TRAVELING THE WORLD 365 days/year. You can visit us on Instagram at whereintheworldaremikeandjan. Do not hit “Reply” to message us – Use Contact Tab, above.
The very first port of call on our 69-day cruise is Honolulu, Hawaii. It is hot, beautiful, bursting with life and vegetation, and for some reason, very calming. You just don’t feel stressed here. While Honolulu is the biggest city in Hawaii, there is no feeling of rushing or busy-ness. We spent some time in the Moana Surfrider Hotel, opened in 1901 as Waikiki’s first hotel, and affectionately known as “The First Lady of Waikiki.” Rooms back in 1901 cost the pricey sum of $1.50!!! We rocked on rocking chairs on the front porch (free to anyone who can snatch one) and feasted on an Açaí Bowl – highly recommended as a cooling, delightful snack (see photo below). The music playing over the loudspeaker was old-timey Hawaiian, but the effect was very calming.
Waikiki Beach was the same as always – filled with sunbathers on the beach and surfers in the water. Bare feet and surfboards were everywhere. The city is beautifully landscaped and very welcoming, with “Aloha” greeting us wherever we looked.
Mike went diving in the early morning hours, with his destination a ship intentionally sunk off the coast in 1999. The Sea Tiger is a 150-foot former Chinese merchant ship, which sits upright at a depth of about 100 feet. It is just a few miles off shore and takes just about five minutes to get there from Kewalo Basin Harbor. Mike saw quite a few white-tip reef sharks swimming around and an enormous (5-foot-long) sea turtle taking a nap inside the ship. It is easy to see why Hawaii remains a dream and goal for so many people. Enjoy the photos!
The early morning sun. Mike captured this photo from his dive boat, somewhere around 7:00 am.Everything looks calm and beautiful.Early morning parasailing.The clouds are so dramatic here!Information card for the Sea Tiger.Surfers are everywhere in Honolulu, at all hours of the day. People are carrying surfboards through the streets, and surf shops are plentiful.A shot off the ship, just coming into Hawaii.Choy’s Monster, a Pacific Blue Marlin caught in 1970 weighing 1,805 pounds! After 52 years, it still holds the record as the largest marlin ever caught.Duke Paoa Kahanamoku Statue, on Waikiki Beach, Hawaiian Olympic champion and father of international surfing. Coincidentally, there is also a statue of Dukein Huntington Beach (AKA Surf City), where we used to live before we adopted the Purposely Homeless lifestyle.Waikiki Beach, with a procession of surfboards, as usual.Most of the people in the water are surfers, waiting to catch a wave.We liked this clock with the wrong time on Waikiki Beach – we visited in the afternoon, so this was 3 hours off or so. Hawaiians don’t get as concerned about things like time and clocks as much of the rest of the world. It is one of the things that makes this place special.Along Honolulu’s thoroughfares and sidewalks are trees, flowers, landscaping, and water features like this one – just because.Did you ever wonder what a Hawaiian Christmas tree might look like? Here is one store’s interpretation….Yes, even a whole store dedicated to Christmas, which is only 10 weeks away, don’t forget.The Moana Surfrider Hotel, a Westin property. It is situated right on Waikiki Beach, in the heart of everything.In the back, on the beach side, there are several bars and restaurants, with loads of rocking chairs.The lobby is lovely and elegant.The front porch, facing Waikiki’s main drag, has rocking chairs for anyone who can find one that is unoccupied!We were told not to miss the Açaí Bowl in Hawaii. We ordered this one at the hotel snack bar, and it was “only” $12.57. The bottom is an açaí berry smoothie, and it is topped with bananas, strawberries, blueberries, coconut flakes, and granola. It was refreshing and delicious…probably even more so because we ate it on rocking chairs on the hotel’s front porch!This retail store’s logo is cute….a women’s clothing store.These surfboard-shaped signs with Hawaiian history are placed all around Honolulu.The Rolex store has a whimsical sea life display window.The most popular mall in downtown Honolulu, International Market Place is indoor/outdoor (as are many hotels and businesses in Hawaii).Banyan trees are everywhere, even inside the Market Place! The benches are also rustic and unusual.An interesting and unique timepiece coffee table.Hmmm…she has a leash….on a flamingo’s neck!There were signs on the main street for Honolulu Pride, and this display was smack in the middle of the shopping center.A nice, bright, welcome sign!Several of these street legal dune buggies were seen as we spent time near Waikiki. The sign on the rear says, “Rent me.”Another pretty area of this unusual mall.There’s room for full-size palm trees to grow as tall as they wish!Lululemon displayed this pretty surfboard.Don’t know why we liked this – just wavy planters in different sizes and shapes outside a hotel.Royal Hawaiian Center, another indoor/outdoor shopping center.The center had small water features and landscaping throughout.These tree branches extended quite a distance.A “very different” window display! (No, we have NO idea…)We loved these pots for plants, in a jewelry shop, of all places!Sunset over Honolulu.
🔹🔹 If you enjoyed reading our post, you can subscribe to our website to automatically receive every blog we publish. Just go to our “Contact” tab. In the gray box at the very bottom, it says – SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL.Just put in your email address, and we will appear in your Inbox! Also, right above it, there is a small form to send us a message, if you wish.
