Hawaii! Part 1-Oahu

Emerging bleary-eyed from the Honolulu airport terminal after hours of travel from Maine, we were suddenly swathed in balmy night air. As we walked along the open-air walkway, the tropical smells and sounds were intoxicating. It was instantly clear that after more than a year of planning, we had actually arrived in Hawaii.

Running in Hawaii had been shining like a beacon as a prized destination throughout our quest. As one by one we checked off states on the mainland, we also mentally collected tidbits of information about where we might go, what islands would suit our passions, and how our marquee trip might play out. We racked up airline miles while I squirreled away funds to be designated for this splurge of a trip.

Finally, it was time to pick a race and map out an itinerary. We chose the Front Street 5K in Lahaina, Maui which was scheduled for September 2023. And then, just a month before we were due to run the race, the catastrophic Lahaina wildfire broke out, incinerating the town. As the event unfolded, it became clear that it would be impossible for the race to take place. With over 2,000 buildings destroyed, the town was clearly not able to function beyond attempting to care for its inhabitants and contemplating how to rebuild their community.

Initially, we scrambled to find an alternative race. But when the options that coincided with our travel schedule were less than inspiring, we decided to opt for a DIY race, as we had done in Santa Fe, New Mexico when flight delays caused us to miss our designated race. Our resolve to go with this plan strengthened as we continued to hear about the staggering needs in Lahaina. Instead of paying race entry fees just to check-off a race in a state, we resolved to send those funds, and more, to a variety of agencies that were coordinating the recovery efforts in Lahaina.

Our original plan had been to visit Oahu, Maui, and Kauai, but news reports at that time were discouraging any tourists from going to Maui. I had yearned to go to the Big Island, aka Hawaii, so we altered our itinerary to substitute the Big Island for Maui.

Typically Mike is very low-key about the details of our travels and by default ( or possibly bossiness), I generally sketch out the itinerary and then run it by him. To be honest, I had negligible interest in going to Honolulu or the rest of Oahu. But Mike was keenly interested in going to the Pearl Harbor Museum, so we added an extra day to our plans.

I found the Hawaii’s Best podcast to be an invaluable source of information as we built our schedule. The episode regarding the rebranding of the Shoreline Hotel in Honolulu had intrigued me, so we booked our two nights in Honolulu there. When we virtually staggered into the Shoreline Hotel lobby, tired, disoriented, and hungry, we immediately knew we had made the right choice for our first exposure to Hawaii.

We were famished, so happily stepped into the adjoining restaurant , Heavenly Island Lifestyle.

The food was exactly what we wanted, even though we were too tired to actually realize what that was. The service kicked off our exposure to the friendly, laid-back Hawaiian vibe that we would experience throughout out trip.

The next morning, following another tip I had gleaned from the Hawaii’s Best podcast, we were on our way to Eggs ‘n Things across from Waikiki Beach. Due to the six hour time difference, we were up well before it opened. It was a short walk from our hotel to the beach and to the restaurant. It felt a tad surreal to be standing on the actual Waikiki Beach and we literally kept reminding ourselves that we were in Hawaii.

After a short wait, we were seated and happily diving into our breakfasts.

After breakfast, we Ubered to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. As we walked onto the grounds, we instantly felt the sense of reverence that this location deserves. We had booked our tour to the USS Arizona Memorial program on recreation.gov for later that morning, so spent time exploring the museums, displays, and grounds while we waited for our tour. The Waterfront Submarine Memorial recorded and commemorated the submarines and the military personnel that were lost during WWII. We had no idea about the extent of loss that occurred. Each block had a plaque that listed the submarine, its history, and the personnel that were killed. The magnitude of loss was staggering and most of these losses were not associated with the Pearl Harbor attack.

As the time for our tour approached, we joined the line to the theater and then filed into an auditorium to view a movie about the events of December 7, 1941. Soon we were boarding the boat that ferried us the short distance to the memorial.

Immediately upon debarking, the solemnity of the memorial was striking. Knowing that we were at the site of the final resting place of 1,102 of 1,170 of the sailors and Marines that were killed in this very spot was exceptionally moving.

Although I had been a bit ambivalent about going to Pearl Harbor, after our visit, I was immensely glad we had added it to our itinerary. As we continued our travels during the next week, we continued to expand our knowledge about how this event impacted Hawaii.

Returning to the city, we spent the afternoon having lunch at Duke’s and walking along Waikiki Beach.

The next morning, having recovered (mostly) from our jet lag, we were ready to do our first Hawaii DIY run. We waited until it was beginning to get light and set out to run our 3.1 miles along Waikiki Beach.

With this run complete, we could say we had officially run in our 49th state. However, we were psyched to head to our second Hawaiian island, the Big Island (aka Hawaii) next to add to our Hawaii runs.

State: Hawaii

Race: DIY on Oahu

Date Run: September 15, 2023

The Bottom Line: Although our run in Hawaii did not transpire as we had planned, we completely embraced our plan B and soaked up our first experiences in Hawaii with amazement and gratitude.