TRAVEL WITH US || HAWAII

Hi guys! I took a little break while I got ready to go back to work and get my classroom together! School started back last week and it was very busy and I am getting used to my routine. I am still going to blog and post regularly because I love writing and sharing with y’all! 😊

Finally, I’m talking about our absolutely amazing vacation to the beautiful HAWAII! It was a dream vacation and we loved every minute of it. Honolulu is a very busy, touristy area. We went in knowing that, but that did not make it any less of a vacation or impact our stay at all. We stayed on Waikiki Beach and that is a great area because there’s tons of shopping (I’m talking super high end! “insert heart eyes here”) and there are so many amazing places to eat! Everything is within walking distance which is so nice because you don’t have to deal with transportation. We did touristy things and we also went to the beach 3 days and relaxed, read, and napped on the sand, which was much needed. Hawaii is a gorgeous place to visit and it is home to some of the nicest people I’ve ever met!!

I am going to be sharing some photos of our trip with captions and outfit links and then when you scroll all the way down, you’ll find my travel guide where I list where we ate, what we did, where we stayed, etc! I think that will be super easy to follow and it should be easier on me as well!

This post is so long, but I wanted to include as many pictures and as much information as I could! Enjoy friends!

PROPS TO SETH FOR HIS PHOTO SKILLS!! WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT HIM?!

HAT \ SWIMSUIT (SIMILAR)

GORGEOUS WAIKIKI BEACH!

MEN’S TRUNKS \ HAT \ SWIMSUIT (SIMILAR) \ MY SUNGLASSES \ HIS SUNGLASSES

GETTING READY FOR THE HELICOPTER RIDE! IT WAS SOOOO FUN! BEST PART OF THE TRIP!

THAT WATER. THIS IS DOWNTOWN HONOLULU.

THIS PICTURE IS BLURRY BECAUSE I HAD TO HAVE MY PHONE IS A PLASTIC CASE OR IT WOULD BLOW AWAY. BUT THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE VALLEY JURASSIC PARK AND GODZILLA IS FILMED IN! SUPER COOL. THE WHITE AT THE TOP OF THE PICTURE ARE CLOUDS!

PEARL HARBOR FROM THE SKY!

THIS PICTURE SHOWS THE SHORELINE AND JUST HOW GORGEOUS THE WATER IS.

Ali’iolani Hale building in downtown Hawaii. Currently the home of the Hawaii State Supreme Court and Hawaii 5 O was filmed here too! 

POLO SHIRT \ SHORTS \ BLACK TOP \ LEGGINGS

POLO SHIRT \ SHORTS \ BLACK TOP \ LEGGINGS

PEARL HARBOR MEMORIAL

PEARL HARBOR WAS BREATHTAKING! I WISH EVERYONE COULD EXPERIENCE IT.

THIS VIEW FROM THE LUAU IS BREATHTAKING! WE WERE ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE ISLAND NEAR THE DISNEY RESORT. I WANT TO GO THERE NEXT. HAHA!

I PROMISE I TOOK THESE PHOTOS. IT LOOKS LIKE A PHOTO FROM A CALENDAR!

VIEWS AT THE LUAU DID NOT DISAPPOINT!

FINALLY GOT A LEI WHILE WE WERE IN HAWAII! YAY! SUNGLASSES ARE H&M.

SETH’S SAILBOAT SHIRT \ SHORTS \ MY DRESS AND EARRINGS ARE FROM FABRIK. 

THE HIKE WAS HARD YALL LOL.

THE WATER IS JUST SO GORGEOUS! 

