Here’s a clue:

That, my friends, is Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. The picture was taken from our hotel balcony on the morning of our first full day in Hawaii.

I rarely post pictures of vacations during the week I’m traveling. Why advertise my absence? But when I get back, I like to post pictures and relive memorable moments. Over the next week or so I’ll tell you about my first visit to the gorgeous state of Hawaii. Here are a few pictures to start off.

We traveled with our friends the Chauzas. (You’ll see a lot more of Bob and Patti over the next week or so!)

We flew to Honolulu on Friday evening, and I had the privilege of meeting my friend, Carmen Leal, and her husband for dinner at Uncle’s Fish Market.

  I’ve known Carmen for many years, and it was awesome to reconnect with her. She is an absolute expert on touring the islands, and gave us so many tips and so much great advice. Dinner was awesome, and a lady we didn’t know even bought us a lobster to share for our table! As they say in Hawaii, “Mahalo!” (Or “Thank you!”) 

On Saturday morning we got up and took a walk along Waikiki Beach. Patti and I both got our first touch of the Pacific Ocean on that morning — the water was surprisingly warm! There were so many lovely sights to see – statues and waterfalls and lush tropical flowers.

This Banyan Tree was visible from the balcony of our hotel room, and we couldn’t wait for the sun to rise so we could get a closer look. You’d laugh if I told you how many pictures I took of those Banyan Trees. They were fascinating!

Stay tuned! More to come!