We decided to attempt Hawaii at the beginning of Spring Break. After reviewing flight loads, we determined that the best route was via San Francisco. The early morning flight from San Francisco to Honolulu was wide open and First Class was even a good bet. As we waited at DFW and were rolled over from one flight to the next, I checked out our other options. We had packed for Hawaii and decided that if we didn't get to California then we would go home and repack for the East coast. I checked into the San Jose flight and it looked better than the San Francisco one. I switched our booking and we waited. Was I glad when our name was called. The only problem... we needed to be near the San Francisco airport. That meant another late night shuttle. We arrived into San Jose, booked a hotel (I had cancelled our reservation since I wasn't sure we would make it in), negotiated a shuttle price, and we were off. Once we were checked in I double checked that earlier DFW - SFO flight and we had made the right choice, we would not have made that last flight to SFO. We were halfway to Hawaii. Dennis got on the phone with Marriott and started looking for a hotel room in Honolulu. We had checked earlier in the week and they had rooms with an airline employee rate. We called and they had rooms. As Dennis was booking the room, the agent on the other end put him on hold and came back to let him know that the room would be nonrefundable and did we know that Hawaii was under a tsunami warning. We had been on a plane so had no idea about the earthquake in Japan and the aftermath. We informed her we would check back and immediately turned the TV on. I was still ready to go; after all, the last time I was glued to a TV waiting for a tsunami in Hawaii, nothing happened. Dennis kept saying, "Lisa, it's a tsunami." Hey, what does he know, I grew up in Louisiana having hurricane parties. The tsunami was to hit right about the time we needed to check in for the flight so we set our alarms for a few hours of sleep. We woke up, the impact was not as bad in Honolulu as had been expected, and the flight was still going. We figured if the pilot was willing to fly there, then we could too.
We landed in Honolulu after a wonderful flight. It makes all the difference on long flights when you are able to ride in First Class. The sky was clear and we couldn't wait to get to our hotel and start soaking up some rays. Oh wait... we don't have a hotel room yet... remember the conversation with the Marriott agent the night before. We called to make a reservation and guess what, they were sold out. They did have a room for the second night so I insisted Dennis book it, after all, worst case scenario, we could sleep on the beach. I just knew we would be able to find a room. I figured we could drive to Waikiki Beach and stop at a few hotels until we found a room. Dennis was not real keen on that idea. We rented the car and he made a few phone calls. The Marriott hooked us up with their boutique hotel, The Edition. Did I mention they gave us an airline rate?
The Edition
We would never have just booked this hotel since we knew nothing about it and that is a shame because this turned out to be a jewel of a hotel. It is set near the harbor (opposite end of Waikiki from Diamondhead) and so the beach is not as crowded. We were met with ice cold lemonade laced with cilantro. The airline rate would give us a city view but they upgraded us to ocean view on the 16th floor. The free high-speed internet was also a plus. When we left for an afternoon excursion they handed us cold water bottles and when we returned that evening they had placed a filled ice bucket and two more water bottles in our room. This hotel is all about the personal service. They provide sarongs and robes for you to enjoy while you're there. Even an umbrella, if needed. There are two pool areas and we were able to get in a couple of hours of sun the first afternoon. We headed up to our room where we set on our balcony and watched the beautiful sunset.
The beds were so comfortable that we were both fast asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. Unfortunately we were abruptly awoken at 3am to an announcement that everyone needed to evacuate the hotel using the stairwells. Dennis got dressed as I emptied the room safe and gathered some items to carry down with us. We walked down 16 flights of stairs and everyone knows how much I like stairs. I wondered where everyone was since I only heard voices one time while walking down. As we reached the bottom, Dennis overheard someone say, "I've got the last two in the stairs". It was an employee who was very apologetic and explained that it was a false alarm. Thankfully, we could use the elevator to go back up.
