Ohana Means Family - Part 1

Just a few weeks ago, Chris and I had the amazing opportunity to head halfway across the Pacific Ocean to visit the capital of the Aloha State, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii!

Ah, Hawaii, where every picture looks like

a frigging postcard.

While we're happy to head to the islands for any reason (or no reason at all), this time, we'd be there to welcome my Dad and his crew of six as they arrived after thirteen days on the open ocean, sailing in the 2019 TransPAC Yacht Race.  The race starts in Long Beach, California and finishes at the lighthouse at Diamond Head State Park in Waikiki; Dad raced it the last time it ran, in 2017, and since we were living in the LBC at the time, we were able to send he and his crew off in style.  This time, we'd be able to meet them as they arrived in Hawaii, about which we were all excited.  They expected to come in on Tuesday, 7/23, so we booked a flight in for Saturday, 7/20 (leaving the next Saturday), figuring a +/- three day margin of error should work (forecasting when you're going to arrive 2500 miles across the ocean isn't an exact science).

Back home in hot, dry Phoenix, we woke up with the sun, as our flight headed out rather early.  That was fine, as it meant almost no traffic to the airport.  We breezed through checking our luggage and security, and we headed to our breakfast destination in the recently remodeled Terminal 3, the SanTan Brewing airport location.

Mmmm...7am breakfast beer!

We did not take one of these to-go,

but the idea did cross my mind.

It was going to be a long(ish) flight!

Miss Zoe made it on the Untappd board!

Given the Olsen's extra long legs, we'd upgraded to Comfort Plus on our Hawaiian Airlines flights, so when boarding time arrived, we settled in and got snuggly for the trip.  We both watched movies (I caught up with How to Train Your Dragon 3: But We Didn't Actually Name it That), and I read for a bit, all while keeping an eye on the in-flight tracker.

We think this was where we were passing over
Dad and the crew of Onde Amo,

if their trackers were up to date

Eventually, the cabin lights came back on, and it was time for a welcome cocktail (rum punch!) before we landed.

I spy Hawaii!

We'd rented the use of a condo in the Illikai Tower for the week, as it overlooked the harbor and the Yacht Clubs where all of the TransPAC madness would be happening.  We couldn't check in until 3pm, so we switched into our swimsuits and flippy floppies, left our suitcases with the baggage dude, and headed across the bridge to the Ala Moana Center Mall, which had a ton of great food court options for lunch.

Again, I repeat - this is from the FOOD COURT IN A MALL.

We ate so much fresh fish on this trip,

it was bananas.

After lunch, it was time to stroll through the nearby (as in, across the four-lane road) Ala Moana Park and take some pictures.  The park was pretty packed, since it was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon, and if we hadn't just eaten, we'd have been starving from all the good smells coming from the public grills in the area.  

Chris made it past my defenses (read: my giant sun hat)!

Looking west around the harbor,

back toward downtown Honolulu and the airport

Looking east, toward Diamond Head

You can just see our condo tower on the very

left side of the shot here

Diamond Head!

(Fun fact - Diamond Head was originally known as Ahi Head

because the slope resembled the forehead of the tuna.

Later on, prospectors thought they'd find diamonds

inside the mountain, so the name changed.

Personally, I like Tuna Head Mountain)

East side/Waikiki panorama!

Under the Banyan tree

I made a bird friend!

We strolled around a bit longer, finding ourselves at the Waikiki Brewing Company, which was right down the road.  We shared some fried pickles and tasted some local brews as we relaxed out of the sun.

Not a bad spot!

Once it was time for check-in, we headed back to the condo, got our bags back from the luggage dude, and headed up to the 15th floor.  Using our door code went great (once I tried it on the right door - sorry, neighbors!), and we showered off before promptly falling asleep for a nap.  We woke up in time to make the first trip of many (many, many) to our local ABC store for water, coffee, and so on before we got gussied up and headed to our fanciest dinner of the trip, at Chef Mavro.

Waiting for our Uber in the lobby

Our meal at Mavro was outstanding - apparently, the Chef is French and classically trained, and on a visit to the islands decades ago, he was so taken with the local flora and fauna that he decided to settle there and start a restaurant to fuse the two cuisines.  Whatever he did, it was amazing.  We've found that on most tasting menus, a few dishes are crazy good, others are totally fine, while some are just filler - not here.  Every course was superb, and even once we were full, we couldn't avoid clearing every plate, just because it was so good.  It was well worth the price, and we highly recommend it!

Our first course -

a caviar tartlette

When you go to the bathroom,

the waiter comes by and makes your napkin

into a bird of paradise.

That's how you know it's a FANCY PLACE.

Completely stuffed and ready for bed (again), we caught an Uber home and hit the hay.  What a great first day!

Coming up in future blogs - we wander all over Waikiki and Honolulu proper, we finally get to see Dad and Risa, and various and sundry other shenanigans!

Later!

Amy