Christmas in Hawaii
Dec. 25th, 2021 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerOahu travelog #12
Waikiki, HI - Sat, 25 Dec 2021, 8:30pm
I didn't even occur to me when I posted my previous blog about visiting Waikiki Beach this morning that it's Christmas. Well, that's the way I like it, honestly. I don't celebrate Christmas. I don't begrudge the celebration of those who do, but I don't enjoy feeling like I'm being dragged along for the ride for a whole month. So it was refreshing not to see too many reminders about Christmas today while we've been enjoying our tropical beach vacation in Hawaii.
After spending time on the beach this morning we came back to the hotel to spend time at the pool. Or, more specifically, at the pool deck. The pool is small, and we didn't feel like swimming. We grabbed lounge chairs in the sun and waited for drink service to come around. Hawk got a virgin piña colada while I ordered the hotel's specialty passion fruit-rum drink. I then spilled most of my drink thanks to the beveled edge of the tables next to the lounge chairs. Well, that was over $20 literally down the drain. 😓
We thought about ordering lunch at the pool. The poolside menu was small, though, like only 4-5 mains. And they were over $20 and I didn't want to flush another $20 down the drain by knocking over my sandwich or anything. 😅 So we decided to get lunch while exploring Waikiki.
We walked north up the main drag for a bit, stopping in at various souvenir shops to browse gifts and whatnot. An odd thing about Honolulu is that one company, The ABC Store, has a virtual monopoly on all gift and convenience stores in this area. They are literally 2-3 of their stores on every block and there is no competition.
We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant connected to a food hall. The restos inside the food hall looked kind gross, but we decided to give this one a chance since the door checker— checking vaccine cards for everyone who entered!— assured us it was fresh. The other selling point to us was that the Mexican cantina had outdoor dining. Even with the vax requirement we felt safer outdoors because of Honolulu's recent Covid spike (blog from this morning). The checker's rec turned out solid recommendation because while the cantina's menu was narrow and the food was simple, it was fresh and well made.
After lunch we continued our walk around the tourist/shopping district. Hawk got a shave ice for dessert; I got a fancy-ass milkshake (different shops). We walked back via the beach.
We chilled for an hour or two back in the room then went out for a walk around town again. This time we headed south.
We walked via the beach again. ...Actually, we walked in the water most of the way. Immediately to the south of Waikiki Beach is Kuhio Beach, which has several breakwaters protecting it. These not only keep even the west shore's modest wave action down to practically nil but also keep the water warmer. It's almost bathtub warm here. Maybe we'll drag our beach chairs down here tomorrow.
We washed our feet off after a few blocks, put our sandals back on, and continued south on the promenade. We went as far as a WWI memorial swim club that's been abandoned and crumbling from disrepair for, like, 65 years (WHY?) then turned around and headed back north via the Kapi'olani park.
After spending hours at various times of the day on the crowded beaches and boulevards of Waikiki it was such a tonic to spend time in this totally chill park. Grant, part of the reason it was so chill is that so few people were here. And those who were were just... relaxing... in ways that had nothing to do with the beach resort mecca just 2 blocks away. One child was catching footballs thrown by his dad. A few were walking dogs. Several people were just spread out on the ground, resting or napping. Birds poked in the grass for worms and chittered from the trees.
Soon enough we were back onto the busy boulevard with people coming from and going to the beaches. We stopped in one of the ubiquitous ABC Stores and bought take-home dinner. For me it was two packages of sushi; for Hawk a dish of pasta salad. Again, we are trying to avoid restaurant indoors dining after seeing the huge Covid spike in Honolulu this morning. We ate our take-away food on our balcony overlooking the beach and the city as the sun set.
Happy December 25.
Waikiki, HI - Sat, 25 Dec 2021, 8:30pm
I didn't even occur to me when I posted my previous blog about visiting Waikiki Beach this morning that it's Christmas. Well, that's the way I like it, honestly. I don't celebrate Christmas. I don't begrudge the celebration of those who do, but I don't enjoy feeling like I'm being dragged along for the ride for a whole month. So it was refreshing not to see too many reminders about Christmas today while we've been enjoying our tropical beach vacation in Hawaii.
After spending time on the beach this morning we came back to the hotel to spend time at the pool. Or, more specifically, at the pool deck. The pool is small, and we didn't feel like swimming. We grabbed lounge chairs in the sun and waited for drink service to come around. Hawk got a virgin piña colada while I ordered the hotel's specialty passion fruit-rum drink. I then spilled most of my drink thanks to the beveled edge of the tables next to the lounge chairs. Well, that was over $20 literally down the drain. 😓
We thought about ordering lunch at the pool. The poolside menu was small, though, like only 4-5 mains. And they were over $20 and I didn't want to flush another $20 down the drain by knocking over my sandwich or anything. 😅 So we decided to get lunch while exploring Waikiki.
We walked north up the main drag for a bit, stopping in at various souvenir shops to browse gifts and whatnot. An odd thing about Honolulu is that one company, The ABC Store, has a virtual monopoly on all gift and convenience stores in this area. They are literally 2-3 of their stores on every block and there is no competition.
We ate lunch at a Mexican restaurant connected to a food hall. The restos inside the food hall looked kind gross, but we decided to give this one a chance since the door checker— checking vaccine cards for everyone who entered!— assured us it was fresh. The other selling point to us was that the Mexican cantina had outdoor dining. Even with the vax requirement we felt safer outdoors because of Honolulu's recent Covid spike (blog from this morning). The checker's rec turned out solid recommendation because while the cantina's menu was narrow and the food was simple, it was fresh and well made.
After lunch we continued our walk around the tourist/shopping district. Hawk got a shave ice for dessert; I got a fancy-ass milkshake (different shops). We walked back via the beach.
We chilled for an hour or two back in the room then went out for a walk around town again. This time we headed south.
We walked via the beach again. ...Actually, we walked in the water most of the way. Immediately to the south of Waikiki Beach is Kuhio Beach, which has several breakwaters protecting it. These not only keep even the west shore's modest wave action down to practically nil but also keep the water warmer. It's almost bathtub warm here. Maybe we'll drag our beach chairs down here tomorrow.
We washed our feet off after a few blocks, put our sandals back on, and continued south on the promenade. We went as far as a WWI memorial swim club that's been abandoned and crumbling from disrepair for, like, 65 years (WHY?) then turned around and headed back north via the Kapi'olani park.
After spending hours at various times of the day on the crowded beaches and boulevards of Waikiki it was such a tonic to spend time in this totally chill park. Grant, part of the reason it was so chill is that so few people were here. And those who were were just... relaxing... in ways that had nothing to do with the beach resort mecca just 2 blocks away. One child was catching footballs thrown by his dad. A few were walking dogs. Several people were just spread out on the ground, resting or napping. Birds poked in the grass for worms and chittered from the trees.
Soon enough we were back onto the busy boulevard with people coming from and going to the beaches. We stopped in one of the ubiquitous ABC Stores and bought take-home dinner. For me it was two packages of sushi; for Hawk a dish of pasta salad. Again, we are trying to avoid restaurant indoors dining after seeing the huge Covid spike in Honolulu this morning. We ate our take-away food on our balcony overlooking the beach and the city as the sun set.
Happy December 25.
no subject
Date: 2021-12-26 05:48 pm (UTC)