Welcome back to The Tacky Tourist Blog. April 2021, Mike and I went on a relaxing vacation to Oahu. I usually plan my days from 5am until 12am, but this time we took things easy, not rushing around or planning a ton of stuff. Come along with me as I revisit what we did so that you might also want to do on your trip to Oahu.
Preparation
The crazy part of all this and what gave me the most anxiety was that this trip was done still during the COVID-19 pandemic. While vaccinations were increasing, COVID was still pretty rampant and I understood that one of the biggest reasons was from travelers carrying. But we took all the precautions, and Hawaii had some of their own. The Go Hawaii website had a list of providers we could get a COVID test done at, we chose Walgreens. We were then to make an account and upload a negative test taken within 72 hours of departure, vaccinated or not. Thankfully, this all went smoothly for us and we got a negative test back within a few hours of us having to nasal swab ourselves in the drive thru of a Walgreens Pharmacy. We created an account, uploaded the test and we were good to go.
Day 1
We flew out of Dane County Regional Airport. Check out my blog post "Why Fly Local?" to see why, as it seems expensive at first, but actually saves a ton of money and energy. We flew United, the first time for both of us. We had about an hour in Chicago before we boarded our 9 hour flight to Honolulu. We grabbed some McD’s breakfast and thank goodness the steak bagel returned. My, how I’ve missed it. We got in line to board and the person scanning tickets proclaimed “Where is your wristband?”. We stood there like two stunned sheep when they pointed to a table in the corner that we needed to check in with first to show our negative test result and fill out a questionnaire I forgot about on the Go Hawaii account. This was thankfully a very quick fix, we got our wristbands and got back to the boarding process.
The flight service was interesting. They served the complimentary drinks and snacks about 45 minutes into the flight, and never did a second one. On a 9 hour flight. I guess I would have done this about halfway through the flight? Or maybe two different times? It was just odd to me. Flying to Hawaii also means you have to fill out a form stating you didn’t bring in agricultural items. They passed out the form but no one had a pen. We asked three different times. The funny thing is I grabbed a pen when we were packing and thought “Why would I need a pen, I’ll get one at the hotel” and decided not to pack it. To make things funnier, there was no pen or pad of paper at the hotel either. It became a whole mission to find a pen. Another odd thing to me about our flight is that we boarded at about 9am, landed in Hawaii around 2pm their time. The flight attendants had us keep all our windows closed. It seemed like it was done to let people sleep, but how well are you to sleep in the middle of the day? I got about a 30 min nap in, but it wouldn’t have been tampered by the sun. My second guess is that it was done due to the brightness of the sun in the middle of the day. This is the most reasonable to me, but something I’ve never dealt with on a flight before.
There was an entitled lady on the flight who kept me laughing. Masks must be worn as a federal law over the nose and mouth. She had hers pulled down below her nose and the flight attendant told her to pull it up. She did and then IMMEDIATELY pulled it back down below her nose. She couldn’t even wait a minute. During the most turbulent time on the plane, she got up and walked around with two full cups of water, spilling them everywhere. I guess the shaking of the plane wasn’t an obvious reason not to get up, but I’m also confused about where she was going with them because she passed her family? So many questions. We were also told to unboard the plane when our rows were called, to reduce a mass of people from getting up and crowding on each other, until then remain seated. Of course, the second the plane settled, she stood up and started rustling around trying to be the first out (she was in the back of the plane).
There were kids in front of us that were a little tiring, but the 7 year old boy shouted “Wait! We’re wasting fuel??!!” at one point in a major realization when he found out the plane uses fuel. Idk why but I got a chuckle out of that.
We landed and weaved our way through the airport and into an UBER. We checked in at the Holiday Inn Express Waikiki. I wanted to go and walk around but we were so burnt out we just stayed in the room and ordered in Italian, Buca Di Bepp. It was ok but not great for Italian food.
Day 2
Thanks to jet lag we were awake pretty early in the morning. 4 am is normal for vacations right? We hung out in the hotel some more then headed over to Ala Moana mall. I wanted to make a visit to Glen’s Collectibles, but they were closed everytime we walked to it. We took a stroll through WalMart, because yes, that’s what you do on vacation. Then we discovered Don Quixote, a very interesting Japanese grocery store. There was so much to take in, from the cute penguin mascot to Ube and Cheese ice cream.
