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Waikiki

We were heading home after spending a week in the Cook Islands. We went via Honolulu, arriving late enough in the evening that it would have been a real marathon to try to get all the way home. Just like last year, we decided to take advantage of our transfer through Honolulu and spend a couple of days on Oahu. The crowds and high rises of Waikiki provide a real contrast to the Cook Islands.

We arrived about 6 pm and went through immigration, got our luggage, and got to our hotel and were checked in by 7 pm. We were staying at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel. It's a block off the end of Kalakaua Avenue, which is the main drag in Waikiki. It's just across the street from Kapiolani Regional Park and the Honolulu Zoo. It's right at the transition from high rise hotel, urban Waikiki, to parkland that rises to Diamond Head. We splurged and got a room with a balcony and a view across the park to Diamond Head.

We hadn't eaten since breakfast so the first order of business was getting something to eat. There was a Denny's a block away. Nothing spectacular - just predictably ok. We had dinner there before going back to our rooms and crashing. Mary Beth was worried that Denny's might be "scary" but there were only a few sort of weird people there. Besides us, I mean. So it was fine.

Next morning Sandy and I were up early for our usual morning walk. We went exploring, going into the park and then walking along the waterfront. It was a gorgeous morning and the views of the ocean, Diamond Head and Waikiki Beach were spectacular. We were in the heart of a big city and it was quite a change from the solitude that we were used to in the Cook Islands. It was still beautiful. Even with all the people, I could get used to doing this every morning.

After cleaning up, we met Mary Beth in the coffee shop in the lobby of the hotel. Sandy and Mary Beth had cooked breakfasts. I decided to pass and wait for better options later. I'm sorry but I just can't eat eggs.

We headed up Kalakaua Avenue, stopping at every tourist shop to check out the tshirts and aloha shirts. I was in heaven. Although Sandy bought some stuff I maintained discipline. I wanted to see everything before making up my mind on what I would get. And there was a lot to see. There were a lot of tshirt shops, not counting that there was an ABC store on literally every single block. Although they had similar stuff, each one was a bit different so we had to check out every single one. It was hard work but when it comes to tshirts, I am dedicated after all.

After covering about a mile we finally reached a huge shopping mall, the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. Although malls are dying back home, in Honolulu they seem to be thriving. There were two enormous ones in Waikiki. I guess the tourists love them.

Having skipped breakfast, by now I was pretty hungry. I made a beeline for Penny's Malasadas in the food court. Malasadas are a fried doughnut, originally from Portugal, which has been enthusiastically adopted in Hawaii. We really got to like them on our Hawaiian trips last year and we found Penny's our last time in Honolulu. They only sold packages of three, so Sandy and Mary Beth split a box of creme-filled ones while I got my own box of plain ones. Mine were great and I polished off all three with no problem. Sandy and Mary Beth weren't as impressed. They didn't quite finish theirs.

After our snack it was more hard shopping. We covered the whole spectrum. Sandy looked at nice jewelry at Na Haku, where she saw a beautiful triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuapuaa) pendant. It turned out to be over $5K so she decided it was out of range. But they had another that was "only" $900 that she was seriously considering. Meanwhile I was looking for cheap souvenirs in Duke's Marketplace, a side alley filled with numerous vendors in small stalls. Three tshirts for $20. Can't beat that.

Eventually we stopped at Maui Brewing Company for a beer, and a chance to sit down and rest. Sandy and I each had a glass of lager while Mary Beth tried their sampler. She texted a picture of it to her friend John to brag about where she was. He texted back that he had been to Maui Brewing Company and tried their beers. A few minutes later he sent a picture of himself wearing one of their tshirts. He was kind of saying "I'll see your beer sampler and raise you a tshirt."

When we finished our beers we got something to eat. Since it was mid afternoon we decided to call it a late lunch . That way dinner was still an option. Afterwards we continued to pile it on by stopping for gelato, after which we waddled back to the hotel and went to our rooms for a break, or if desired, a nap. That evening we got together again and went to Cheeseburger in Paradise. Sandy and I had drinks while Mary Beth had dinner. I was impressed. She was certainly making the most of all the excellent culinary opportunities on this trip.

On the way back to the hotel we crossed the street and checked out Waikiki Beach. Most of the crowds from the daylight hours were gone, although there were a lot of people compared to what we had been used to in the Cook Islands. The sunset was still beautiful, although in a different way. All the lights in the high rise hotels actually added to the scene. It was a good finish to our first day in Hawaii.

