Waimea Valley & La Mariana Sailing Club

(Katherine) Our last full day in Hawaii! We decided to head over to the North Shore and Waimea Valley. The traffic was pretty bad, so we pulled off along the way in Haleiwa and had a shrimp platter at an awesome shrimp truck called Makie's. You just order at the truck and voila, they give you a plate to eat at a fold out table under a shade structure.


We continued on to Waimea Valley, where we purchased tickets to walk through the botanical gardens. It was a lovely path, and at the end you come to Waimea Falls. At first, we weren't sure we wanted to get into the water, which is tinted red from the minerals in the water (I think it's iron.) But I'm SO glad that we decided to take the plunge, because we swam right up to the waterfall and sat on a ledge right where the waterfalls meets the pond. The sheer power of the water pounding on your back was the best massage I've ever felt – and it was provided for free by Mother Nature! I would have stayed under the falls for an hour if it wasn't so hard to breathe and there weren't other tourists waiting their turn.

On our way out of the park, we ran into a peacock that was just hanging out in the parking lot. I'm not sure if he was scared or showing off, but he displayed his feathers for us and I got some great pictures.

We planned to hit one of the beaches at North Shore, but we decided that in the essence of time and traffic to head back to Haleiwa to dine at Banzai Sushi Bar. We sat on cushions on the patio and enjoyed very generous portions – I highly recommend this place if you're in the area, but try to get there between 3-5 so you can take advantage of happy hour.

Our final destination was a venue which eluded us on our first trip to Hawaii 2 years ago – La Mariana Sailing Club. Robert has been determined to go here since it was one of the featured places on Anthony Bordain's “No Reservations” Hawaii episode. “Mariana” refers to the lady who owned & ran the club for about 70 years – she just passed away a couple of years ago at the age of 92. She started the sailing club with her second husband when they determined that there was a need for affordable slips (docks) for local sailors. The restaurant/bar was originally established for club members, but luckily for us it is now open to the public. It's totally of the beaten path on a random industrial road close to the airport, but once you're inside it is a tiki paradise. We both enjoyed an Zombie, which they supposed only allow 2 max per customer. I personally didn't think they were THAT lethal, but our waitress told a funny story about a male patron who received a drink from a table of females, and by the time he walked over to thank them his speech was so slurry that they were no longer interested in talking to him!

This venue also represented our last adventure for the US portion of our honeymoon – the next few days would encompass a flight back to LA, frantic packing, and visits with Robert's family. The next destination – Buenos Aires!