I’m usually a planner, but sometimes spontaneity leads to the best things! This weekend proved to be one of those times. With nothing going on at home, Kevin and I decided we wanted to escape the cold so we headed to one of our favorite places: Hawaii! We went to the island of Oahu and stayed in Waikiki for our honeymoon in 2010 and fell in love! We went back to the island and stayed in Kailua for Thanksgiving in 2014 and then went to Maui over Memorial Day weekend in 2015. We just love it! To read about our past Hawaii trips go here, here, and here.
FRIDAY | Our flight left around 9:30 AM and landed in Honolulu around 2:30 PM. Hawaii is four hours behind Chicago. We quickly picked up our rental car and drove over to Waikiki where we were staying. We checked into our hotel which was located right on the main street and convenient to everything: beaches, shopping, restaurants, etc. We freshened up, changed clothes, and then headed out. We walked around the beach just enjoying the weather before our dinner reservation that evening.
We ate dinner at Japengo which is our favorite restaurant in Maui. This was our first time visiting the location in Waikiki. Both are located in the Hyatt Regency and although the ambiance of the Maui restaurant is much better (hello perfect sunset views!), the food is equally as good at both!
After dinner we were pretty tired so we went back to our hotel and sat outside by the pool and enjoyed the live music. We even witnessed a proposal!
SATURDAY | We were awake by 4:45 AM so sat outside on our balcony as the sun came up.
We went for an early breakfast at one of the hotel restaurants across the street from us. Duke’s has an awesome breakfast buffet with a make your own omelet station, eggs benedict, french toast, bacon, and more! I especially loved the banana pancakes and greek yogurt with fresh coconut and fruit!
We were seated outside and had the perfect ocean views! I could seriously eat breakfast like this everyday!
The rest of the day we set up shop on the beach and relaxed in the sun! Our hotel provided chairs and towels which was great and they even came around throughout the day with bottled water and fruit – so awesome!
It was the perfect day to be at the beach as there was literally not a cloud in the sky!
We enjoyed our breakfast so much, we went back to Duke’s for lunch. We even had our same waiter, ha! Lava Flows for the win!
Our friends Mary and Taylor happened to be vacationing in Kailua with their family the previous week so we met up with them that afternoon before their flight home that evening. They live in Houston so we don’t see them very often and it was so much fun spending a couple of hours together!
We met at Rumfire in the Sheraton for drinks and sat outside while enjoying the amazing views of the ocean and Diamond Head.
Kevin and I had dinner at Ocean House which is one of our favorite restaurants from our honeymoon. We can never eat enough fresh seafood while on vacation and Ocean House has some of the best!
We also had one of the best salads I have tasted to date! Kale with strawberries, papaya, avocado, almonds, and a basil papaya dressing – so good!!
Besides the food one of the reasons we love Ocean House is the amazing views of the sunset! There is a pier outside that is always full of people watching as well.
After dinner we popped in some of the stores on our walk back to our hotel. There was also a street festival going on that we walked through.
We ended the night back at our hotel pool listening to the live music again. These guys were great!
SUNDAY | We were awake super early again so we had another early breakfast. This time we went to Hula Grill where I had an acai bowl for the first time and I am officially obsessed! I will definitely be recreating these at home this summer.
We had a great view of the ocean from our table again!
I love watching all of the surfers out early in the morning!
We spent the rest of the day at the beach again until it was time for us to head to the airport.
We had our last lunch at our favorite spot along the beach. The Moana Surfrider is a beautiful hotel known as “The First Lady of Waikiki”. The Beach Bar is located under a huge Banyan tree and is the perfect spot for lunch and drinks on the beach.
We spent some time relaxing by our pool soaking in the last bit of sun before heading to the airport.
Our flight was at 5 PM and landed back in Chicago at 4:30 AM. We showered at the airport and took the train straight into work on Monday. Needless to say coffee was my friend this day. ๐
We had such a great weekend and I already cannot wait to go back to Hawaii!
Erica Ashley says
That seriously looks so awesome!!! What a beautiful place ๐
Paige says
We love Hawaii! It’s definitely our favorite place!