We hadn’t been to Hawaii as a family for seven years! So we planned a ten day trip, of which six were for a conference for my husband. The first five days I was excited to explore the west side of Oahu, which I hadn’t been to since I was a child visiting my grandpa in the condos at Makaha Beach. This time we stayed at the Hawaiian Princess condos, and visited my parents. The view of Hawaiian Princess Beach was just incredible. The water is literally right by the condos! The second day, when we woke up, we saw turtles swimming near shore, from the condo! The first thing we did when we arrived was have a swim! The dropoff when you get in the water is very steep so it’s a slightly nerve-wracking swim because you can’t reach the bottom, plus the waves are huge. Still, we were happy to feel the wonderful Hawaiian water on our skin and look down at the crystal clear blue-green perfection. We had dinner and then went for a walk around the headland. Unfortunately there are a lot of homeless people on this side of the island. Not just people, but large encampments. We walked past a camp for two people. From the other side of the headland we could see cute Mauna Lahilahi Beach. I love dusk in Hawaii, so I enjoyed the sunset skies and soft breezes.

The next day we went for another swim of course! My husband lazed on a foldup chair while my daughter and I swam. I wanted to find a safer beach to swim though and decided to search soon. That afternoon we explored Bettini Gardens, some lovely gardens behind a medical center in the town. We felt happy looking at the tropical plants with the view of the blue ocean behind them. One walkway looked like loose dirt but turned out to be the craziest mud that stuck way out from our slippers making us look very comical. We checked out the grocery store and then headed back for dinner that my husband cooked and a lovely walk around the headland. Our son arrived! He explored the rock pools on the headland and took photos of the multi-colored sky.

The boys went for a hike while my daughter and I swam, on the third day. I felt way too scared being responsible for a child in such deep water with large waves and without a lifeguard nearby. In the middle of the day we did an explore of the beaches to the north. We found the cutest cove ever, Aki’s Beach, where we saw turtles bobbing around in the water. Our daughter played at the shore while our son explored the rock ledge. Next we drove past Makua Cave to the south entrance of Makua Beach, a dirt parking lot. There was trash piled up in the parking lot 🙁 The beach was magical, with the most vibrant colors in the water that I’ve practically ever seen. Some local people were jumping off a large rock into the water.

The drive really becomes stunning at the end as you drive along Farrington Highway to Ka’ena Point. The mountains loom above you, and there is open countryside all around. No houses are built here because the land belongs to a military base. When you come to the end there is a hike, which connects with the north shore side of the island. Why they don’t make a short road here so that you can drive around the whole island, who can guess? We stopped to look at Yokohama Bay, which is a strip of beach along the road, the north end of Makua beach, which has lovely shade trees and feels cozy, and Makaha Beach, whose condos I recognized from when I was little!

It was HOT and we were craving some shave ice, so we found a spot in town called Dan’s Maili Shave Ice and it really did the trick! It was a humble place with a cute lime-green fence protected by lime-green tires. Outside were picnic tables surrounded by potted plumerias. We bought lychee and melona (yum!) shave ice as well as mango bread and butter mochi for later. I was excited about buying butter mochi because I once ate it at a friend’s house when I was a teenager and it was AMAZING. That night we played ping pong, swam in the pool, played crazy eights, and found out that the butter mochi was as good as I remembered! In the morning we enjoyed the mango bread too. It has a texture you’d expect since mango is so stringy, and it’s kind of addictive. Though I like banana bread better probably.

In the morning, before the sun became too hot, we went for a hike at Ka’ena Point. It was lovely, with the incredible mountain views, and the ocean right beside us. We turned around when we felt too hot, and then parked along the road at the north end of Makua Beach and my son and I had a wonderful swim in the ocean. It was shallow enough the reach the ground. What a swim! The mountains stretched above us and the water was crystal clear. On this vacation, we always felt worried about our rental car because, weirdly, there are stripped cars everywhere in Makaha, but this was a good spot to swim because you park right where you can see your car.

We went to Dan’s Maili Shave Ice again, and then grabbed a plantain dinner at Coquito’s Latin Restaurant. Lastly, we walked around the other side of the headland, enjoying the expansive views of Hawaiian Princess Beach and its perfect golden sand.

The fifth day my husband had to go to his conference, so this was sad. We barely saw him after that, so the family part of the vacation was mostly over at this point 🙁 I checked out a beach with calm water for kids called Pokai Beach, which looked cute, except for the sketchy people in the street where I parked. My daughter didn’t want to go anywhere so we swam in the pool, meeting some friends.

The sixth day was our last morning in Makaha so it was sad to say bye to my parents. We had lunch with my Dad at a shopping center with some modern cafes in Kapolei and then he dropped us off in Waikiki. We were excited to begin the Waikiki part of our adventure and since my husband had already checked into the hotel, Hilton Hawaiian Village, and even gotten us an upgrade, it was easy for us to begin. At  night, we walked down to Happy’s Snack bar at the Hale Koa Hotel, the military hotel that is part of Fort DeRussy. My husband was exhausted from the conference, so even though the beach and surroundings looked wonderful we didn’t feel very happy. My daughter and I watched the hula show at the Hilton Hawaiian Village pool, which we couldn’t see very well, and which we paid $30 each for because it is no longer free, and then we watched some lovely, unusual fireworks on the beach.

