I was up about 3:30am on Monday, after about 5.5 hours of sleep which is sadly normal for me. And mostly enough. I went downstairs to sit on the lanai to work on the blog. Ash texted at 4:50 to say he was up and where was I? He came to join me then left a bit later to get us some coffees when Starbucks opened at 5:30am.
Then he went and got me another when, after being pretty much done with the blog, the platform crashed and I thought I’d lost everything. While he was gone, I had figured out how to restore a previously saved version and boy did that make me happy.
When the bakery opened at 6am, we got a bite to eat and then made our way over to an AA meeting that started at 7am. If you’re in recovery and have been to Waikiki, you’re probably familiar with Twelve Coconuts: a meeting that occurs in the middle of a coconut grove. We found it easily and met a friend of Ash’s there, who also happened to be the speaker. I’d been to this meeting once in 1993 and it was fun to be back – such a great spot for the meeting, looking out over the water and I could even see our hotel from across the beach where I was sitting. It was good to be there and we may go back on Tuesday morning.
Speaking of our hotel, you can easily see where we are staying from anywhere in Waikiki – The Royal Hawaiian is that pink building towards the end of the beach, hence the nickname The Pink Palace. I remember thinking in 1993 it must be a trip to stay there, and this has been on Ash’s bucket list for a long time, so we have been pretty happy with this stay.
This is the back lawn of the hotel, which you can get to from the Royal Hawaiian Center (mall), and has made a nice short cut when we’ve been returning from Kalakaua Ave.
By the time we got back to the hotel, Vasco had put us on the list for breakfast, but it was going to be at least 20 minutes before we got a table, so I went back to the room to get some things and took the time to take some more photos of the hotel.
If you look through the middle of this photo, you can see pink umbrellas and lounges on the other side of the pink wall – these are reserved for guests and of course have to be rented. Vasco had also managed to secure the last one for the day. We figured while we are here, might as well go all out.
A couple of other photos of the common areas, still beautifully decorated for Christmas.
Once we got our table, it was a prime location right next to the beach. Ash got an omelet, I got the pink pancakes again, and Vasco got the short rib benedict.
Vasco stayed on the beach after breakfast and never came back to the room as far as we know until it was time for dinner. We attempted to go to Diamond Head but made a rookie mistake. Not only did it require a reservation – which none were to be had for the remainder of our stay – but we hadn’t even checked into that beforehand so learned that when we got there. Not the first time that’s happened on this trip! We’ve been so busy and were kinda looking forward to not doing much we sort of blew off the planning part. Still, we’ve managed to pack some stuff in, still, right?
We got back to the hotel and went back up to change, get some water, etc., and joined Vasco down at our reserved chairs on the beach. We then went for a nice walk along the water.
We came across this interesting sight: a Hawaiian monk seal had made its way to the beach for a nap, which is their normal sleeping place. As soon as a lifeguard or any good citizen that knows the rules spots one, they call the wildlife people who set up protection around them since they are an endangered species. Pretty cool, huh?
It was close to 1pm when we got back from our walk, and we were ready for a little lunch. Vasco had no interest so we went on our own. After a couple of false attempts near the hotel with long wait times, we went across the street to the International Market Place. This is a huge somewhat-open-air mall that spans the entire block between Kalakaua and Kuhio. This photo is actually the Kuhio entrance. But we encountered lots of great shops and a food hall where we planned to go for dinner with Vasco.
We settled on Shore Fyre, which was pretty empty so no wait. We split an oriental chicken salad and salmon nachos.
We did a little more shopping after lunch then made our way back to the room where we just relaxed the rest of the afternoon. (Or, if you’re me, worked on the blog.) We both managed to get little naps in which was nice.
About 5pm we started to hear the sounds of the luau set up just below us. It looks awfully pink from up here even, doesn’t it?
If I leaned really close to our window, I could just catch the sunset.
Vasco got back to the room about 5:45. We left for dinner around 7pm. We went back to the food court, or Food Hall here, of the International Market Place across the street. As predicted, Vasco picked Banzai Burger from the array of choices. Vasco left after dinner for a night on his own, Ash and I walked a bit of Kuhio Ave and then decided we were done.
The hotel hasn’t confirmed our request for a late check-out today, Tuesday, so we’re not sure if we have to be out by Noon or by 4pm – preferably the latter since our flight isn’t until 10:30pm. We fly to Phoenix then arrive home about 9:30am on Wednesday, New Year’s Day. Due to all that we made zero plans for today except for dinner reservations this evening in Kailua.
I will do one more entry to share my traditional Final Thoughts if nothing else.
Happy New Year, everyone!
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Looks like an awesome time, you are really learning how to use different layouts!
Yes, this trip has gone much better on that front. Pretty happy with it. Thanks for all of your help!
What a great blog about your trip! Once again, the food photos and descriptions left me hungry. And all of the adventures sounded and looked lovely. My favorite is Vasco getting to swim with turtle sitings!
Happy New Year!
Always great to have you along!
The monk seal’s name is Nikhea, she is about a 1-year and the marine biologist remembered her being born . She is one of 1600 of her species left in the wild.