Hawaii Trip Day 1: PDX -> Honolulu -> Big Island
Day 1 of our Hawaii trip was mixed. We got the worst seats on the flight, thanks to our travel agent. However, when we reached the hotel in Big Island around 6pm, we were pretty impressed with our room, the surroundings and the fantastic ocean views.
We had enough time to take a quick walk around the town and get a couple drinks at the hotel lanai. We also watched the feral cats fishing in the tide-pools 
We were already falling in love with Hawaii!
Activities: None; signed up for a timeshare presentation (I am incorrigible, I know) - should know by Tuesday if it was worth it.
Drink of the day: Mai Tai
- 1 ounce light rum
- 1/2 ounce triple sec
- 1/4 ounce Rose’s lime juice
- 1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
- 1 1/2 ounces orange juice
- 1 dash of Grenadine
- 1/2 ounce dark rum
Word of the day: Aloha (Welcome / Goodbye)
Tip of the day:
Be sure what class of flight ticket you are buying. We bought our trip package through an agent, J.C. Travel and thought they would provide priority service. Turns out, we had the exact opposite experience. I generally look up the seating plan on SeatGuru and pick the best seats available on the flight. I am able to do that 90% of the time. However, this time the travel agent did not reserve a seat for us, the airlines refused to do it in advance and ultimately the gate agent assigned the last two seats on the flight!! Obviously, those were the worst seats (18A & 18B) with a closed window and seats that hardly reclined! I was really mad at the agent for not telling that she booked our tickets in the ‘N’ class (which happens to be the least flexible class for Hawaiian Airlines). Anyways, the tip of the day is to make sure you are at least able to choose your seats in advance on a long flight. I learned my lesson the hard-way.