Breakfast at Tiffany's: Hawaii Trip

This first picture is the sun rising over Diamondhead.

This was the view from our table where we ate breakfast at a beach restaurant.

I am so excited that we finally made it to Hawaii! Gary and I celebrated our 34th anniversary by taking a short trip to Oahu. We went Friday morning, and returned home Monday night. If any of you know me, I hate to spend money!! So a short trip was all I wanted to do. We were able to go fairly inexpensively. The Hawaiin Airlines flights were cheap ($139 per person each way - nonstop from Phoenix), the Ohana Islander Waikiki hotel was inexpensive ($99 per night - a renovation rate), but nothing else on Oahu was low priced! I couldn't believe that a gallon of milk there costs $6.99! But besides the high costs we had a lot of fun! We really enjoyed the Polynesian Cultural Center and our crazy tour guide (Cousin Leon from Samoa - whose whole name was way too long to remember), the beautiful beaches and scenery on the windward side of the island, the Temple grounds and Visitor's Center, the church meetings we attended next door to the Temple, getting to watch a baptism in the ocean right across from the temple, the perfect weather, the rainbows, and the nice people at our hotel and at Hawaiin Airlines. We did not enjoy the confusing public bus system, the crowds in Honolulu/Waikiki, the high prices for everything, and not having enough time to see and do everything that we wanted to. If we ever get there again, we will take more time so that we can schedule more things and see more islands. But for our very first trip to Hawaii, it was great!

I do have a few tips for anyone going to Hawaii for their first time:

Pay the extra money to take the Polynesian Cultural Center's bus ride to and from the Center. It is well worth the $20 per person for the guided tour of the island you get on the bus ride there, the comfortable bus (as opposed the uncomfortable city buses), and the same bus and driver waiting for you at the end of the night to take you to your hotel.
Also pay the extra $10 per person to have the tour guide take you around the Center. It is so nice to have someone to show you where everything is, and make sure you get to see most of the shows. It is impossible to see every show in one day (I wish they would open earlier in the day so that you could). They have a deal that I didn't know about, where you can go back for free within 3 days and see the stuff you missed the first time. I don't think you get to see the evening show again, but it would be nice to be able to see all the villages, and do more of the activities during the day. So if you have the time, schedule a second day to go back.
Go to the beach across the street from the Temple. It is a beautiful secluded beach with hardly anyone there. Just go down the path to the left of the Temple Garden area that is right across the street from the Laie Temple.
Don't bring any fruit with you to eat on the airline coming back to the mainland. Even though we bought our apples in Arizona, and they let us take them on the flight going to Hawaii, they wouldn't let us bring them back.