Hawaii Part 5

So apparently there are a lot of parts to this vacation....BUUUUUT there are a lot of pictures and stories. So I can't squish them!

In case you missed them, read and look at the others to catch up!

Hawaii Part 1

Hawaii Part 2

Hawaii Part 3

Hawaii Part 4

Get ready for picture overload, because Tuesday was PACKED!!!

The day started with breakfast at the cutest diner called Cinnamons. It reminded Megan and I of Sylvia's in Ellsworth, except it had an outdoor seating area. The food looked and tasted very similarly! I thought about sticking to my normal eggs, bacon, and toast, but for some reason eggs Benedict sounded phenomenal. I am so glad it did! Look at that!

I will help you out, it tasted even better than it looks!! 

Next we went to the Manoa Chocolate store. It was above Cinnamons, so as soon as we finished breakfast, we just walked up the stairs. Megan was courteous and checked what time the store opened. I, on the other hand saw people inside and decided to just walk in. Whoops. A girl was in the middle of giving a chocolate tasting with a group. She invited us in, and gave us so much!! I decided to buy a shirt, and a couple of chocolate bars. So much greatness in one little bag! 

Then we headed off to climb the lighthouse trail. 

Who wouldn't want to do this trail??

Off to the right is Hanauma Bay! 

So much ocean! 

Pretty bird.

Straight down to the ocean. So pretty though!

I can't get over how gorgeous this view is.

Mountains and oceans together. So beautiful. 

The lighthouse!

The hike was tremendous. It was very hot in some spots, as we had to walk around the mountain, and there were a few spots with absolutely NO breeze. It was insane to go between fresh ocean air, to dry heat and back again, all within 50 steps.

When we did get to the top, we found that people had been putting love locks on the view point. We found some pretty fun ones!

Skeleton key lock

who doesn't love dinos? Mike and Norie clearly do!

When we got back to the bottom we were both very very tired, so we grabbed a slushie and popsicle at a 7-11, and headed back to the house. 

After we ate lunch at home we decided that we needed more Morning Brew coffee. Along the way we stopped and I bought another pair of Toms!

I was so excited to find them in a store! We then headed to the mall where Morning Brew is located. Right next door was the cutest bookstore. I couldn't help myself. Megan and I both found some good books, and I took a few pictures of books I want to buy later. 

This is my kind of store! 

It's about a woman who learns who she is by identifying with both of her parents over time. Needless to say the title caught our attention first! 

With new books in our hands we headed over for coffee and reading. The perfect combination to end a fabulous day!  

Keep traveling,

M

Hawaii Part 4

Playing catch up? Here ya go!

Hawaii Part 3

Hawaii Part 2

Hawaii Part 1

Here we are, Monday again.

With all of the partying we did over the weekend, Meg and I were ready to take some down time. So we slept in, and spent our morning catching up on normal things. Housecleaning, Kardashians, blogging, facebook, doggie snuggles, etc. It was a great morning!

That afternoon we did decide to go for a hike. We decided on the Pillbox Trail.

The Pillboxes were created as World War II bunkers on the top of a few hills to protect troops when they were fighting the Japanese. This was the message that Megan was told, so I am relaying it all to you! :)

Yea, that's straight down from the trail. Not comforting. 

Look at that view! 

The graffiti is legit! Someone was hungry! 

Another girl was up on the roof, and had done a bridge, and she was bent in half. I wondered if I could still do it. This was my best attempt. I found out, she was 14. Yup, I guess I'm beginning to understand the changes that come with old age. hahaha :)

A view of the sunset!  

Love the view! 

 Meg looked at this picture afterwards, and noticed the date. Apparently I need to find a guy with a G name by December, 13th! Hahahaha.

Finally found the trail sign!

Crazy sun pictures.

We were going to stay for the actual sunset, but we started craving coffee. Off to Morning Brew!! We loved that little coffee place, and their coffee is too hard to stay away from.

When we arrived we saw this:

That's right folks, they were roasting the coffee beans there!!! We sat down at a table next to them, and with a couple of questions, we ended up talking for an hour and a half. This couple had been to Maine, and could name several small towns, their favorite being Cutler, Maine. These people know Maine and are living in Hawaii! So much fun!! :) They were so sweet, and gave me fresh coffee. He pulled it out of the roaster, ground it, and handed it to me. The grounds were still warm! When Megan and I made it the next morning, it was heavenly! 

They also told us about Manoa Chocolate Company which roasts and makes their own chocolate products. But that will have to wait for another post! 

