First 1/2 day in Oahu

I took a 9am PDT flight which touched down 11am HST at Honolulu Airport. Unfortunately, it took two hours to get my hotel in Waikiki. I took an airport shuttle which seemed to stop at every hotel in Waikiki. My hotel was the last stop.

The hotel definitely needed a face-lift which they were in the process of doing.

I couldn't check in yet so I changed into shorts, checked my luggage and asked for a lunch recommendation. They suggested a place called Duke's. Walking there gave me an opportunity to admire the beach and do a little window shopping. I checked out some of the shops nearby looking for a sun dress I could throw over my bathing suit when heading for the beach.

After first not wanting to seat a party of one at a table and then making me wait for almost a half hour to be paged that a table was available, the hostess sat me at a table that was under the full glare of the Oahu afternoon sun. I convinced my waiter, however, to move me to a recently vacated table. The food was okay, but I honestly don't remember what I had.

After lunch, I headed back to the hotel. Two days before my arrival, the hotel had called me to ask me if I wanted to trade my room with an ocean view for a more expensive renovated room that didn't have a view. I would charged the rate I was going to pay for the unrenovated room. I figured that since I wouldn't be spending all that much time in my room other than to sleep, it seemed like a good deal. The renovated room was nice, but was still a work-in-progress. I wished that the 500 Egyptian cotton sheets that were to come in October were already there. Nonetheless, I appreciated the free wi-fi and the self-adjusting lighting.

I changed out of my shorts and into my bathing suit, got some beach towels and headed to the beach. Waikiki has a man-made wall which protects its swimmers from a rough surf. It also collects garbage from passing-by ships and their passengers. I was put off by the beach when I saw a straw, a bottle cap and, most disturbingly, a used bandage floating in the water. Ick.

I don't remember where I ate dinner that night, but I do remember that I was so wiped out from traveling, that I went to bed before nine HST (midnight PDT).