan cheese and bread crumbs topped with lemon and caper butter.  Oh man capers, I never knew were so good.

 Yummy. Yummy. Yummy.  So pricey but worth it.

PCC - Polynesian Cultural Center.  Review.  It was nice to visit for the first time for Willie.  Once again since I have now done it again I can move on to see other things.  Wonderful show and the food at the luau was good.  Somehow we got a smaller luau to eat at and that was nice.

 So long Oahu.  You will be missed.