Hawaii

Oahu - January 2009

My third trip to Hawaii was with my best friend Dennis to Honolulu, Oahu. I had a business trip to Las Vegas and was able to get a red-eye flight direct from there to Honolulu. Dennis flew from New York and arrived just a couple hours after me. I picked up our convertible Mustang and checked us into our hotel on the beach at Waikiki and then headed back to the airport to pick up Dennis and get our vacation started.

At this point Dennis and I have traveled together to many, many places (Banff-Canada, Vancouver-Canada, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Budapest, Hawaii, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Connecticut... just to name a few). He is an amazing person, a fantastic friend and one the greatest people I know...I love him and I love traveling with him!


Dennis from the top of Diamond Head


I spent an entire morning on this beach just outside Waikiki watching the sunrise and surfers...quiet, beautiful and wonderfully peaceful.


Who would have guessed...a California boy that never learned to dance before. My first surfing lesson and up and riding a wave on my first try...woohoo!


Hang Ten! LOL


Diamond Head Lighthouse from the top of Diamond Head.


Diamond Head Lighthouse from the beach where I spent the morning watching the sunrise and surfers.


Diamond Head Lighthouse from the road right at sunrise.


Diamond Head from our hotel deck.


Part of the climb up to the top of Diamond Head.


We spent this day headed to the other side of the island for a day of kayaking - this was a view of Waikiki on route to our kayaking adventure.


Dennis kayaking - this was quite an adventure - kayaking to the "Sunken Island" - an island a couple of miles off shore.


The view from Sunken Island.


This awesome view from a high point over the mountain to the other side of the island.


Sunset from just across the street from our hotel.


Sunrise from the beach at the base of Diamond Head.


Standup Paddleboard Surfers.


Beautiful Waikiki Sunrise


And no trip to Oahu could possibly be complete without a trip to Pearl Harbor. Very moving and fascinating to see the remains and photos and videos of this day in history.


This monument was beautifully done.


USS Arizona Memorial


The view from the Pearl Harbor Memorial.


Here I am...this was an awesome and very fascinating tour of a submarine here.


Torpedo bays on the Sub


Beautiful view across the water to the Pearl Harbor Monument.


copyright protected - photos by Tom Whalen

Drop me an email Tom Whalen takeoff321@aol.com