The next morning we headed down to the pool and arranged our chaise lounges so we would have the perfect spot after our walk on the beach. The beach was a short walk and we watched as people fished, snorkeled, and played in the sand. It was not crowded or noisy. When we returned to the pool, we were greeted with glasses of ice cold water. It's really the little things that make the biggest difference. We snacked on hummus and naan bread (their version of pita bread), roasted tomatoes, and a cucumber and cheese relish. The perfect way to end our stay, at this jewel they call The Waikiki Edition
We checked out and decided to drive up to the North Shore. We stopped at the Dole Plantation, a place I had not been to since I was a young child. We ate fresh pineapple and Dennis had an ice cream cone. The flavor? Pineapple, of course. We continued our drive to the North Shore stopping next at Sunset Beach to watch the waves. We stopped in Kahuku at Giovanni's, a truck restaurant, for their specialty of garlic shrimp scampi served with two scoops of rice. The shrimp were cooked in garlic and butter and were delicious. Dennis ordered their hot dog which is also cooked in their garlic and butter combination which made for an interesting but wonderful take to the ordinary hot dog. This place really should be on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. It is an old truck covered in graffiti that had seen better days and you eat at picnic tables under a pavilion yet it serves some of the best shrimp around. We couldn't pass on the Hawaiian shaved ice for dessert that was being sold from a neighboring truck so we chose a combination of coconut, pineapple, and vanilla flavors. I was amazed to see the truck was outfitted with a flat screen TV. I guess everyone needs their technology fix, even on the beach. We continued our drive and almost completely drove around the island before we decided it was time to head back to Honolulu to check into our next hotel, The Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. This hotel is much different then the first. It is amidst all of the hustle and bustle of Waikiki Beach, which is fine, if that's what you're looking for. The high speed internet is not free and valet parking is $35 a night. They did however upgrade us to a partial ocean view room.
The Food
We had some wonderful local food while in Hawaii and I couldn't end the posting without telling you about it.
Helena's was our first stop since they are not open on Saturdays or Sundays. It was a little difficult to find but well worth our persistence to locate it. Since this was our first time, the server recommended we try Menu D on the combination dinners. It was a good sampling that included Kalua Pig, Lomi Salmon (similar to our pico but with salmon), Pipikaula short ribs (their specialty), and Luau squid. It was served with raw onions and salt and haupia, a Hawaiian coconut based dessert. Everything was wonderful including the squid which had a hint of sweetness to it. It was all so good, that it took a lot of will power not to order more. If they had been opened on Saturday and Sunday we would have made it a second time to eat there.
For dinner one night we chose Murphy's Bar and Grill. While it wasn't as difficult to find the pub, parking was a different story. A Texas size thank you to the gentleman who gave us his parking spot and ticket so we didn't have to pay $10 to park. Dennis tried the Guinness Stout which they have on tap. Our entrees included the Open Faced Turkey Sandwich and the Gaelic Steak. You can guess who ordered which. Both were served with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. The Gaelic Steak was served with a green peppercorn sauce that was so good, I could have used a piece of bread to wipe the plate with, but I didn't. For dessert we shared a Pot de Creme which was a dark chocolate mousse / pudding.
Breakfast in Hawaii would not be complete without fresh fruit. Dennis made the trek to the local ABC store (of course, there's one on every corner and sometimes one in the middle of the block as well) and served me a wonderful breakfast of Hawaiian fruit and pastry on our balcony. Lunch was at Giovanni's which I wrote about earlier. For our last night we sought out Teddy's Bigger Burgers. It was convenient to our hotel and we could walk there. Dennis ordered the Teri Burger and I had the Original but with onion rings. Since we wanted to share, they offered to cut the burgers in half. The cheese was melted and the special dressing made for a mouth watering delight. These were by far the best hamburgers we've had in a long time.
While in our room on the last night we turned on the TV and listened to a show about what to do if you had 24 hours in Honolulu. It mentioned a bakery called Leonard's. We remembered passing it while we were looking for Helena's. It talked about malasadas, a doughnut without the hole. We looked it up and jotted down the address. Dennis woke up the next morning and came back with pineapple-filled malasadas and cinnamon-sugar coated malasadas. The perfect way to end our weekend in paradise.
Leg 5 -
4 days
4 flights
1 shuttle van
140 miles driven
= 1 state visited
39 states to go!
http://helenashawaiianfood.com/
http://murphyshawaii.com/
http://teddysbiggerburgers.com/
http://leonardshawaii.com/
