Quick weekend in Oahu

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  • Mar 02, 2007 - First Time to Oahu!
  • Mar 03, 2007 - Snorkeling and a Luau
  • Mar 04, 2007 - Heading Home
  • Friday, Mar 02, 2007

    This was my first trip to Oahu. I’d actually only been to Hawaii one time before, and that was to go to Kauai with some friends for a wedding. This time, I'd be checking out some brand new beaches.

    My friend, Marie, and I headed out to San Francisco Airport on a Friday afternoon, and even then it was a race against time for there was a lot of traffic, and catching our flight was not guaranteed.

    I parked at a nearby parking garage and it was memorable because it had those circular ramps, which are kind of fun and practical. We then took a flight on United Airlines over to Honolulu Airport, where I rented a car for the first time in my life. I had splurged and got a convertible as well, so that was fun.

    We then drove west over to the Ihilani Hotel (now closed), which was a very luxurious hotel in Hawaii starting at around $450 a night. It was funny because they charged an extra $20 a night for parking. I guess nowadays that doesn't seem so bad, but I was kind of appalled the fact that they didn't throw in parking, when they charged so much for rooms, but whatever. Maybe that’s why they eventually closed down.

    The room was fantastic as it had a nice balcony with a great view of the lagoons, which were man-made, but still really cool. I hadn’t slept much the night before (or maybe at all) so once in the room, I pretty much crashed for the next eight hours which was too bad, because we missed out on doing some things, but the rain did come too, so there wasn't much that could be done.