Pining for the Fjords

Did you read Part 2?  Catch up here . Although we were slowly adjusting to the time change, we still woke up pretty early the next morning (a Monday), and we made breakfast and coffee to enjoy on our lanai while the world started to stir.  As we were planning our trip, I'd signed myself up for the Honolulu Groupon/TravelZoo/Living Social email lists, and I'd snagged a good price on a spa day voucher at the spot in the hotel next to ours, the LATHER facility at the Modern.  Since Dad and the crew still weren't expected to get in until Tuesday, we'd booked 10am massages for ourselves, figuring we'd hang around the Modern's fancy pool, lounging, eating, and drinking; if the Onde Amo sailed in early, we'd be right next door to the marina, so we could quickly clean up, run down to the pier, and welcome them in. First thing first - time for a toe check-in! Pretty purply this morning! After we finished breakfast, we still had a few hours before our ap

Did you miss Part 1?  Here it is! Even after eating an amazing meal at Chef Mavro and crashing out hard in our condo at the Ilikai, we were awake pretty early the next morning.  We figured this would be the case, since it was our first true morning in Hawaii, and our bodies were still waking up along Arizona timelines.  Knowing this about ourselves, we planned to hit the town right away, riding the bus to Diamond Head State Monument, so we could climb up and see the crater, something we'd never done on our previous trips to Oahu. Spoiler alert: Hawaii is still pretty Since we were up nice and early, we had a chance to see the world outside our balcony become light, which was a fun experience. We were in a west facing room, and thankfully, the sliding glass doors had a nice coat of tinting. Afternoons would have been toasty, otherwise. Once we were prepped (read: coated in sunscreen), we strolled downstairs to the coffee shop to break a $20 (the bus