Honolulu

Jim luxuriating in the gorgeous water of Waikiki Beach

We are back on the road again, escaping the heat and humidity of New York summer. June in New York is pretty nice — just what you’d like summer to be. And this year June was really lovely. But the minute the calendar turns to July, a hellish blanket of humidity suddenly descends on the city, and you want out. This year we decided to escape to a beautiful corner of the world that has so far eluded us — French Polynesia.

Now French Polynesia is quite a trek from New York, so we decided to break up the trip with stops in Hawaii, both coming and going. The idea was to avoid connecting flights to the degree possible. So on the way to the South Pacific we decided to spend some time in Kauai, where Jim’s brother Albert has a vacation home. And on the way home, we’ll spend time on the Big Island. Previous trips have taken us to Maui and Oahu, so now we’ll have explored all four major islands of the Aloha State.

Our journey began with an 11-hour flight from JFK to Honolulu. In the spirt of avoiding connecting flights, we decided to recharge in Honolulu for a few days before catching an easy flight to Kauai.

This is our third visit to Honolulu, and the place has grown on us with each stay. In fact, we behaved like extreme creatures of habit this time. We stayed at the same hotel as last time. We ate at a restaurant we loved the last time — all three nights! And we spent both full days sitting on the beach at Waikiki and having lunch at the hotel restaurant that we enjoyed so much the last time. If it works, don’t fix it!