VIEW FROM THE TOP OF DIAMOND HEAD

SWIMSUIT / MEN’S TRUNKS / HAT

SWIMSUIT / HAT

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WHAT TO DO 

• Shop! There’s tons of surf shops, boutiques, gift shops, and high end shopping along Kalakaua Avenue. Guys. I did not realize that a block over from our hotel would be Gucci, Chanel, Prada, Hermes, YSL, Louis Vuitton. You could say I was in heaven lol! It was so fun to walk around, go in the stores, and browse around after having dinner.  That was one of my favorite parts!
• Magnum Helicopter Tour of Oahu– This was our favorite part of the trip. We took a doors off 1 hour helicopter tour of the island of Oahu. It was breathtaking! The water was the most gorgeous shade of blue I’d ever seen! I want to say it was even prettier than the waters of the Bahamas. Along with the ocean and seeing Diamond Head Crater from the air, we also saw beautiful lush trees, valleys, and waterfalls. We even saw the valley where they filmed the Jurassic World movies, which was so neat! We booked this excursion through Viator, and it was very reliable and offered hotel pickup which is such a plus.
• Dole Plantation– We really wanted to go to Dole Plantation and see where they grow and farm the famous Dole pineapples! There’s a garden tour, train ride through the pineapple and other fruit fields, pineapple cafe, and huge gift shop area where you can buy anything and everything pineapple related. We purchased the famous Dole Whip and OMG. If you have ever had one from Disney World, I hate to say this but those do not even compare. The ones at Dole were sooooo much sweeter and more delicious. It was a really fun little trip. The only downside to this was transportation. We took an Uber there and back and it was very expensive. Transportation to different places, especially if they were 30-60 minutes away, was soooo expensive, so keep this in mind.
• Hike Diamond Head– We hiked up Diamond Head one morning to see the amazing views from the top. But I will say, y’all it was hard! lol. Now, I am not a hiker or an athlete whatsoever so that is probably part of it. It was very busy the day we went, so that made it hard to go at your own pace and stop and take photos when you wanted, but it was still worth it. Once we got to the top, you could look out and see the ocean and Wakiki Beach. The views were stunning. We took an Uber to and from Diamond head which cost us about $10 each way. You can book through an excursion company, but we wanted to hike it up and down on our own time.
• Paradise Cove Luau– We went to a luau one night and it was a blast!! It was a buffet of traditional Hawaiian food, which was delicious. Before the actual luau started there were different activities you could take part in like making lei bracelets and headbands, Polynesian tattoos, throwing of the spear, how to crack a coconut, how they cook the Kalua pig, etc. It was neat to see parts of their culture that a lot of the Hawaiians still partake in. While you eat, the luau begins which includes Hawaiian dancing and flame dancers. It was very entertaining and fun! We loved it. It was also located right on the beach and the views were stunning! Rocky beaches and palms trees everywhere. It was a view you would see in a calendar or computer background. SO gorgeous. We booked our luau through Viator and transportation was provided which is a huge plus.
• Pearl Harbor Tour and Downtown Tour– You can’t go to Honolulu without going and seeing Pearl Harbor. I am a history teacher, so I absolutely could not wait to go. There is so much to do at Pearl Harbor that we didn’t realize . Unfortunately the museum was closed when we were there, so we didn’t get to go out there and look around, but we did take the ferry ride around the USS Arizona and museum. It was very moving to stand where everything took place over 75 years ago. The tour we booked also took us through parts of Downtown Hawaii and we got to see the historical palaces of ancient rulers and see where they film Hawaii 5O. We booked our tour through Discover Hawaii and had the greatest tour guide, Keith! They also picked us up from the hotel.

WHERE TO EAT

• Roy’s Waikiki- This is a very nice restaurant. We had the best sushi of our life here. I had the seafood mac & cheese orzo and it was absolutely delicious. Seth had the wagu steak and approved. This was very fancy and the nicest meal we had on our trip!
• Duke’s Waikiki- Duke’s is a really great lunch spot. It’s right on the beach and has a great atmosphere.
• Flour and Barley Brick Oven Pizza- We ate lunch here and it was fabulous. It was inside a really nice shopping center. The pizza was great and so were the cheese sticks (my fav).
• Encore Saloon- This may have been our best meal while in Hawaii. It was actually Mexican food! We had actually planned on going somewhere else for dinner and it did not work out, so we randomly went to this restaurant and it was amazing. I had the chicken nachos and Seth had tacos. We went on taco Tuesday and the tacos were $2 a piece, so Seth ended up trying all the tacos they had on their specialty menu that evening.
• Tiki’s- This was also a really great restaurant with a fun atmosphere. Seth had duck and I had the salmon. This restaurant was on the beach and you got to watch the sunset as you ate dinner.
• Tommy Bahamas- I originally did not want to eat here because I thought it was going to be a cheesy chain restaurant, but I was wrong! It was really good, the food was great, and the service was amazing!
• Leonard’s Bakery- This is a famous bakery in Honolulu. They are famous for their pastries!

WHERE TO STAY

• We stayed in Waikiki Beach close to Kalākaua Avenue. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Waikiki! It was a newly renovated hotel. It was nice, clean, close to the beach, and close to shopping and eating. Everyone there was so nice and hospitable! If you were going to Honolulu, I highly suggest staying on Waikiki Beach because it is just so close to everything. You can walk to eat, you can walk to shop, you can walk to the beach, and it is just so convenient.

TIPS

• I will say that it is very crowded, but Seth and I knew that going in and it did not hinder our trip at all. We made reservations when we went to eat. A few times we did not have reservations and we didn’t have to wait at all, so it really wasn’t that bad.
• One thing we did learn was that it is very expensive. Now, we knew it was going to be more expensive than a normal trip in the US because everything has to be shipped in, but certain aspects were more than we were expecting. Anytime we wanted to travel, farther away than walking distance, we would Uber. When we went to the Dole Plantation, our Uber trip there and back was $150. Now, if y’all know my husband, you know that he about had a stroke when he realized how much it was going to be. We just had to get over it and move on! So keep in mind that everything will be more than normal.
• Eating was also sooo expensive. Our bills were close to $80 and up for just two people. Other than that, everything was amazing and it was the trip of a lifetime!

Hawaii was beautiful!! It is so much more gorgeous than I could imagine and pictures do not do it justice. Seth and I love traveling and we make sure we include that into our lives because it brings us joy and we love seeing the beauty God has created around the world! What is your most favorite vacation destination? We would love to know to plan for the future!