Keep traveling,

M

Hawaii Part 3

If you missed out on the party.

Hawaii Part 1

Hawaii Part 2

Third day. Saturday.

This post might be picture heavy, because we did A LOT!

First we went to Hanauma Bay. It is a beautiful bay that was carved out by the ocean water and the volcanoes. Coral and fish have come in and taken over. So of course we had to snorkel. I unfortunately did not have an underwater camera to capture any of the gorgeous fish, so you will just have to come visit for yourself.

There was one fish, that was at least 2 feet long, bright purple with blue fins. The fish was gorgeous. It also swam less than 3 feet away from me. I like to look. I'm very good at the looking thing, not so much the touching thing. I don't like fish touching me. 3 feet of space is not enough with a fish that big. So I swam away. Hahaha.

Here are some of the pictures over looking the bay.

I know, I know. I'm a jerk. All that beautiful blue water that I got to swim in. Hahaha. It was very warm. It has been years since I have snorkeled, but it came back so quickly. So much fun to just swim around, look at God's handy work, and all of the intricate details. 

Later, we went into Waikiki and went para-sailing. Megan didn't want to go, so I talked Shawn into hanging out with me. She took some pictures, as well as relaxed, and enjoyed the boat ride. It was almost like being back on a lake in Maine. 

Getting ready to ride!

Shawn doesn't enjoy my shenanigans.

Channeling my inner Jack Sparrow.

Take off!

Flying! 

We might have been a bit up there. 

Landing.

 Para-sailing was so much fun. Much calmer than I thought. Shawn and I both agreed that we should have done skydiving instead. We wanted a thrill, something to be crazy, and although para-sailing was a fun experience, it was just too calm for these adrenaline seeking folk. 

We finished out the day by heading to the North Shore, to watch the sunset on the beach. It was beautiful, and a nice swim. But we got a bit hungry, so the sunset was forgone, and we went out for food instead. :) 

Sunday. 

We started our morning by hitting up Denny's. They don't really have breakfast places here, so Denny's it was. 

We then went to church, and headed over to the Beach Bash. They were doing baptisms after lunch. I had never seen baptisms done in the ocean. Some people fell over....the waves were a bit much. But we stayed from 1:30 in the afternoon until 8:30 at night. Meeting everyone was so much fun. The sunset was gorgeous as well. I found out how to take panoramas, so I got a lot of the sky that night and all of the colors. 

The picture does not do justice to the colors. 

The weekend was wonderful. God had made so many beautiful places. I am so blessed to be able to see so many aspects of it. 

Keep traveling,

M

Hawaii Part 2

If you weren't able to read part 1, and you don't feel like scrolling down, feel free to click this link here...

Hawaii Part 1

...and that will get you up to date on what this curious traveler did in her first day in Hawaii!

Now onto the good stuff.

After the beach, we decided to head into Waikiki to go to dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. DELICIOUS!!

First though we stopped at the Pali Lookout, and boy was it windy. Meg and I were so cold from our beach shenanigans, so we took a quick photo, and booked it towards dinner!

Wind=hair fixing

Look at the tan lines, lots of sun! 

#Godshandywork

Second day. Friday.

We decided, like any good girlfriends do, to grab lunch and get a mani/pedi. It was HEAVEN!!! My cuticles were a bit sore, but hey, nothing like getting them ripped off in a tropical place!!! I decided to get a bright pink, in Megan's words "to make [me] look more tan." I can use all the help I can get!! :)

We ate lunch at this delicious salad place "Aloha Salads". It was so yummy! Everything was so fresh, great colors, and very flavorful. I had a passion fruit and orange salad dressing. YUM!

After our nails were dry, NEEDED coffee. Lucky for us there was an Adorable coffee shop right next door. I was asked if I wanted the vanilla or spiced chai. There were choices for chai?!? THE BEST EVER!!! So delicious. We ate bagels, and enjoyed how cute the shop was.

That night we headed back down to Waikiki to walk around, watch some fireworks and see the city. The sunset was gorgeous, and the fireworks were great! A hotel has a firework show every Friday, so they aren't as big as the 4th of July, but they were still beautiful!!! 

gangster shawn.

silly people get in the way of my sunset.

the fizzy ones happened right before I clicked it. 

so pretty!

the finale. whiz. pop. bang. 

It was a beautiful night. So nice to walk around, and see so much of the city. 

Onto the next adventure! 

Keep leaping!

M