Mike and I ate at the Ala Moana food court. We found out that Hawaii had rules in place that anywhere you ate you had to fill out a short contact tracing form. Mike had Senor Pepes and I had Ramen Bario. Ramen is always amazing to me, but this one stuck out because it had CORN in it. Maybe this is normal but I love corn and combined with ramen? Pure Bliss.
For dinner, we went to Waikiki Brewing Company for some wings and drinks.
Day 3
We were pretty sore from all the walking the day prior. But we still decided to do some more walking at the zoo. First, we grabbed coffee from Island Gourmet. Our walk there we passed a McDonald’s where I finally got a breakfast of Spam, eggs, and rice. I’ve been waiting to eat this at a McD’s for YEARS. I somehow never got the chance last time I came to Hawaii so this trip I knew I had to. It was so good. Hate on McD’s all you want but it was pretty dang good to me. A big ol’ bite of all three on a fork and it was heaven. Now I have to figure out how to make it at home. Hawaii McD’s recently had Taro pie which we missed out on, but they also have the fried apple pie. The pies at McDonald’s used to be fried until they switched to baked in 1992. It was crispy and warm, but a lack of filling.
The Honolulu Zoo was $20 a person. A pretty cheap price compared to other zoos I have been to and worthy of any Hawaii to-do list. My convincing argument is the fennec foxes, something you don’t see at many zoos, but loved by all. It’s also pretty cool to look at an elephant and see the Hawaiian hills behind them. We were intrigued the most by the large variety of birds. Even the wild birds on the streets of Honolulu kept our attention the whole trip. Sadly, the petting farm area wasn’t open so we couldn’t say hello to the more familiar barn animals.
After the zoo was a short afternoon at the beach.
Back at the hotel I ordered in shoyu chicken from Vons Chicken. One suggestion of many made by a friend who had lived in Hawaii for a few years. The shoyu sauce was amazing, covering fried chicken. Mike had fish and chips from Paia Fish Market. These were also great and pretty thick for what I’ve seen in fish.
Day 4
We started our day with breakfast from Eggs N’ Things. It was a short walk from our hotel. I finally tried Loco Moco and fell in love. Mike enjoyed an omelette with hawaiian fried rice. We shared probably the best fruit bowl I’ve ever had, displayed in a glass tiki cup.
Today was the first day of our 3-day Oahu Go Pass. One day I’ll write a blog about how great the pass is, but for now, I’ll just talk about what we used it for. We booked the Movie Site Tour at Kualoa Ranch on the northside of the island. Right after breakfast, we took about a two hour bus ride out of Honolulu. We left early to give us some time, which left us the opportunity to get off the bus at the Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut Outlet. This was the same macadamia nut farm that we stopped at during the Roberts Hawaii island tour. There were other busses stopped there at the time, but not to the point it was overwhelmed with tourists. There are pearls, jewelry, macadamia nuts, and coconuts for sale at the outlet. I had my first coconut. I’m not a fan of coconut water, but you get used to it. The meat was also fresh and delicious for anyone that enjoys coconut. Even though I’m not a coconut fan, the experience was worth it.
My shirt was a birthday gift from Big Fun Shirt Co! I absolutely love their designs and this shirt was the perfect touch to our trip!
The Bus then dropped us off at Kualoa Ranch, right at the beach across the road. Before we went to check in, I took the opportunity to explore the beach. We found a small crab to take home and a pufferfish that had moved on to the spirit world. I wanted to take him too, but figured it wasn’t the best idea. This beach also provided a view of the popular “Chinaman’s Hat”.
Kualoa Ranch has lots of opportunities for various tours. We had the basic one on the Go Pass and it contained a little bit of everything. We rode in an old school bus that took us around the ranch. After Pearl Harbor, the ranch was taken over by the military who built a bomb shelter on the property. Today, it is filled with memorabilia and posters of the movies that have been filmed on the ranch. I was a little disappointed with this, as I would have expected it to be filled with WW2 memorabilia.
Our tour guide was great. She showed us around the ranch talking about how different scenes were filmed. The ranch still has cattle, plants, and fish to harvest so it was cool to see what farm life is like on an island vs. our Wisconsin farms. Most of the tour was stopping at points and she would explain Hollywood tricks and point out what movie was filmed there. The main attraction of the tour is the log from Jurassic Park. It is used in the scene where raptors start running towards the characters and they have to hide behind a log to prevent from being run over. Otherwise, most of the movie was filmed on Kauai.
