The North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii

sunrise, day 1, 6:01am

Aloha and good morning,

Yesterday was our first real look at the island, and it was an eventful one. The day started at 3am with us both waking to use the restroom, but were strangely wide awake? Time change is a strange thing, furthest I'd been west up till this trip was Chicago so...yeah. Contemplated taking Surfin Taco Dave's advice and "head out to Waimea Bay at 4am to see the dolphins". Apparently there are tons of them out there super early. As awesome as this could have possibly been, we really needed to force ourselves to sleep a couple more hours as to not be totally screwed up. My eyes opened at 6:01 and this is the exact time of sunrise here and we face east. Carrie and I were treated to an unreal sunrise directly out our door. I will never forget it. So shower, hop in our dope 4 door Jeep rental and head North for beaches, food, and shopping. Basically the three neccessities in life.

Loco Moco

First stop, food. Took advice of a couple of different people and hit up Hukilau Cafe which is just a few short minutes from us. This place is nationally recognized too. They have a signature dish called the Loco Moco: basically a bed of rice, choice of meat (out of Mahi this particular morning, Spam is an option too which is popular in Hawaii?), eggs cooked to order and topped with brown gravy. Carrie got Loco. I got pancakes. It was just so so, but good because it was close and we were belly full.

NIXON 51-30 Ceramic $2400

First beach was very close to the house Carrie stayed at when she was here 5-6 years ago. She recognized the beach immediately and upon a quick backtrack she found the house she stayed at quick like. Took a photo of her in front of it:). Next stop was the infamous Pipeline beach. Waves this time of year are not insane like the ones in winter but the current is still very dangerous and I would not venture these waters. There were two surfers right out where we were and they gave us a nice show. Scoped out what is believed to be Jack Johnson's house which was cool. We then headed to Haleiwa. There are 7 NIXON retailers in this little shopping village so I was in heaven...most Nixon watch display cases I think anyone could see in a few short hours was done yesterday, by THIS guy. Hit up a place called Chono's Margarita Bar and downed some delicious concoctions mixed up by Tony, 24 year import from Texas. One Lychee Marg blended with sugar rim for her, one top shelf Patron on the rocks for him. After this we felt like a hundred dollars. Picked up a small bite in our trek thru Haleiwa at Luibuenos, another Hawaian/Mexican twist with nice decor and a little pricier. Went for fried calamari with chipotle aioli(good) and their soup du jour, corn and jalapeño with brioche croutons. This soup was a home run.

                                
On our way back home we stopped at two beaches for a swim to cool off as it was good and hot by this time. Waimea Bay looked most "swimmable" and there were a good many people at this one little nook so we stopped here. Just by coincidence, this beach is the most popular beach for sea turtles to come onto the beach and rest! There were three on the beach and a few in the water which I quickly realized when one surfaced about 4 feet from me. Wow! This was uber freaking cool and completely unexpected. Got some good photos and a video I'm pretty sure I will put on YouTube of the two bigger turtles kissing/biting one another.

Home for a quick catch of our breath and change of clothes and off to dinner. Contemplated Banzai for sushi but decided to hold out for sushi in HK, probably a smart move. We had a great burger(him) and Ono fish sand(her) at Kua Ani in Haleiwa. Both were very well made and I would def return for another of each. Then back to the house, sleep for Carrie and a blog from me AND.....done.

Day one of best vacation ever...check. Bout to shower and start day two:) Starting with breakfast at Turtle Bay and then off to see some waterfalls! PEACE!!!