We’ve made many trips to Oahu over the years and stay in Waikiki for the variety of things to do there without needing a car.
On at least one of the days we are on the island we make it a point to rent a car to get over to the North Shore; that is absolutely mandatory. And by about day 3 in Waikiki we are ready to get outta town anyway, and head over to a more relaxed island style for the day.
On our most recent trip this last November we decided to try out The Surf Bus instead of renting a car so my husband (aka the chauffeur) could enjoy the scenery a little bit more. The Surf Bus picked us up in Waikiki in front of our hotel at about 8:30 with two other couples and we were off in a comfortable mini-van and a great tour guide.
Once we arrived over on the North Shore we were given a little tour of the coastline and then given the option of getting off at one of the beaches, renting bikes or surfboards, or being dropped off at Waimea Falls Park. In so many years of trips to the North Shore for the day we had never explored Waimea Falls and opted for that.
Waimea Valley is absolutely and beautifully incredible. A huge valley with a paved walking trail through lush flora and fauna that leads to the falls. 
The Surf Bus picked us up two hours later and took us in to Haleiwa Town for a couple of hours to enjoy lunch and browse through the shops. We had a great hamburger at Kua Aina Sandwich Shop and headed out to see the sights.
One of the sights was Aoki’s Shave Ice that a friend of mine had told me not to pass up. Even though we had just had that hamburger, we managed to have a shave ice that was oh so good. 
It was then that I looked up and spotted the house; I don’t know why it grabbed my attention. Nothing fancy at all, it just looked so tranquil and inviting. I felt like I belonged there.
I keep thinking about that house, I have even made the picture I took of it my gravatar on facebook. I kept thinking about it, and the other day the idea popped in to my head to enlarge the photo to see the number of the street address that’s on the front of the house and look it up on Zillow. I wanted to know anything I could find out about that house.
Now I know why I fell in love with it. The Zillow estimate of that not so fancy house is $1,130,000. Ha! I’m so good at sniffing out the expensive. What else I found out on Zillow? That house was built in 1928, it has 12 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. I have to wonder if that 12 bedrooms is a typo on Zillow, that house just didn’t look that big. And would a 12 bedroom house have only 4 bathrooms? Another mystery.
The next trip over to the Islands I’m going back to Haleiwa and I’m going to knock on that front door.
Charming – it might be just the guest house to a larger and grander mansion!
Hmmmm….more investigation!