Vacation in Hawaii: Day 1

Last week I returned from a wonderful vacation in Hawaii with my brother. Hawaii was never a place I thought I'd want to visit, mainly because I'm from Florida, and I figured it would be pretty similar. But boy, was I wrong! 

Now, I must admit that when we landed in Honolulu late at night and started driving through the city to get to the hotel, I wasn't totally impressed. Of course, it was dark. But it looked like any other typical big city. Since it was so late and I was exhausted from so much traveling, the adventures didn't begin until the next day, Friday.

After breakfast at the hotel, we walked down to Waikiki Beach to check out the views. It was so pretty seeing Diamond Head (mountain) off in the distance. When my brother told me we were going to hike it later that day, I think I had a slight panic attack. I'm not a fan of heights, but I figured I'd check it out. Before I get too involved, let me preface by saying that my brother had been to Oahu before and done most of the things we did on this trip. He's also bee to the Big Island.

Waikiki Beach with Diamond Head in the distance

So, back to day 1... after walking Waikiki Beach we took off to see the Halona Blowhole, a couple other beaches, and then we hiked up to Makapu'u Lighthouse. 

Halona Blowhole

Hiking up to Makapu'u Lighthouse

The Lighthouse

That was all good and well, but then we ate lunch and trekked it over to Diamond Head. The hike started out on a paved trail, but that didn't last for long. It became more challenging, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. 

Hiking up to Diamond Head

Then we came upon this huge staircase. I thought for sure that once I made it up those stairs, I'd be at the top!! But after a lot of huffing and puffing and a little reluctance about going higher and trying not to look down and psych myself out... I got to the top of the stairs only to realize that there were 3 more stories of winding metal staircases!! Now, these were the type of stairs that you could see the ground through as you climb up them. I don't do well with those kind of stairs. So, I told my brother to go ahead without me. I was just afraid my eyes would play tricks on me, and I didn't want to risk the chance of falling down winding, metal stairs. I waited for my brother and then we made our way back down. 

The huge staircase near the top of Diamond Head

After the hike, we went back to the hotel to clean up and get ready for the luau! Stay tuned for more on that... I may or may not have been pulled up on stage! ;)