Day 1 Hawaii

We decided to try to go on vacation this year back in July when  COVID numbers were down. And given the care Hawaii has taken in trying to be safe figured it was the safest bet. I really had no hopes that this vacation would come off as the fall surge and Omicron hit , but here we are. The Delta flight was long going through Seattle from JFK , but most people on the plane ( except for one whose mask mysteriously kept falling down below his nose) were good with the masks . And it was easier than I thought it would be to put up with it for 15 +  hours .This is   the stretch above Black Rock on Maui's Ka'anapali Beach. The Sheraton sits atop and now also next to Black Rock. When my aunt and uncle were here in 1965 the Sheraton was the only hotel on the beach and the hills across the road had sugar cane fields. Now the beach is full of condos and hotels ( even more since the last time we were here 25 yrs ago) and there are golf courses and condos across the road.We actually stayed again at the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel which is very Hawaiian in flavor , has a great location and very friendly staff. Not to mention a pretty good restaurant which was the saving grace of a very long day after the flight.
The neat thing about the beach is that on a good day you may see 3 other islands. Lanai and Molokai are always visible but apparently when there is no haze you might see Oahu in the distance. Going in January means the humpbacks are here and we were able to see several in the channels between islands. Surf was very rough and the undertow was bad so no swimming on this day.
. Alert : I did not bring the computer - just too heavy to lug , and just as well as the one downside of the hotel was very slow wifi. Not too big a deal. But I am going to post the 8 day trip in order, just a week late.
We started from NYC not SYR ( shorter from SYR ) because we bought tickets to Music Man with Hugh Jackman on Broadway over  2 yrs ago  and because of COVID it was delay delay delay and finally the tickets ended up the week I had planned to go to the islands for 10 days. Trip shortened to 8 days  airport changed play attended. Production was a lot of fun and good grief can Hugh Jackman dance.