Duke's on Sunday

For the past year, I have been wanting to go to Waikiki to Duke's - an iconic beach front restaurant that personifies the aloha lifestyle. With the help of miss Devan's dinner gift and tourism being pretty much non-existent right now, I convinced mrC that we should go there for his birthday!!

So, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, we put on our swim suits, packed up our beach bag and drove to town for an afternoon on the beach, exploring and Duke's on Sunday.

Love the board storage along the walkway to the beach. Wish we had this at Kailua Beach.

This was my first visit to Waikiki even though we have lived on Oahu for over a year and the view was not disappointing! 

We found a spot on the beach (which is actually not very roomy!) and got in the water for a little bit, but after the waves almost drenched our belongs a few times, we decided to take a walk.

It didn't take us long to find an acai bowl! We shared this soft serve version from Banan and it helped cool us off.

After wandering around International Market Place, we were ready to head to Duke's. Luckily there was one table remaining at the Barefoot Bar, even though it was not fully shaded. Before our nacho order arrived, another table opened up and mrC snagged it!

The best part was the table had a much better view of the outdoor stage and Henry Kapono!! Henry (of Cecilio (d.) & Kapono, a Hawaiian pop music duo) and his band play at Duke's every Sunday from 4-6. 

Normally people would be up and dancing, but because of COVID-19, there was no dancing allowed. We didn't mind though because we were enjoying the whole view. 

mrC has been a fan of Cecilio & Kapono since he was stationed here and he introduced me to the music when we got married. It was so awesome to see Henry Kapono and his band in person, but even better to get this pic before we headed up to the dining room for our dinner reservation.

Our table overlooked the Barefoot Bar, so we continued to enjoy the live music over dinner. mrC had the fish and chips and I had the Baked "Duke's Fish" - white fish (I didn't catch the name) with garlic, lemon and sweet basil glaze served on basmati wheatberry rice. It was soooo good! 

Our server surprised mrC with a complimentary birthday Hula Pie! He absolutely loved the macadamia nut ice cream, chocolate cookie crust and hot fudge.

Duke's on Sunday was the perfect way to spend mrC's big day!! 

My Hawaiian Vacation

Aloha!

My weekly wrap is a little late because I just got back from a surprise trip to O'ahu with mrC. I'd been dropping hints all over the place about how fun it would be to getaway and apparently he was listening ---> he's a great husband!

Since mrC is retired military, he was able to get us into the beach cottages on the Marine Corps base. Even when it was cloudy, our own little paradise was pretty amazing. (we got some great shots and video on this trip with our GoPro)

Hanging out on the SUP at Secret Beach - steps from our cottage!

The highlights:

Hiking Diamond Head

This was an easy hike with a series of switch backs most of the way up to the 761 foot summit. The path was a little slippery from the passing morning showers, but with good shoes it was no problem for us. The "hard" part was near the top - 99 steps, a spiral staircase and a few more steps to reach the summit. It was pretty crowded and some clouds rolled in right as we reached the top, but it was still amazing to cross this off our Hawaii bucket list.

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

mrC introduced me to snorkeling when we were on Kaua'i almost 10 years ago and knows how much I love it (even though I don't really like deep water), so he took me to one of the most popular snorkel spots on O'ahu. We swam around spotting fish and avoiding coral (it was low tide) and even got to see a monk seal that was sunning on the beach that day.

View of Hanauma Bay from above

I made this little video of our snorkeling

SUP at Secret Beach

We rented a SUP board from the MWR office and used it while we were staying in the cottage. The water was shallow and full of coral, but so flat. Perfect for SUP (my new bikini top was perfect for all my water activities!).

Swimming at Pyramid Rock Beach

A great spot for swimming and sunbathing was right down the road from the cottage. Named for the pyramid shaped rock on the coast, Pyramid Rock Beach had powder white sand and was surrounded by tropical plants. It was a lot harder to swim there than the pool at the fitness center, but way more fun!

Visiting Pearl Harbor

When we arrived on Tuesday, we stopped at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. We lucked out and got the last two free tickets to take the 75 minute USS Arizona Memorial Tour. We watched a short documentary about the attack on Pearl Harbor took a shuttle boat to the USS Arizona Memorial. To see this place in person is quite powerful and moving. I found myself fighting back tears many times.

mrC's friend gave us a private tour around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. He drove us past the submarines, aircraft (no photography allowed for obvious reasons) and even the beach cottages where the movie Aloha was partially filmed. We stopped at The Lanai on the Mamala Bay side of the base for some Hawaiian fish and chips...and some daiquiris. We had a great view of the main beach on base which is literally right next to the runways. I would have loved to SUP in this bay!

Sailing at Mamala Bay

mrC's friend took us out on the bay in his sailboat so that we could see Oahu from another perspective and so mrC could get some sailing in. Surprise, I got to take the helm, too! Oahu is such a beautiful place. I loved seeing Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach from the water.

Sightseeing

Taking the advice printed on my GAP tee, whenever we felt like stopping to see something, we did. It was fun to strike a pose on lava rock, enjoy the views from various lookouts (never got tired of this) and see mrC's old stomping grounds. We even stopped to watch the various planes and helicopters at work on base and around the island.

Nu'uana Pali Lookout and Marine Corps Base Hawaii in the far background

Kaupo Bay and Rabbit Island in the background 

Amelia Earhart's Marker - first person to fly from Hawaii to Mainland.

Halona Blowhole Lookout (at low tide :( so no spray)

Kanehoe Bay Lookout on our way to dinner 

mrC's old neighborhood - Kailua

mrC's helicopter

We had to cross this runway on base to get to the cottages

Waikiki Beach

We spent our last day at the Marine Corps hotel, Hale Koa, downtown and on Waikiki Beach. This place was amazing! The grounds were so beautiful. We were steps away from the pool, restaurants, shopping and the beach. We spent some time on the beach and then explored along DeRussy Boardwalk. 

View from our balcony

Friends

We got to spend time with mrC's friend who he hasn't seen in many many years and we met a family from California staying in the cottage next to ours who were very nice, but these "cottage cats" were the cutest friends we made in Oahu! 

Food

It's always good to be back in the USA and enjoy our favorite things, but it was fun to experience new places too. mrC's friend took us to Haleiwa Joe's for an awesome seafood dinner and then The Lanai for a delicious lunch. Our Cali friends recommended Goofy's Cafe where we had the BEST acai bowl. We stopped at the highly recommended Happy's Snack Bar on the beach for a little happy hour.

If you are still reading (THANK YOU) and here are my workouts for the week:

Monday - Yoga and swam (new personal best!)

Tuesday - Travel and walk around Pearl Harbor

Wednesday - Morning yoga on the deck and SUP

Thursday - Hike Diamond Head, SUP and swim in the ocean

Friday - snorkel

Saturday - rest day...on a boat ;)

Sunday - Walk the beach

And that's a wrap! This unexpected vacay was the perfect mix of fitness and pleasure. 

I’m linking up with Holly and Wendy for the Weekly Wrap!

Have you ever been to Hawaii? Which island?

What workouts do you do when on vacation?

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