Anyone who knows me well knows that I loathe winter. I don't like anything about the season. This winter, I found myself questioning why on earth I not only still live in the Northeast but bought a house there!
Compared with the last two winters, this one was nothing. We had about 5 days of temperatures below 10 degrees as opposed to entire months but it was just too much. When March rolled around and the forecast didn't call for a single nice day, I started going crazy...and then Carolann told me I should come to Hawaii and 10 days later, I was on a plane.
Everyone I know who goes to Hawaii goes to Maui. I've only been to Oahu but I highly recommend it! Hawaii is a long flight from the East Coast and it's nice to land in Honolulu and not have to get on another plane! While I would love to visit Maui someday, I'm perfectly content to keep returning to Oahu as long as Carolann is living there!
My only agenda for this second trip to Hawaii was to soak up as much sun as possible and revisit the farm cafe. Carolann was more than happy to oblige on both accounts. As soon as I landed and got to her place, we made our way to the beach. I was in heaven. 80 and sunny? This was so much better than 38 and raining.
The flight to Hawaii isn't terrible but the time difference is tough. After roughly 11 hours of flight time, you land in the middle of the afternoon, 6 hours earlier than the time it is back home. I didn't last too long my first day but I was so happy to be on the beach.
The next morning, I was up before the sunrise. Carolann woke up shortly after me and we sat on her lanai drinking coffee with condensed milk and catching up...I was definitely on vacation!
We made a game plan for the day to head up to the North Shore to visit Waimea Falls and the Farm Cafe. We had gone to Waimea Falls when I last went to Oahu and I loved it! Although this time around, the water was ICE cold!
Carolann first introduced me to the Kahuku Farm Cafe shortly after she moved to Hawaii when she sent me a box of goodies including their vanilla bean caramel sauce. This stuff is heaven and it's even better poured over ice cream that's melting on top of grilled banana bread. If you ever go to Oahu, this should be one of the top things on your list. It's a little farm on the side of the road but the food is unbelievable and you can bring home some of their homemade goodies like lilikoi butter, pineapple papaya sauce, and that vanilla bean caramel sauce I'm talking about.
One thing I should tell you about Hawaii is that if you're planning a trip there and eyeing the weather forecast ahead of time, don't be alarmed if all you see is rain. It rained every day that I was in Hawaii but Oahu is a big island with a mountain right in the middle and, as Carolann so accurately pointed out, it's always sunny somewhere on the island!
In search of the sun, we spent the next day in Honolulu on Waikiki Beach. It was still on the cloudy side but I didn't mind since I could still sit by the beach with a book and indulge in ice cream...which I did on this trip more times than I'm comfortable admitting!
Feeling the need to work off all of the ice cream I'd been eating, Carolann and I were up early the next morning to hike the Makapu'u Lighthouse Trail, a steep, but well-paved hike that's prime for whale watching and stunning views! It was a great hike and I loved watching the last of the whales migrating for the season!
After our hike, we brunched at and then whiled away the rain at the local bookstore where I bought so many books, I had to ship them home! (Two months later, they're still in the box on the floor of my dining room because of the saga we've dealt with my home office, but that's a story for another day.).
My last few days in Hawaii were all about beach time...we went back to Waikiki (the Hilton Hawaiian Village is awesome just to walk through!), trekked to Ko Alina (my favorite of the beaches), and made a detour to Disney's Aulani.
This trip was everything I needed to cure my winter blues. While it wasn't quite as warm when I got back to Baltimore, it definitely wasn't snowing anymore! I think a late March vacation may need to be exactly what I need from now on!
Have you been to Hawaii? What did you think? I hope this post adds Oahu to your wanderlist!