Next morning after Sandy and I did our walk, I picked the place for breakfast. It was the Hawaiian Aroma Caffe (sic). It was on the corner, just down the block from our hotel. We had walked by it several times the day before. Since their menu was posted in the window, I noticed that they had waffles with ice cream and caramel sauce. I had that in the Cook Islands the week before and thought it was great. I didn't allow any debate on this. That's where we were going to eat. Fortunately Sandy and Mary Beth did enjoy their breakfasts. Their coffee too. It was a coffee shop, after all. So it worked out well.

We talked about a trip to Pearl Harbor. Sandy and I had gone the year before and visited the Arizona Memorial. I wanted to go to the Air Museum there, but the logistics for that are a bit more difficult. You have to take a shuttle to Ford Island. Then you are mainly outside looking at airplanes. I wasn't sure Sandy and Mary Beth would find that very exciting. Plus there were showers in the forecast. If it started to rain there might not be anywhere to duck inside until it stopped. There was the real possibility of getting drenched. We decided to pass on Pearl Harbor.

Instead, after breakfast we went to the Honolulu Aquarium. It was close by, in the park just across the street from our hotel. We had gone by it both days on our morning walks. It wasn't very big but we thought it would probably feature some interesting exhibits. After all, we were on a tropical island that features excellent diving and snorkeling.

When we bought our tickets, the guy told us that we got half off because we were seniors. Hey, I liked this place already! Our first stop was the gift shop, which was right next to the entrance. Mary Beth bought a tshirt. I found a cap that I liked, but I stuck to my normal approach, thinking about it before deciding whether to get it or not. I didn't actually buy it till we were leaving.

Next we went to the monk seal habitat, which was outside in a large courtyard behind the main building. Monk seals are endemic to the Hawaiian islands. They were hunted nearly to extinction in the late nineteenth century and are still critically endagered today. Sandy and I did see a wild monk seal on the beach on one of our walks when we were in Kauai last September. The Waikiki Aquarium has a seal which lives there because it is unable to survive in the wild due to medical problems. Named Ho'ailona, he has made his home there since 2011. There were only a few people so we got a good chance to observe him up close.

Back inside, there were quite a few salt water tanks filled with reef fish, coral and various other marine animals. The tanks weren't as large as some places that I have been, like the National Aquarium in Baltimore, but they had a lot of interesting stuff that you could see up close. There were standard reef fish like angel fish, triggerfish, butterflyfish, tangs, surgeons, parrotfish and puffers. They also had some unusual specimans. There were three tanks with sea horses, at least twenty in total, probably more. In thirty five years of diving I have only seen a sea horse twice. There were also two different kinds of sea dragons, something I had never seen before. They are closely related to sea horses and are very strange looking - appearing almost half animal and half plant. Quite interesting. They also had several tanks of jellyfish, something that fortunately I have not seen often while diving. With black lights illuminating their tanks, they glowed in the dark as they undulated along. Beautiful.

Although not large, overall the Waikiki Aquarium was well worth a visit. It was afternoon by the time we left - time to do another trek along Kalakaua Avenue. We hit all the shops another time to try to finalize decisions on what to buy. Sandy checked out the fish pendant at the jewelry store again. I looked at tshirts, both for me and as gifts for others.

We also walked along Waikiki Beach for a while. It actually wasn't crowded by local standards. Still, the contrast with the deserted beaches we had been enjoying in the Cook Islands was pretty dramatic.

We ended up having dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Not very exotic but everyone was able to find something they liked and our dinners were actually pretty good. Walking home we finalized our purchases. Sandy got a bunch of Hawaii-themed gifts, like coffee and macadamia nut candy, for friends and family. I got a couple of tshirts. I also saw quite a bit of Trump merchandise in all the ABC Stores, like figures, candy bars, stickers, etc. I thought about getting something for Mickey and Allie just to be funny, but I decided not to as they would probably throw it at me.

When we got back to the hotel we dropped off our purchases and went to the hotel patio bar. It faced Diamond Head and advertised a great view. But when we got there, it was really crowded, the view wasn't that great and we were way in the back and couldn't see it anyway. We didn't even bother to order. We decided to call it good and just went back to our rooms. We were all tired and we had an early flight the next day.

I did run out one more time that evening. I told Sandy that there was one more tshirt that I wanted to buy. It was actually a ruse. I went to the jewelry store and bought the triggerfish pendant for her for Christmas. It was the $900 one, not the $5000 one. I'm a good husband, but not THAT good a husband. And I did buy a tshirt for myself on the way home as cover, so I got something as well. Since she knows that I always think about what tshirts to buy until the last minute, I don't think she was suspicious.

Next morning we had an Uber pick us up at 5:45 am. Getting up was difficult but traffic and crowds at the airport were not a problem that early. The flights home were uneventful and that evening we were back home. As always, Abby was glad to see us.

Another great trip was over.