Hawaii - Part 1

 On Friday (2/3) we left work at noon in the middle of a blizzard.  We parked at our friends house near the airport, had dropped Phinn off at the kennel the night before and our high hopes could not be broken.    

 We got to the airport and despite the 12" of snow and white out conditions our flight was on time.  Notice the eskimo logo of Alaska Airlines with the "lei" on it...Hawaii Bound!

 We had some passes to the Alaska Airlines Boardroom.  Free coffee, Free buffet, private restrooms, comfy chairs and 3 Free Alaskan Beers per person.  Amanda was on cloud nine.

 The sun was setting as we approached Oahu.  The stewardesses then handed everyone a free Mai Tai.  "This vacation was off to a great start"

 We checked into the Hilton Resort, strolled the beach in the dark and woke to this view.  We went to the gym then headed to the famous Waikiki Beach

 We found out our friend Margot was in Honolulu and made plans to meet up at the Jimmy Buffet Surfer Museum.  Margot had been visiting her sister (who is a professor at the University of Hawaii) with her mother and needed a little break from family.  Amanda and Jay were in much need of seeing a familiar face.  We had a great time laughing the night away and bar hopping our way to the Hard Rock.

 Sunday Morning we woke to another sunny day.  We took a walk around the Hilton Lagoon and spent more time on the beach.  Being 5 hours behind Eastern Standard Time kick off for the Super Bowl was 1:30pm.  We split up and looked for the perfect bar to watch the game.  We found the perfect spot...cheap drinks, mix of Pats and Giants fans, loud sound system, lots of TV's, front row seating and super cool bartenders.  We found it at Senor Frogs.  Despite the heartbreak loss we really enjoyed ourselves.

 Amanda had a "barf bucket" because we were so nervous.  Jay paced around for the entire 4th quarter and after the game the bartender went outside to check on Jay to make sure "he did not jump off the roof"

Another great sunset, but notice the clouds coming in.  We had checked out of the Hilton and into the Pacific Beach Hotel (to save $150 a night).  However, we were actually closer to the beach.  

 We were getting harassed by all sorts of folks on the street since we were wearing all Patriots attire.  We decided to change (Jay kept his hat on) and we took a stroll to drink our sorrows away.  We made it over the the "Top of Waikiki" which is a rotating restaurant.  Once we got a seat at the bar we both got vertigo and could not focus, they had that bar spinning too fast and we had to leave.  Too Funny!

 We found a little wine bar and had some good times on the ground.

Surf God statue on the beach.  Notice all the lei's.