My company needed to send me to Honolulu to do some work last week which I was more than happy to oblige. I left a cold snowy Ohio early on Saturday, February 27th and approximately 13 hours later, which included a delay in Phoenix due to the tsunami warning issued for the Hawaiian Islands, I was basking in the warm tropical breezes of Honolulu.
Because this was a work trip, my free time was mostly limited to Sunday and Friday afternoon (as well as each evening). As this was my first trip to Hawaii, I have quite a number of Waikiki photos in this thread since that's where I stayed. Fortunately I made it to downtown Honolulu and the old historic district on the northwest edge of downtown on Friday afternoon to take plenty of photos. So enough talk, here are my photos.
Views from my balcony when I first arrived at the hotel on Saturday evening.
The view as seen the next morning.
Sunday’s big headline…
The view northeast from Ala Wai Blvd.
Residential areas northeast of Kuhio Ave.
Heading off to breakfast. Pay attention to the street here (Kuhio Ave) because I suspect this will be the preferred route for the future elevated rail line into Waikiki (it’s only planned to reach the edge of Waikiki at this point, but future expansion plans include Waikiki and the University of Hawaii Honolulu).
A market full of trinkets stretching from Kuhio Ave. to Kalakaua Ave. It’s a tourist trap, but oh well.
Diamond Head off in the distance with the Honolulu Zoo in the foreground.
For someone like myself who was stuck dealing with a cold gray snowy winter, this truly was paradise.
The water currents were still somewhat messed up from the tsunami the previous day, which not only made the water a little unsafe but also a little cooler from upwelling. So the beach wasn’t overly busy on this Sunday afternoon.
Heading west along Kalakaua Ave.
I took this photo for ColDayMan (I didn’t eat at any chains during the week except for McDonalds to try one of their banana pies).
Looking south across a park toward the Hilton Hawaiian Village (Rainbow tower).
The Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Heading out back to catch the coverage of the US/Canada gold medal hockey match. Looks like others had the same thought as I did.
I would estimate at least 40% of the crowd was from Canada. Needless to say they were quite happy just a short while later.
Hot body alert!
And again!
Oh how I love the ocean!
Heading back through the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
The view from my balcony at night.
Various views from the top of the Ala Moana shopping center parking garages.
The view from my table at dinner one evening. This is what it looked like at the start of dinner.
Near the end of dinner, this is the view I was treated to from my table. :-D
Buckeye fans are everywhere! :-D
The view from my table during lunch on Friday afternoon. The weather could not have been more perfect: 80 degrees with a wonderfully refreshing breeze.
The Honolulu skyline as seen from H1 heading east toward downtown.
Waikiki skyline as seen from the parking garages at the Ala Moana shopping center.
The less touristy Ala Moana Park beach to the west of Waikiki.
Beautiful day for a walk all the way from Waikiki to downtown Honolulu.
Approaching downtown Honolulu.
Aloha Tower on the downtown waterfront.
Heading into downtown Honolulu.
Historic contrasted with brutalism contrasted with glassy modern.
Now for some gorgeous old buildings on the northwest edge of downtown.
Heading into the heart of what I presume to be Chinatown (I seemed to notice a fair amount of references to Hong Kong).
Heading back toward downtown.
A plethora of brutalism.
The addition on top isn’t anything to write home about, but damn this building is gorgeous.
An old arcade!
Onto the grounds of the Iolani Palace and the Hawaii Capital Historic District.
This tree was astounding!
The state seal of Hawaii hanging on the outside of the Capital building.
While it pales in comparison to the Iolani Palace and other historic buildings in the area, the midcentury modern Capital building is still kind of cool. Especially nice is the open air center with the House of Representatives on one side and the Senate on the other side.
Inside the open air center.
Gay rights advocates outside the Capital.
The Honolulu skyline as seen from the grounds of the Hawaii Capital Historic District.
Other historic Punchbowl buildings.
One final view looking back toward downtown.
Mission Houses museum and grounds.
Relaxing on the pool deck at my hotel before meeting up with my coworkers for dinner late Friday afternoon. I think the weather gods or Mother Nature are gay rights supporters considering the many many rainbows I saw during my 6.5 days in Honolulu. I saw more during that time than during my entire life combined.
We headed off to the Hilton Hawaiian Village for dinner & drinks and also to take in the weekly Friday night fireworks display along the waterfront. This marked the end of my trip to Honolulu. I departed at 11:50pm on Friday night and arrived back in Ohio around 4pm on Saturday afternoon.
Hope you enjoyed the photos. I certainly enjoyed being there!
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