On the way back from the tour, our guide pointed out Chinaman’s Hat and the island used for Gilligan’s Island. One day I’ll go back and get a better photo.
Back on the bus and our next stop was another suggestion by my friend, Spaghettini. This was some of the best pasta we have ever had. It was filling so I ended up taking some with me. The pasta was cooked better than any other restaurant we have been to, and for pasta lovers, that’s saying a lot.
Day 5
Our second day of the Go Oahu Pass use had us on a van to Diamondhead State Monument. Kaimana Tours picked us up at 8 am so we had just enough time to grab some snacks from the nearby ABC Store. This was the same tour I took in 2018. I highly suggest using them because they drive you to Diamondhead and pay for your tickets to go through the park. The driver also gave us some information on Diamondhead to prepare us for the trek ahead. Using the tickets our driver got us, we had to go in with the other van riders as one unit, but from there we were on our own. Masks are required at Diamondhead but most hikers were understanding that the steep climb is a little hard to do with a mask on in 80 degrees. It’s roughly a mile up and a mile down, but it’s definitely not easy or quick. Mike and I did make it to the top and enjoyed looking at the crater and ocean below. There were alot of people on the tippy top so we didn’t see the city side, but we were burnt so that was fine with us. I like to take time to enjoy the little things on hikes, not so much as a “get to the top as fast as I can” person. Oddly, there are also some cacti on the top of the crater.
When we got back to the base, we enjoyed more spam musubi and bird watched until the van got back. We took an hour to relax in the hotel, then it was back on The Bus to Pearl Harbor.
When we got to Pearl Harbor, we didn’t have a lot of time to do things. Most of it closed around 5p. No bags are allowed, so we had to pay staff $6 to hold onto our bags until we finished. Our Pass had the audio tour so we walked around and listened to the stories of December 7, 1941. We got all of our stamps for our National Park passports. To visit the USS Arizona Memorial, we needed to have made reservations online. There was also a standby line, but we decided to go to the Aviation Museum instead.
While at the Aviation Museum, we did a 360 Flight Simulator. It was a ton of fun and worth what we paid in my opinion. My favorite piece at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is the Swamp Ghost, a plane that crashed in the jungle and was called Swamp Ghost by those who would see it. Disney has started work with the museum to start creating plane art for those that didn’t get it.
On our journey back to the hotel, we stopped at Iolani Palace. We weren't allowed in the fence, but it was fun to see from the outside. Across the street is the King Kamehameha statue and a little further down is a memorial to those lost in WW2. We finally got to feel a little Hawaiian rain on our walk to the bus.
Back at the Holiday Inn Express, we had Jack In the Box. My favorite fast food restaurant that is nowhere near home.
Day 6
We started this day with some coffee from Brew + Foam. Then it was back on The Bus to the northside of the island. We checked in with Sea and Board Sports in Haleiwa to pick up our kayak. Turns out, kayaking in the ocean is neither easy or relaxing. The waves had us going all over the place and nowhere at all. After a ton of hassle, we made it to the river and it was easy sailing from there. We had the kayak for 3 hours which gave us ample time to go all the way down to the rocks and back twice. There were a few homes up and down the river, many with chickens and ducks that entertained us. We saw many sea turtles sunbathing on the side. I don’t recall ever seeing one in the wild before, so it was a treat to see these so closely.
If you like my humpback whale t-shirt, grab it from Humble Coconut Surf Co! They are a small business owned by a friend of mine.
We were so close to Spaghettini and were tempted to go back for another round of pasta. Instead, we pushed forward to the Dole Plantation since I didn’t want to miss looking around there. It was a two hour wait for the train so we spent our time looking at the plants and eating dole whip and the most drenched chili dog I have ever seen.
Everytime I see a pineapple plant I think “That’s not how a pineapple grows”. It’s weird and I can’t convince myself otherwise.
There was another plantation adjacent to Dole that we took pictures at. Otherwise they were closed for COVID.
Back at the hotel, we decided to try Guy Fieri’s Flavortown Kitchen. It was probably the worst chicken I have ever had. We enjoyed the Fieri chicken at Disney Springs, but this was not good at all. I usually don’t say bad things, but that usually applies to small businesses, so I’m ok with saying how much I disliked this and suggest to pass on Flavortown.
