Return to Hawaii 2021

Just back from our first Hawaii family visit since the start of pandemic. Happy for my family to meet J. and also to play tour guide. In the past, I would visit home annually, but as my parents are getting on in years, I plan to make more frequent visits in the future.

We stayed in Waikiki on a holiday weekend which meant a lot more visitors. It seemed as if everyone on the continental US chose Hawaii for post-vaccination vacation! Still, our taxi driver thought tourism was seventy percent less than normal due to very little international visitors.

Next trip we’ll pre-plan for a non-holiday weekend and try a hotel away from the hustle and bustle.

The images below show the view from our high rise hotel at different times of day - sunrise, mid-day, evening.

A bonus for staying in the heart of Waikiki was our daily walk along Honolulu’s “Gold Coast”, easy beach access and views of Diamond Head. Some of the architectural highlights are in the gallery below, including a streamline moderne gem.

It was difficult to make last minute dining reservations due to reduced restaurant capacity, but we found new outdoor dining places to try thanks to recommendations from family members in-the-know. Our last dinner at Quiora was a memorable one, with this sunset view.

Dinner view from Quiora at Ritz Carleton Waikiki

The part of the tropical landscape that we especially enjoyed were the huge banyon trees in and around Kapiolani Park and also on the hotel grounds.

Overall, it was a relaxing trip with not much planned other than a visit to the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA), my favorite shave-ice stand, a scenic drive along the Windward side and time with family.