Oahu

Watching a Sea Turtle coming up onto the shore

The fam on Waimanalo Beach

North Shore Sunset

Delicious Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center

Chicken at Waimea Valley Waterfall

We had so much fun in Hawaii this last Spring. Jamison was lucky to get a job assignment in Oahu, and so Jossy and I were able to tag along for a great vacation! We started out in Honolulu, where we found some amazing vegan eats! It was really easy and fun to eat here, because there were lots of vegan/vegetarian choices at most places and some all vegan cafes too. We loved the Peace Cafe. They had amazing food, drinks and desserts! We also loved the Down to Earth All Vegetarian Organic and Natural Store! This place was awesome with a deli and even garage parking.  A place called Longhi's in the Ala Moana mall had the best fruit bowl I have ever had! Fresh pineapple of course, with all fresh blueberries, strawberries, bananas, cantaloupe, blackberries and more and HUGE! They didn't have vegan options on the menu but were great at working with us with things like fried potates, avocados, pastas and sauces, veggies and breads. (A lot of places are if you just ask the waiter to ask the cooks/chef what they can do for a non-meat and non-dairy eater! Plus, I think it helps when we tell them our daughter has a dairy allergy, then they usually help us out a lot and find someone in the kitchen that knows how to prepare dairy free food.

Another great little place was called Ruffage. The owner was really nice and they had a little health food store too, where I bought  a big tub of coconut oil to try as sunscreen. It worked great! I even used it on my 2 year old, even on our faces! We didn't burn at all, just tanned and were super moisturized. :) It was a little greasy, but who cares when you are on the beach and bumming around anyway! It felt so natural and I was just so surprised that none of us whiteys burned at all!

We stayed at the Ilikai, where we got upgraded to a 2 bedroom suite! Right on!! Although this place did not have a great pool, the place next door did, and when we went there thinking it was the Ilikai's pool...they let us stay and it was awesome. Can't remember the name of the hotel, but it looked fun. And on the other side of the Ilikai was the Hilton Hawaiian village, which was fun to explore with their flamingos and swans and Koi ponds, even if it was pretty fake. The beach was OK, but lots of people and very "groomed", but nice because the waves were small so we didn't have to worry about our daughter wading.

The second part of our trip started out...exciting shall we say?? Our first night on the North Shore we were evacuated for a Tsunami warning! We woke up at 1:00 AM to firemen shouting "EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY" in a megaphone, looked outside and ours was the only car left in the parking lot! We had gone to bed early and with the ocean noise, hadn't heard all of the commotion of people fleeing for higher ground! We grabbed our daughter and the diapers and took off. We asked the locals at the gas station where to go, and ended up sleeping in the car in a McDonald's parking lot in a town at about 900 feet above sea level. We were let back in to Haleiwa around noon the next day. There were 6 foot higher than normal waves that damaged a few boats in the harbor, but that's all thankfully. The condo where we stayed has a reef in front and the next day, the water would fully expose the reef about every hour or so, which I guess was unusual. Other than that, it was vacation as planned. :) We played in the sand, swam (only a little :) ) snorkeled, and watched the amazing huge waves. We hiked to a waterfall at Waimea Valley and swam, and it was beautiful! The Polynesian Cultural Center had a good show and a great Luau. There's a wonderful vegan/vegetarian restaurant in Haleiwa called Paradise Found. It is in the back of the health food store. Jossy loved the Acai smoothie and we played dominoes while we waited for our delicious grub.

I can't wait until I can go to Hawaii again. The fresh air, the ocean beaches, the laid-back friendly people, and smell of flowers. I love it!