Hawaii
Family Vacation
May 2019

9:15 am 2:00 pm	depart DFW on American Airlines flight 1123
12:41 pm 5:00 pm	arrive in Honolulu
afternoon evening	check-in at Aston Waikiki Sunset Hotel

Fitbit stats:
To bed: 11:03 pm (had to pick Chad up at bus stop at 10pm), Got up: 6:27 am (6:10 asleep)
Steps: 3,737 (1.75 miles)
Floors: 22

We started our vacation off inauspiciously. We arrived at the airport 2 hours before our 9:15 AM flight, boarded, then sat on the plane for almost 2 hours due to a malfunctioning in-flight AC valve. I was in the middle of watching "Crimes of Grindelwald" when they announced we were going to have to switch to a new plane. They had us go back into the terminal, fed us a snack, we sat around awhile, then finally boarded the new plane, which didn't take off until 2 pm. We were supposed to arrive in Honolulu at around 12:45 pm local time; instead we arrived at 5 pm (10 pm in Dallas). We got lei'd and driven to our hotel, and only had enough time to unpack and briefly settle in before going out to eat supper at a nearby Denny's and then turning in for the night.

broken plane

view from hotel room

This is all we packed!!

morning	Aloha VIP Tours breakfast & buy-our-tours spiel
afternoon	explore Waikiki: Honolulu Zoo, Diamond Head Crater
overnight	Aston Waikiki Sunset Hotel

Fitbit stats:
To bed: 9:45 pm, Got up: 6:18 am (?? asleep - overlapped w/ activity due to time change)
Steps: 22,875 (10.73 miles)
Floors: 69

Our first full day in Hawaii. We started the day off by going to a free breakfast offered by Aloha VIP Tours, in return for listening to their buy-our-tours spiel. I got a free pineapple charm necklacefrom one of the tour sponsors, Maui Divers Jewelry, then we walked to a nearby WalMart to buy a few things. Back at the hotel, we met up with Chad, who'd skipped the breakfast to go swimming at Waikiki beach, and we all walked to the nearby Honolulu Zoo, then around to the entrance to Diamond Head Crater and up to the lookout ($1 per person for walk-ins, $5 per vehicle). We caught a cab back to our hotel, went wading briefly at the beach, then ate supper at Tokkuri Tei, a very authentic Japanese restaurant.

Birds of Hawaii
I found these pictures online, as my attempts at photography were vastly inferior, but here are some of the pretty birds we saw frequently around the islands. We also saw cattle egrets, pigeons, and feral chickens that look like jungle fowl.

Mynah

Red-Crested Cardinal

Spotted Dove

Zebra Dove

Honolulu Zoo

Victoria Crowned-Pigeon	Green Iguanas		Fennec Fox
Nenes	'Nene w/Nenes	Komodo Dragon *8s video (1.6MB)*	Giraffes
Peacock	Elephants		Gharial
Sulcata Tortoises	White Handed Gibbon *17s video (3.7MB)*	Sun Conures	Kookaburra

Diamond Head Crater State Monument

crater entrance	crater tunnel	inside crater	crater map
waikiki	pillbox on ridge	crater lookout	crater lookout
Crater Lookout *28s video (2.2MB)*	lighthouse	view from pillbox	pillbox stairs

stairs to pillbox	stairs to pillbox	stairs below tunnel	crater trail

Waikiki Beach			Tokkuri Tei Restaurant
			squid pancake with "dancing fish flakes"

noon	check-out of Aston Waikiki Sunset Hotel
afternoon	board Pride of America at Honolulu Pier
7:00 PM	Pride of America departs Honolulu (cabin #4061)

Fitbit stats:
To bed: 11:38 pm, Got up: 7:03 am (5:47 asleep)
Steps: 8,082 (3.79 miles)
Floors: 19

We checked out of our hotel at noon and were shuttled to the pier to board the Pride of America for our cruise around the islands. (Pride of America is the only ship that does this cruise, and this is the only cruise Pride of America does.) It took 5 queues to get onboard: 1. get luggage tags, 2. drop off luggage, 3. security check, 4. check in & get ID cards, 5. board ship. Also, we got lei'd again during this process, with a choice of either an orchid flower lei or shell lei. After boarding, we ate lunch at the Aloha Cafe buffet and waited for our cabin to be ready for occupancy. Mom & Dad left the ship to walk to a nearby store to buy bug spray, while Chad and I waited on the ship and moved our luggage into the cabin when it was ready. We unpacked, attended the lifeboat drill, then did a walking tour of the ship as it was leaving port. Dinner at the buffet (we pretty much only ever ate at the buffet while onboard), then I went to bed early while the others went to the evening entertainment featuring a magician and a comedian.

Pride of America