Day 7
With the vacation in it’s downhill towards the end, we kept the last few days clear of plans. Originally, we had planned to go to the zoo during the last days, but it was something I really wanted to do so I pushed for us to do it sooner and keep these days clear. We finally decided to visit Aulani for some shopping and shaved ice. The Bus ride was almost two hours, taking us past some amazing murals. I really wish we had the time to go and get pictures of them all, but that could take all day.
The Bus didn’t drop us off at Aulani and to save time, we took an UBER the last two miles. All together, it was still cheaper than the $60 each way I spent last time riding to Aulani from Honolulu. Our first stop was the shop, then we wandered around admiring the resort. We didn’t have reservations for any of the restaurants there, but we kept busy. I personally find it fun to explore Aulani but I can’t find the worth in $600 a night to stay there unless you have a larger family then just us two. It is also harder to get out and see the rest of the island, unlike in Honolulu that gave us access to just about everything.
We got a hold of the famous Mickey shaped shaved ice. What a treat! We were able to pick three flavors for the ice, and I always add the cream (if you’re ever at EPCOT, try the Kakigōri from the Japan pavilion)
Of course, Mickey had to sprinkle a little magic into our visit. Mickey and Minnie popped out of one of the rooms to wave a big “hello” to all those visiting the resort. I didn’t know they were showing at all, so it was a special treat to end our visit.
We UBER-ed out to the nearest Jollibee, a place Mike had heard about and wanted to try. Spaghetti and chicken sounded like an odd combo. Every fast food restaurant was take out only, so we ordered and ate our meal out on the street. Mike had the classic chickenjoy and spaghetti, I tried the chicken and palabok. The spaghetti is super sweet, which I enjoyed but Mike did not. We ended up enjoying each other’s meals more than our own, so we switched them! The chickenjoy was ok, nothing great nothing bad.
Next stop was the Mall. Mike had seen some Japanese stores there that we decided to check out. It was nice to take some time and look around. We ended up with some books and figurines and I got a cute Donald Duck bag that was large enough to help take things back home on the plane.
After the last bus ride, we took a short walk to the hotel and spent some time exploring the other hotels such as the Hilton. We were both pretty tired so that exploration didn’t last long.
Day 8
We woke up pretty early almost every day. The time switch definitely did a toll on us. However, it still is pretty hard for us to actually get out of bed. Day 8 provided the opportunity for us to get up and go see the sunrise. Of course, we picked a cloudy day.
Mike wants to start a vacation Ihop tradition, since we ate at Ihop on our Cali trip. Ihop came out with a new bacon lovers menu and while I know I didn’t really want to, I decided to try it. So much bacon. So much maple syrup. It was rough.
From there we walked along the Waikiki shops down to Waikiki Beach where we relaxed, swam, and enjoyed a pineapple smoothie. After some fun in the sun, I got another shaved ice, this time vanilla, to say aloha to the hawaiian treat.
Before the trip, I purchased some towels from Sand Cloud. I highly suggest these since they dry really quickly! They also don't gather sand as much as other towels.
That night, we took more time to explore the hotels around us. This included Island Vintage Coffee and lots of pictures.
Day 9
The last full day is always the hardest. The last day where you leave at the end of the day can also prove to be hard since you don’t have a lot of time to really do anything. After packing up everything and checking out, Holiday Inn kept our bags and we were back at Ala Moana mall. This time, for lunch at Gen Korean BBQ House. We got a variety of meats and Mike cooked while I watched the Derek Chauvin verdict announcement. Our friend had suggested this place along with a glass of mango soju. The soju went down like water and was super sweet! I couldn’t finish the whole bottle before we jumped on a 9 hour flight, but if you like drinks, try this!
Since we were still at the mall, Mike grabbed a strawberry crepe from the food court and I hunted down Somisomi who serves their ice cream in a little fish! I got the Ube and Vanilla with some Oreo powder on top. Yum!
With that, we hopped on The Bus, then a plane, which flew us nine hours to Chicago O’hare where we jumped on another plane to Madison, WI.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my Hawaii travel log. If you have any questions feel free to reach out.
Happy Trails!
~The Tacky Tourist
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