The Longest Day Ever

After having no real breaks over the past year I decided to take my birthday week off and head to Hawaii for a vacation.  I picked Hawaii because I've never been there before and it would allow people from home to potentially join me, which in this case was my parents.  I spent Saturday finishing up my packing and then headed to the airport mid-afternoon for my flights to Sydney and then Honolulu.  After flying all night I landed in Honolulu around 10 am on Saturday.  My day had just begun (again).  A couple hours later my parents' flight arrived and I met them in baggage claim.  It was really nice to see them again as it had been over a year since my last visit home.

We picked up the rental car and then drove into Honolulu.  We are staying at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort and Spa, which is pretty nice.  After taking a shower I headed out for a walk along Kalakaua Avenue to have a look at Kuhio Beach and Waikiki Beach as well as all the shops along the strip.  I didn't really find anything to buy, but did have a peppermint bark ice cream cone from Haagen-Dazs, which was amazing.

I returned to the hotel to get dressed for our dinner at a the very upscale French restaurant Michel's at the Colony Surf.  We met up with a friend of my parents who had chosen this place as it's one of his favorites.  We had a table overlooking the beach as well as a view of downtown.  The food and service were excellent and they had a special menu since it was Valentine's Day weekend.  It was a very enjoyable evening and a great finish to our first day in Honolulu.