Day 1: Detroit to Waikiki
The drama started before the trip did. A winter storm was forecasted to hit Dallas, where we were to change planes, so we rescheduled our flight to change planes in Phoenix instead. Since we had an early morning flight, we went down the night before and stayed at a hotel near the airport. My brother drove us and we had a nice dinner with him at Leonardo’s before he headed home in the snow.
That evening our flight to Phoenix was delayed by several hours, which would have caused us to miss our connecting flight. (Our original flight to Dallas was still scheduled, but full.) So we rebooked the only remaining route, which was Detroit-Philadelphia-Los Angeles-Honolulu. We didn’t like that, because Philly is in the wrong direction, and it meant changing planes twice. So in the middle of the night I canceled our American Airlines flight — we had used airmiles, so we got all those back — and booked a nonstop with Delta. (I remembered that option from when I was researching flights and they had plenty of seats available.) That flight ended up being delayed for several hours but we did make it out. All the American Airlines flight options ended up canceling; we would have been stuck in Detroit or Philadelphia had we not rebooked. So, it cost us a lot more since we had to pay for the Delta flight, but we made it.
The winter storm messed up a lot of travel plans across the USA. Here’s some of what we saw enroute.
We ended up arriving in Honolulu just a little later than originally planned, just in time for our dinner reservation at the hotel restaurant. Our shared poke bowl and a couple of beers was just what we needed.
Here’s the view from our room.
Day 2: By the Pool
We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, using our 15% off voucher we got when we checked in. We weren’t up for a lot today but we walked down to the beach to check it out. It was crowded. So after stopping at the ABC Store for beer and snacks we headed down to the pool to hang out. We got seats in the shade and had our free welcome drinks from the pool bar.
We split a poke bowl for dinner again — I really like poke and this is Hawaii — then drank our free wine and too much beer while enjoying the view from our balcony.
Day 3: A Walk along the Beach
This is our third time visiting Waikiki and I’d never really looked for things to do here, assuming it was just the beach. This time I did look, and discovered there are some older Hawaiian homes down at the end of the beach, so we walked down there today. Along the way we passed a Duke Kahanamoku statue and a red flowering tree? Vine? Pretty sure it’s a vine.
The older houses are in a little neighborhood near the beach and stretching inward. They’re not large by modern standards but I’m sure they were pricey when they were built and still are now. Definitely lean toward cute rather than grandiose. The one bottom right is thought to be the original Hawaiian bungalow.
Chickens are everywhere in Hawaii. This may be the first one we’ve seen wallowing in the grass. Certainly the first we’ve seen nesting in a tree trunk. We pointed the nest out to a passing father and son. Parrots are always fun too.
We ate dinner at the hotel again. Kahlua pig fried rice this time instead of poke. It’s been kind of fun watching activity on the street below from our balcony, and we have a side view of the mountains.
Essentials
Lodging
We stayed at the Wayfinder Waikiki, which was even better than expected. (And I had high expectations.) The room was cozy and I liked the vintage Hawaii vibe. The pool area was compact and felt nicely secluded. The beach is only a few minutes away yet the area feels quiet. Service was super friendly throughout. The Wayfinder is not cheap, though we found it good value. A less expensive option is The Breakers, where we stayed on a previous trip.
Dining
There were plenty of restaurants nearby but we liked the Redfish restaurant downstairs so much we ate all our meals there. Their poke menu is extensive and flexible and they have other interesting options, plus a burger if you’re not feeling adventurous. There’s also a pool bar, and a coffee bar.
Transportation
We used Hawaii23 to get to and from the airport. Prompt, personable, and organized. They dealt with all our flight rescheduling. Other than that we walked everywhere. In flip flops!
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Waikiki Stopover
Waikiki reminded us a lot of Las Vegas. Lots of high-end retail stores, lots of people walking around. The beach is nice, though a bit crowded for our taste. It was a nice weekend but we wouldn’t want to spend longer than that here.
Oahu
Honestly, we were not that interested in Oahu. But since we had to fly through there on the way home, we arranged it so we could spend a day there. We enjoyed it more than we thought we would.