May 9, 2017 -Tanya's Trip to Hawaii - Day 8 - Honolulu, Waikiki and Dave's Birthday!

Elisa's Daily Scoop
NEXT TRIP DEPARTS IN: 14 DAYS

Hey there,

Well, as of today, there are only 14 days till my trip to Las Vegas!!  Yay!!

Although I'm not a gambler or casino person, I just love the upbeat, aliveness of this town and the many restaurants and top-notch cuisines!

I'm setting up a few dinner reservations this week for us girls to enjoy!  I'll give you some more info once they are made!

(c) travelincousins.com

Back to today...
As Tanya makes her way around Oahu, she'll be visiting Honolulu, the state capital and largest city in Hawaii.

After much research, here are the Top 5 Things that are on my bucket list for when I visit Honolulu.

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1. Pearl Harbor / WW II Valor in the Pacific National Monument 

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2. Diamond Head State Monument 

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3. Battleship Missouri Memorial 

USS Missouri, also known as "Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo",  is a United States Navy Iowa-class battleship and was the third ship of the U.S. Navy to be named after the U.S. state of Missouri.

Missouri was the last battleship commissioned by the United States and is best remembered as the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II.

Missouri was ordered in 1940 and commissioned in June 1944. In the Pacific Theater of World War II she fought in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese home islands.

In the Korean War, she fought from 1950 to 1953. Missouri was decommissioned in 1955 into the United States Navy reserve fleets (the "Mothball Fleet"), but reactivated and modernized in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, and provided fire support during Operation Desert Storm in January/February 1991. 

In 1998, she was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association and became a museum ship at Pearl Harbor.


​4. Iolani Palace

The ʻIolani Palace is the only royal palace on US soil.

It was the royal residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaii beginning with Kamehameha III under the Kamehameha Dynasty (1845) and ending with Queen Liliʻuokalani (1893) under the Kalākaua Dynasty, founded by her brother, King David Kalākaua. 

Located in the capitol district of downtown Honolulu it is now a National Historic Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

It also has an interesting history - the Palace has been home to a royal family, executive building to a new republic, prison to an overthrown queen, capitol to a territory in transition, headquarters for martial law, treasure to Hawaii’s first governor, and now a National Historic Landmark and cultural icon.


5. Manoa Falls

(credit: best-of-oahu.com)

Manoa Falls is a waterfall located in the Manoa Valley in Honolulu, Hawaii.

It is located in the Manoa Falls Trail which is a 1.6 mile trail in on the Island of Oahu.  

It is considered one of the most fascinating waterfalls on Oahu to be seen!  Cascading 150 feet down the mountainside, it is said to feel like more like 1000 feet, looking up at the endless water falling down the rocks.  

Tanya's Daily Scoop
CURRENTLY TRAVELING IN: HAWAII

It's a Berry Special Day!

Aloha and a balmy warm GREETING from
Turtle Bay on the famed North Shore of Oahu.

What a glorious morning of waking up to the sound of the waves crashing right outside our perfect little cottage.  
This is definitely gonna be quite a memorable birthday for Mr. Birdwald Ponypants!  

       HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 
or      hauʻoli lā hānau 
(Happy Birthday in Hawaiian)

Although I'm a BIG planner - I've left this day entirely up to him and how he wants us to spend it.

So, I know that I'm getting on here a bit late to share yesterday's Daily Scoop with you, but I've kinda been busy with the Birthday boy - and I'll share all of these events with you tomorrow - because the day is yet to be over and ya never know what else might happen!

Let's reminisce for a moment about the past few Birdwald Birthday's that we've had right here on Travelin Cousins - because this blog actually began while we were on Birdwald Birthday trip back in 2014...

Related reading:
A Birdwald birthday & Moab for Mother's Day  Part 1

​A Birdwald Birthday and Moab for Mother's Day Part 2
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Dave's Birthday 2014 (c) travelincousins.com

Dave's Birthday 2015 (c) travelincousins.com

Dave's Birthday 2016 (c) travelincousins.com

As you can see we usually attempt to spend and celebrate most birthdays traveling somewhere special.

In 2014, Dominic, Dave, and I celebrated Dave's birthday in Las Vegas and in Moab.

In 2015 Dave and I celebrated once again in Las Vegas (always a favorite), after spending some time on the road doing a fun Southwestern Road Trip.

Then in 2016 although we were in SoCal for Dave's special day - only 11 days later the 4 of us took a magnificent Trip back to the Azores and More.. to celebrate Dave's birthday!

And now we are here in Hawaii - makes me wonder where we will be next year...

Now before I go off on another tangent, let's recap yesterday in Waikiki:

I don't know about you, but I love Waikiki!
And I am a big fan of the Hilton Hawaiian Village - great resort through and through. Everything you could ask for and more!

The famous iconic Rainbow Tower (c) travelincousins.com

Waikiki with Honolulu in the background (c) travelincousins.com

Being in one of my favorite cities and probably my favorite beach (and I'm not a beachy gal - as you all know, but there is just something about Waikiki Beach), of course we had to get our feet wet, and sand between our toes as we strolled from the Hilton Hawaiian Village to downtown Waikiki.

The amazing soft sands of Waikiki (c) travelincousins.com

Diamond-head (c) travelincousins.com

On the way back we would hit the streets and enjoy a different perspective of this metropolitan beach city.

Downtown Waikiki - a shoppers paradise (c) travelincousins.com

Waikiki Beach (c) travelincousins.com

Moana Surfrider (c) travelincousins.com

Midday had arrived and with it so had the heat. I was more than ready for a nice A/C break and some lunch before heading to Pearl Harbor - of which it may be to your surprise that in all the times that I have visited - this would be my first time going to Pearl Harbor...

As per usual, before heading anywhere I always check the hours and any other information that will help me plan out our day and possibly make our visit that much more enjoyable.

With that being said - I've got to say that I was a bit more than disappointed when the hours stated that Pearl Harbor closed at 5pm, and we showed up at 3:15p only to find out that the last boat out was at 3:30p and that we would have to be back at the main grounds by 4pm - WTH?! 
Now I was not the only one standing there in disbelief that this visit was a bust.
There were other tourists who obviously saw the information and were dumbstruck upon arrival.

Not to mention that the 3:30pm boat was sold out - because we were gonna give it a go - even if for only a few minutes.  But not even that happened.

Pearl Harbor (c) travelincousins.com

Feeling a bit dejected we opted that we should just make our way out to the North Shore and settle in for the couple of nights here.

Enjoying our room (c) travelincousins.com

Enjoying our lanai (c) travelincousins.com

A pre-birthday dinner (c) travelincousins.com

This place definitely did the job at setting the mood of relaxation.

Find out tomorrow where exactly we stayed and what my inspiration was.

Hope you had a fine day and night,
​-T