Day 1:  Slept in until 6:30 this morning, imagine that!  The condo looks a little brighter in the morning sunlight.  It is very dated and is in need of a facelift at minimum.  Lucky we do not plan to spend much time in the room.  It is, however, right off the beach as stated.

After a quick stop at Starbucks, we headed down to the famous Waikiki beach to enjoy our coffee.  The beaches are quite small - not what I expected at all.  Several pictures follow.

View From Our Condo Window

Hula Dancers On The Beach

Looking Out To The Pacific

Picture Taken By Friends From Ontario, Canada

Looking Out To The City Of Waikiki-Small Boat Harbor

My Favorite - Sitting 20 Feet Above Drop Off To Ocean

Diamond Head From The Beach Outside Condo

Water Is Beautifully Clear - See The Fish?

We went to the 10 x 30 foot pool later this morning.  Again, not what we are expecting from RCI but Hawaii is bankrupt so funds are very tight.  Oh that reminds me, the lei custom that everyone receive a lei upon arrival in Hawaii has also been done in by the economy.  You could buy them but, of course, the shops were closed when we landed!  The old "lei'd" joke is still in play.  The cab driver thought it was hilarious.

More about Hawaii, it has the largest traffic problem in the nation when it out passed Los Angeles last year.  There are 127 islands not 8.  Only 8 are visible but larger number below water.  We met area expert, Clinton, today who helped us plan our week on Oahu. He also told us not to expect to see native Hawaiians as they are very private and stay mostly on the island that is not open to tourism.

Lewers Street, right outside the condo, is very similar to Las Vegas Boulevard :(.  Lots of partiers out at night but during the day the crowd was much lighter and easier to move about.  Also, did not expect Waikiki to be a "party" town.  Guess I should have if I watch TV.

Beautiful flowers and park right along the beach. Our first walk along the beach brought out beauty. This about 8:30 am and already they have picked up over night partying trash. The service people are quick to clean up behind a toss it society.  Somebody will pick it up after us.

Our Condo

We have a one bedroom 2 bath condo with a bed in the wall. Our grand children would enjoy the opportunity to play on a bed that folds into a wall. As for the condo, not the Ritz but works for us. Don't plan on spending a ton of time in the room.

We ended our day with a glass of local beer and snack at happy hour and then another walk on the beach.  We walked in the ocean - water is very warm,  You don't get the "take my breath away" jolt when you first step in. We will definitely be doing more time in the ocean during the week.