Arriving to Oahu

It’s a sensation I’ve come to love as I’ve traveled more, the way a new place signals itself and without pretense.
Michelle Obama, Becoming

Friday April 16th

Aloha Oahu!

After an 11 hour flight, I arrived in Honolulu at 3pm Hawaii time. First off, the Honolulu airport is beautiful compared to EWR. (I also feel like every other airport is nicer than Newark). All of the restaurants and stores have a wooden tropical vibe. The journey to baggage claim was long, but I grabbed my suitcase and was ready to roll.

Amy, Luke, and Travis arrived an hour or so before me and were kind enough to handle getting the rental car. Ironically enough it was a silver Nissan Sentra (my old car). The car was PACKED with our suitcases and the boys packed just as much as I did so I no longer felt guilty for over-packing. I was stoked to see them, hugged everyone, and Luke immediately handed me a beer. I love Texans, they’re always ready to party and have a good time. The Corona light tasted heavenly. I hadn’t had a Corona in years since I gave up beer to help lose weight, but this seemed like a great time to make an exception.

We had dinner reservations for 5pm but my flight landed a little late and by the time we got situated at the hotel we didn’t want to rush. We decided to settle into our new digs. Thanks to Travis we got an amazing discount through Turnkey & rented out 2 units – Amy, Luke, & Travis on the 10th floor, and me and Annie (who was arriving later tonight) were on the 9th. Each has a fridge and kitchenette, and with only 3 short blocks from the beach and a rooftop pool deck, I think we’ll be comfortable for the next 16 days. The one thing we gave up was having in-unit laundry (but that’s why I overpacked!).

View from the back deck rooftop – mountainside

They say Waikiki is the LA of Oahu. I would say it’s a mix between Santa Monica, LA Vibes, and a little bit of South Beach depending on the area you’re in. The main strip by the beach is lined with hotels, restaurants, and tourists…occasionally with a homeless person thrown in the mix during the evening hours.

Once we got settled we decided to explore the surrounding area. A quick 5 minute walk to the beach and we walked along the shoreline as the sun started to set. The perfect first night aesthetic. Waikiki beach was definitely more crowded then I was expecting, but then again it was a Friday and everyone just got out of work. I started to get hungry so we started checking out different restaurants, but on a Friday night in Waikiki you definitely needed a reservation to sit down and order dinner somewhere. Guess we should’ve kept that reservation after all…oops. We stumbled upon Basalt which was a place I had read about when I was researching online. The hostess said it was a 40 min wait so we put our names down and kept walking. We attempted to grab cocktails at a restaurant down the street, but naturally as soon as we were seated I got the text that our table at Basalt was ready. Amy and I hustled back so we wouldn’t lose the table and luckily were seated in a nice, quiet part of the restaurant outside. Finally our first round of cocktails in Hawaii! Clink!

By the time we ordered food I was so exhausted I didn’t feel that hungry anymore but knew I needed to eat something. I opted for a lighter choice – sautéed scallops over basil pommes purée. (Forgot to take a pic but they were perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth). We finally got the check and I felt like a dysfunctional zombie. It was 10pm HT which felt like 4am ET to me, so I was ready to knock out and catch some Zz’s. Can’t wait to wake up early and have a full day of exploring tomorrow.