Hey blog heyyyyy. I’m sitting here in bed recovering from having some varicose veins burned out a few days ago, thinking about our recent trip to Oahu SANS ENFANTS. Was it grand? Yes, it was pretty grand. Here I am posing at Waikiki beach, soon after our arrival.

All of the hotels are clustered near Waikiki beach, including the hotel that I thought I had a good deal on via booking.com. It worked out to be about 195$ per night. Imagine my disappointment, then, when we arrived to a somewhat shithole room that when I looked up the price on the hotel’s website was only 117$ per night! Auughhhh! Luckily after the first night we upgraded our room to a room with a balcony (you have to have a room with a balcony when in Hawaii) and it was much, much better.

It was our first time visiting Oahu, and it is definitely more populated than Maui. Waikiki beach at 6 in the evening was quite crowded! And there is always noise like a city, all day and night.

I bought a gold bikini for the trip and only wore it this first night at Waikiki beach. I was scared to wear it snorkeling! Aren’t fish attracted to shiny objects, much like myself? I didn’t want a shark taking a bite out of my big ol’ gold ass.

Showing off his “Seattle tan”. We both got absolutely roasted on this trip. I think because without the children in tow, we had gobs of time to just…lay on the beach. And perhaps that spray-on sunscreen ain’t all that it promises to be. Whoops.

The following morning we visited the Buddhist temple, which was Josh’s idea. Here’s the posing poser, always posing.

The temple was very pretty. I lit some incense at one of the shrines.

We have been together for 18 year total, this Fall. The mind reels!

The botanical garden we visited in Kauia was so lush and memorable I wanted to visit the botanical gardens in Oahu as well. Too bad we picked one that was all walking and no flowers!

It was still beautiful, of course, but my 20$ strappy fashion sandals weren’t up to hiking.

The following day we discovered the magical North Shore! This is the area of Oahu that is famous for the best surfing beaches. Apparently April is not peak surfing season, we discovered. But oooh baby is it beautiful!

Here’s my panoramic view of the North Shore.

We stopped at the famous Ted’s Bakery–twice. If you go, please get the coconut cake. It was the best I’ve ever tasted. And speaking of food–we ate SO well on this trip. Lobster roll, sushi, fried fish, Loco Moco, shave ice, Dole whip…everything tasted amazing.

I gained 8 pounds in 7 days, but who’s counting? (ME) Worth it.

Here I am about to eat lobster roll for the first time. Is it always so amazing? Have I been missing out all these years?

We passed this cool mural several times on the way to the North Shore.

My Aunt Lisa asked, “How many gowns did you pack for this trip?” and I replied, “MANY.” I think I packed 7 dresses for 7 days. And bought a new one while we were there too, of course.

There is a private bay that you have to reserve two days in advance if you want to visit it. The bookings start at 7 in the morning, and can fill up within minutes. Luckily we were able to go one of the days. The snorkeling that day was the best all week.

Only 700 people are allowed on the beach at once, so there is plenty of room. You are allowed to stay until 4:30 pm, and then they start to clear everyone off.

Our last full day, we chose to spend the day at the North Shore. The first beach we went to was gorgeous, but the waves were so intense we couldn’t really go swimming. We watched a grandpa go into the surf and lose his swim shorts.

I became very passionate about Oreos on this trip (hence the weight gain, maybe). Turns out that Josh and I are compatible with the amount of Oreo cream–twice as much cream is good for me, and Josh likes the barest amount.

White dress, take a chance! This breakfast was delicious.

Oh yeah, Hawaii! I love you.

Malasadas are Portuguese donuts served boiling hot. Mmmmm.

We went to the swap meet–again, something that I adore to go to in Maui–but this one was disappointing. No artist vendors, just a lot of cheap tourist junk.

My pictures are all out of order on Flickr. The app I use that is supposed to automatically transfer everything from Instagram to Flick failed during our vacation, of course. Heigh ho. Anyway! This was the little stand that served the best shave ice I’ve ever had, on the North Shore. Right on the same street was another shave ice place that had a line down the street. Don’t go there. Go to this one!

No trip to Hawaii would be complete without seeing a double rainbow! Yeah baby!

She’s lump, she’s lump, she’s lump, she’s in my head…speaking of lump, I need to waddle down to the kitchen now and bake some butterscotch bars. For my NERVES. Catch yer later!