Mele Kalikimaka!
Day 1
After a good night of at least nine hours of sleep for my crew, we woke up ready to have a good day after a messy, hard travel day I’ll tell you about later.
We were picked up at 7 am by a driver for a private tour to Pearl Harbor. That’s an advantage of traveling with a party of 16! Yes, 7 am sounds early, but with our bodies somewhere between the time zones, it was fine! And I’m glad we got to Pearl Harbor early because, like lots of tourist attractions, it got busier as the morning went on.
We watched a well-written movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor, took a boat to the USS Arizona Memorial, and toured the Missouri battleship, and had a snack because by 10:30 am my crew was hungry!
Our driver ended up recommending a HUGE food court at the mall for lunch. Cate and I were pleased with our Fumi’s Kahuku Shrimp choices. Rachel shared a big ole ramen bowl with her cousin and had a crepe. Greg had Korean BBQ. We all rolled our eyes at Ben for his Raising Canes.
Rachel was the only one of us with a swimsuit, so Greg put on yesterday’s clothes, and they went swimming. Ben ended up getting in too, once his cousins arrived. Cate and I explored and tracked our suitcases, which arrived later in the afternoon. Then we changed and got in the ocean.
Other than Greg, none of us have been in the Pacific Ocean, although I’ve seen it several times. Greg hasn’t been to Hawaii before, so it’s fun to all be experiencing a new place.
We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort. Our family of five had two hotel rooms and the cousins had a few others. (Party of 16 total, thanks to my mother-in-law and her Hilton points and status!) Our rooms were in the same hallway, and I certainly wished they were adjoining, but it worked. The resort was decorated beautifully for Christmas, had on-property restaurants, and was surrounded by a village of shops and other restaurants.
We had dinner at Blue Water Shrimp & Seafood in the village, and it was delicious, huge portions for some of the more reasonable prices we’ve seen around here.
Day 2
Mele Kalikimaka!
Ben and Greg went golfing on Christmas morning and the girls and I had a slow start to the day around the resort. They played at Ko Olina Golf Club and us girls spent about five hours straight at the beach.
We went to the Paradise Cove Luau for Christmas — and it was wonderfully Hawaiian. The views, dancers, roasted pig and other food, games, and tattoos made for a fun time. Sadly, this luau closed on New Year’s Eve because the beachfront location is being transformed for dining and entertainment options.
Day 3
We decided to go to the North Shore on this day. We started with the Waimea Valley, which was a beautiful garden along a path to a waterfall. Several in our crew swam at the base of the waterfall. (This was a ChatGPT suggestion!)
Then we lunched at the popular Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck and other food trucks in Haleiwa. I don’t think I’ve ever had cooked shrimp that still needs to be peeled, but the scampi was tasty! Definitely a whole experience waiting, but I don’t regret it.
More waiting happened at the Dole Plantation. We did the maze and train ride. Honestly, not sure I’d wait again to do them. The Dole store is great though! And we did see the best rainbow of the trip there.
Meanwhile, Greg, Ben, and some of the cousins went fishing. They got some bites but didn’t catch anything. We all came back to the resort and ate dinner there.
Day 4
Back to the North Shore! We watched surfers at Bonzai Pipeline and some of our group played in the water and sand. Then we lunched at Haleiwa Joe’s.
From there, we drove an hour to the Polynesian Cultural Center. My husband loved it, and I honestly could have done without it.
We ate dinner in the village near the resort at CJ’s New York Style Deli. It was quick and good.
Day 5
Early wake-up for a day trip to the Big Island! We took a 6 am flight and hit the ground running.
We toured Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which was really interesting! Then we were supposed to go on a helicopter tour, but cloudy weather prompted a cancellation.
We lunched at Coconut Grill in Hilo — and we all loved our food. I had the lobster club, which was unlike anything I’ve ever had. Here’s how the menu describes it: pan-roasted to order, a 4-ounce lobster tail basted in our scampi butter, tossed in a roasted garlic cream sauce, Hawaiian grilled sweet bread, and smoked bacon.
Then we drove around and saw some sites, including Rainbow Falls, massive Banyan trees, Waipio Valley, and Laupahoehoe. Our private tour guide Sue from Show Your Hawaii Tours was awesome!
We returned to the Honolulu airport around 8 pm and then to our hotel, where we got delicious pizza from Round Table to eat in our room.
