Hawaii Day 3 - Oahu's North Shore

The main reason why we chose to stay on Oahu for a part of this Hawaii trip was the chance to visit with the husband's college friend, J. Since husband attended a very small college in Michigan, he was able to make some really good friends that we have managed to stay in touch with over the years. J moved to Hawaii about a year ago, so pretty much the only chance we will get to visit with him will be when we are in Hawaii. Our 3rd day in Hawaii was spent with J and his parents, who also live on Oahu in the North Shore area. J showed us some interesting spots that we might not have explored on our own. We had lunch in Hale'iwa Town at Pizza Bob's, where I had a yummy Ahi Katsu sandwich (Panko Crusted Fried Ahi with Wasabi mayo, really unusual and good). Then we headed to his parents, where we explored their huge backyard with enormous fruit trees before heading out to dinner at Ginger House Restaurant in Mililani. J's parents explained that Mililani is the closest city they can go to for most of their shopping (other than grocery). It is about 45 minutes away, so they really live in a remote area. It struck me as funny, since so many people don't go to Oahu because "It's too busy, too many skyscrapers," etc. There may not be as many resorts outside of Waikiki, but when we go back to Oahu, we will either stay in a rental property or a B&B somewhere outside of Waikiki. Here are some pictures of our great day with J:

The end of the road - these shots were taken at the farthest point driveable by car - several filming locations for LOST are located along the North Shore (yay, Lost!). The ocean and earth interact in such unique ways on the islands, making cool rock formations!

Turtles at Turtle Beach (not to be confused with Turtle Bay Hilton!). I will never forget telling husband that we were going to Turtle Beach, then getting out of the car to hear him say "Woah, there's like, HUGE turtles here!" He didn't really understand the literal naming of the beach, I guess!

La'ie Point - We spent a lot of time in this area just watching the ocean, the fishermen, and admiring the rock formation created by a tsunami in 1946 (you can't really see much of it in these pics). La'ie is heavily populated by Mormons, who run the Polynesian Cultural Center nearby. This is important because if you visit on a Sunday, you might find a lot of closed businesses.

Pipeline Beach - This beach is pretty hidden from tourists, as you have to walk through a neighborhood and it is not visible from the roads. What a beautiful stretch of white sand beach! We didn't stay long, but on our next Oahu visit, I could picture bringing a lunch and spending the day here!

J's Parents backyard, including (from top) the house framed by their mango tree; a funny prickled fruit that J says doesn't taste all that good, but is fibrous and you suck on it to get the sour juice out; the biggest grapefruit tree I've ever seen (and I'm from CA!); and the biggest snail I've ever seen.

Our sincere thanks go out to J and his family for their hospitality. They were all so sweet to us and really showed us that Aloha spirit that makes Hawaii special. The people are what makes Hawaii great, beyond all the beautiful sites and amazing weather.