That night my daughter felt horribly ill and threw up. I guess a burger sitting in a warmer is not a good idea. This was the problem with the second half of our trip- there is no reasonably priced food anywhere near Hilton Hawaiian Village, and this makes it very difficult for families with children who don’t want to walk miles to get lunch and dinner. I was kind of sad that one of my favorite places in the world, with such good memories, hadn’t worked out that well that evening.

The next day I decided to make things special, so my daughter and I went on an ABC store shopping spree! I remembered how colorful the ABC stores feel when you’re a kid, or even an adult for that matter! We walked far from our hotel to Kalakaua Ave and went to as many ABC stores as we could find (this is not hard to do since there is one every few minutes as you walk!) It was indeed magical for my daughter, and we bought hairclips and earrings for my birthday and a blue dress and necklace for her, which suited her so well.

I was curious to see the International Marketplace. In another lifetime it was a delightful place, with little lit-up stalls selling sparkling jewelry, handmade candles, and sarongs blowing in the wind. Now it is a highend mall. At first I was very sad to see the sterile mall under the banyan tree. There were still lanterns in the tree but it did not look anything like its former self. But toward the back, the mall is unique, with a rain fountain, and a concert lawn with giant pebble seats. A stream runs through the mall, its banks packed with pink anthuriums. We had the most delicious banana and chocolate croissant at Kona Coffee at the very back of the mall.

Although exhausted, we continued on, crossing the road to check out the beach. We then bought musubis at an ABC store and ate them on the thin strip of sand in front of the hotels, part of the Waikiki Oceanfront Stroll. The colors of the water were just incredible. There were way too many people in Waikiki though, and I don’t think I’ll come in the height of summer again. Our hotel was especially crowded- the result of adding several new tall towers. It used to be the peaceful end of Waikiki but now it’s a madhouse. In some ways Waikiki had lost its sheen for me on this trip, but maybe it was just the crowds, or the fact that we were staying in a hotel (rather than my parent’s house) and therefore worrying about where to get food. By the time we got back to the hotel we had walked over two miles so we took a rest!

My husband had to go to a party to network at the conference that night, but luckily my son showed us a wonderful time! He picked us up and we bought Olive Tree Cafe takeout and ate it at Sandy Beach. I watched my son bodysurf the huge waves. It was lovely to be in Hawaii Kai again, the place where I spent my teen and college years. After, we went to Bubbies Ice Cream in Koko Marina and enjoyed the incredible mountain views and the romantic sheen of the lights on the water.

On our eighth day, my daughter and I had a picnic at St. Louis Heights with my parents and son at lunchtime. St. Louis Heights has a forest of amazing Cook pines. It’s so beautiful! It was a wonderful time together! That afternoon, my daughter wanted to play with kids her own age, so we went to the hotel pool. She was so happy playing for hours that I didn’t want her to have to get out, so my husband came down for a minute to watch her while I grabbed some musubis at the ABC store for dinner. Big mistake. These only last for a day, and it was the end of the day. I got super sick and it ruined the rest of the trip and made the super cold Hawaiian Airlines flight home unbearable. That night, before I started to feel sick, my husband had an event that was part of his conference. My daughter was allowed in, but I had to watch from the periphery, which turned out to be kind of lonely. It was a beautiful night to be outside though, as it always is in Hawaii. I spent the rest of the night shaking with chills and body aches in bed, and Day 9 was spent this way too, which was pretty tricky because I had to find some way to get my daughter some food while my husband went to the conference and a networking party afterward.

By nighttime I was still feeling iffy, but ok enough to go get some fresh air. My daughter, husband, and I walked down to the beach and it was lovely to sit in the sand at night. Waikiki is the best for this! I remember doing this as a teenager, with my friends, all of us sitting on a huge blanket while a boombox played Violent Femmes!

Our last day I was still kind of shaky, with body aches and chills, but I forced myself to go out because I really wanted to add Tonggs Beach to lotsafunmaps! I’ve always wanted to put that spot up on the map, especially with photos of the cute gingerbread-style houses nearby. So my daughter and I caught a lyft there, meeting my son. We checked out the little opening between that houses that is called Tonggs Beach. It’s not really a beach, but a wall right on the water. Gorgeous! I remember sitting here with a bunch of people when I was a teenager and being mesmerized by the color of the water. I’ve always wanted to come back and see it again, and now I have! I didn’t really get to walk along and see what else there was to see, though, because no one else wanted to do this. We walked past the fountain at Kapiolani Park, past stunning Hau Tree Beach, had a swing on the banyan tree’s tarzan ropes, and then walked around the Waikiki Aquarium. It was better than I remembered, with really beautiful tanks. We all had a great time, and my daughter got a stuffed animal, a hermit crab. After, we had lunch at Kahala Mall, another good spot from my youth. It was looking very attractive inside, and well-kept-up.

That night I was so happy because my husband was able to join us for dinner. It was me, my husband, my daughter and son, and my parents, and we had a picnic of Greek food from Olive Tree Cafe at Waialae Beach Park. This food is so delicious! Before we left we had to walk over to McDonald’s to get my daughter some food. I’m looking forward to the day when she will eat a variety of foods such as Greek food. In the happy meal, they gave us a set of playing cards, so we all played crazy eights at the picnic table! Then we walked over to see the stings rays, fish, and dolphins in the lagoon at the Kahala Resort, another fantastic memory from my youth. It was a great way to end the trip!