Day 6
We got a slightly later start today and went for a half-day experience at Kualoa Ranch, which is a 4,000-acre, oceanfront, working ranch where tons of movies & shows are filmed. Cate loved the “Jurassic Park” locations and facts. I particularly loved learning more about “LOST” being filmed there as well as “Lilo & Stitch,” “50 First Dates,” “Soul Surfer,” and many others.
We went on a movie sites tour, had a delicious buffet lunch, and then went on an ocean excursion. Our guides were great and the scenery was incredible, and just what you’d expect in Hawaii.
Kualoa Ranch wasn’t recommended in my crowdsourcing, but it was my favorite place we went and collectively our group agreed.
We got back in time to watch the end of the Racers game and hang out at the beach and pool for our last evening. Cate and I ate Maui Zaui from Round Table pizza — such a wonderful, sweet, savory combo!
Next time
So, would I go again? That’s been a popular question. In the midst of the vacation, I wasn’t sure. I felt like I was one and done with Hawaii. But I’ve since decided I would go back and do some things differently. Like stay in a rental house on the North Shore. Or go on a cruise so I can island hop easily. Or maybe go to another island altogether.
Regardless, this was a wonderful was to spend Christmas, and I’m thankful my generous mother-in-law cashed in all those Hilton points and gifted us this experience.
Other notes
Early Flight
We stayed in the Hilton at the Nashville airport, and that was a great way to start our early flight! We parked in the garage last night, stayed the night, then walked across to the terminal.
Holiday Travel
Some people seem surprised we travel over holidays, but, honestly, I like it. The five of us celebrated Christmas on Saturday and had a great day together. I’d rather make memories & experience places together than buy a bunch of gifts anyway. With extended families, like for this trip, holidays work because most have the same break. We’ve got elementary through college kids with us, so we have to think about a good time for various schedules.
I also talked to my college kid about it and she loves traveling to warm places over Christmas Break. We have traditions, but they may just not look the same from year to year or like another family’s traditions, and that’s okay!
Travel Day
But, I’ll be honest, the travel day to Honolulu was hard. Yes, it’s long, but also Cate was sick (maybe with the flu?). I had a head full of congestion and starting feeling worse as the day went on. We got up at 3:45 am CST and arrived in Hawaii around 1 pm, which was 5 pm at home. And our luggage didn’t arrive until the next day.
Then the rental car retrieval process was S L O W as was the hotel check-in process. We finally got our carry-on bags with no clothes or many toiletries put in our room, found dinner, and stocked up on essentials at Target. Except Cate, who crashed in her bed for the rest of the afternoon and evening.
The Target was messy and picked over, with very few women’s T-shirt and shorts options. There were so many sweatshirts, which just didn’t make sense. We ended up with a cart full of a change of clothes for everyone, some pajamas, a bathing suit for Rachel, some snacks, and drinks. And then I couldn’t take the cart out of the Target in an open-air mall, but I didn’t realize the wheels had locked up and kept trying to shove it out!
Thankfully, Southwest delivered our bags the next afternoon. And the travel home a week later was much smoother all around. Except, of course, for that jet lag, which was real and part of our lives for about five days.
Southwest credit card
I recently got a Southwest card and bought these tickets with it. We got A boarding for the first time. That means we got on the plane before family boarding and sat in row 9. And I didn’t even have to check in at 5 am the day before!
Plus, we all checked a bag for free. In addition to TSA Pre-Check, this is a definite worthwhile perk to make traveling a little smoother.
In addition to the Southwest card, our Capital One Venture Rewards Card gives us back great travel perks, including reimbursing us for our TSA Pre-Check cost, allowing us to book rental cars and hotels through it, and “erasing” travel expenses with our points.
Other packing tips
- Travel blankets – A friend had this Vera Bradley travel blanket that wraps inside itself to be a pillow, and I bought them for my girls and myself before we went to Hawaii. I bought the boys different ones.
- Packing cubes – I just couldn’t justify the price of the expensive ones. These had good reviews and seemed like a good place to start. I bought three different colors.
- Reusable shopping bags – I really like these because they are thin, basic, and easy to wash. They’re great to carry along to separate dirty clothes or move other items if you aren’t staying in one location, which we don’t do on many trips. They also made great beach bags for this trip.
- Book light – I read on my Kindle a lot when I travel, but I wanted a book light just in case I wanted to read on the airplane or in the hotel while everybody else wanted the lights out. I like this book light because it charges and doesn’t require batteries.
- Kindle Unlimited – I downloaded the maximum number of books included with this subscription so I have plenty of options. I reload it as needed. Y’all know I’m a fan of the waterproof Kindle Oasis.
*****
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