Waikiki Wonderings

It is always fun to spend at least 24 hours in downtown and walk the beach at Waikiki.

There were signs of Christmas but with the palm trees around it is hardly what I am used to.  I always feel like a foreigner in my own country here as there are so many nationalities walking around and speaking in their different languages. 

We like to walk through the grounds and foyer of the Royal Hawaiian (The Pink) hotel.  It is nicknamed the Pink Palace of the Pacific.

One of the earliest hotels on the beach it has beautiful grounds and a wonderful beach and view of Diamond Head crater.  All the umbrellas are pink, of course.

After WWII I remember my Uncle Carl visiting the islands and showing slides of this hotel where the rich and famous have visited for nearly 100 years.  He also introduced us to Macadamia nuts.

No, we did not stay the night though it is fun to walk around and wonder who else had visited these halls.

Not far away is the first luxury hotel built on the beach - the Monoa Surfsider.  It too is spectacular in its own way and if you were able to get to the islands in 1901 when it opened you could have had a room for $1.50.

I personally think that Kailua Beach is better than Waikiki Beach but here is where the majority of tourists come to bake in the sun and have fun.

Rainbow Tower - a Hilton Hotel is sort of at the one end of the beach, also with beautiful grounds.

There a many swimming pools for those who don't want salt water. 

I couldn't pass this picture up.  Though hard to see, in the upper middle of this picture on a small rock sits a Night Heron.  They are fish eaters and he is surrounded by Koi (colorful carp).

I couldn't help but think that we aren't the only ones who think that Hawaii is like paradise.

Diamond Head is really the edge of an extinct volcano.  If you look carefully you may see two tiny bumps on the top of it to the right side. 

When I zoomed in at 96 power, you can see some of the tourists who have made the climb to the top of Diamond Head.  There is an old look-out spot left over from the war or before that is the place where you can see up and down the coast and for miles into the ocean- a great lookout!

As the sun moves farther into the west, the torches are lit for the evening activities.

One never knows for sure what the sunset will be like.  We have some beautiful ones in ND.

A bank of clouds kept the sun from "splash down" in the ocean but made for a beautiful conclusion to the day.

There isn't much twilight here.  When the sun sets it is dark.

One lonesome sailboat in the huge Pacific at sunset catching the last rays of the setting sun.

Some creative person/s made a sand sculpture of Santa and a Christmas tree.  I guess you do what it takes to get into the Christmas Spirit in Hawaii.  At least it doesn't drop needles.