Hawaii 2016

 My Mom and I went to Hawaii over my spring break.  It was the last celebration lined up to celebrate her retirement.  Any excuse to go to Hawaii.  I know I'm in a minority, but Oahu is my favorite island.  We said last time that we would go to Maui next time....and then when it came time to book the trip...we booked Oahu.  I guess I'm a city girl at heart and you get the best of both worlds here.  Maybe next time, Maui, maybe next time.

 I love all the people.  I love the lines of surfboards where there would be bikes on the mainland.

 We did take a day trip to Kauai.  I had NOT visited Kauai, but I agree it's beautiful, and quiet.

 A grand canyon in the pacific, who knew?

 And the fern grotto, I love the personality of each island-so different and distinct.
Then it was back to Oahu.  Mostly we spent the week doing nothing, but we did rent a car and head to the North Shore one day.  A few weeks before they had 50 foot waves and the Eddie (thank you, El Nino).  They were about 15 feet the day we were there, but they never fail to impress in the winter, but...you just can't capture that sort of power on film.  But...check out how big they are AT the shoreline.

 I had enough points on American to fly for free, so we carried over our savings and stayed at some fun places.  We couldn't pick which hotel was our favorite, so half the week we stayed at the Outrigger Main, with a hot tub overlooking the beach.  The last half of the week we stayed at the Moana Surfrider with an unobstructed view of Diamond Head, those great rocking chairs, and a banyon tree covered back patio.  I can't pick a favorite.

 But, here's the view from Moana at sunset with the banyan tree below and my favorite view ahead.

 This year I tried out the Hula Pie at Dukes, better than it even looks.  If you are visiting, I really like Duke's for casual food, they have a great breakfast buffet, we discovered the Hula Hut this year (yum), and my all time favorite is the Shorebird at Outrigger Reef with a grill where you grill your own food in the evening with an unobstructed view of Diamond Head.

 I also love that there is a breaker wall built on part of the beach where you can swim without the currents and waves.

All I can think about is going back.  It will be Maui next time.  Or Oahu.