December 31, 2014

The last day of the year and it is 68 degrees, lots of sun and a light breeze from the northwest. It is going up to 73 degrees today. Happy New Years. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. This morning at 9:30am, I was sitting on the balcony doing a little writing and making a few calls. I called my children and two siblings. I also touched up my nails.

For the Love of Waikiki

On the hotel elevator on the way to get something to eat, I saw an older lady dressed for the beach. I said, "Are you going to the beach?" She gave me two thumbs up and then said I just love it here. She informed us that this vacation was her second time this year. She started coming to Waikiki in 1973 and this is her 43rd time. She wished that she had purchased property.

Time to do the Laundry

Today was a good day to do the Laundry because it rained. Rainy days are good days to relax and take it easy.  Yesterday we got a microwave so after sleeping in and I really mean sleeping in, I made breakfast. When I look at the clock early and it reads 6:30 am, it is late at home. It would be 11:30 am so imagine the time home if we got up about 10:30am. By the time we washed the clothes and put them in the dryer, it was happy hour. There are two happy hours. One from 2:00 - 6:00 and the other one starting at 9:00 pm. We had 40 minutes on the dryer so we ate lunch.  We are half way through this vacation with 5 days to go.

Duke's Waikiki

Last night, we had dinner at Duke's Waikiki on the beach at Outrigger Waikiki. The food was extraordinary good. Jim had prime rib and I had some type of fish. The salad bar was only $2.00 extra but everything was on it from breads, pastas to beets and fruit.

Duke's is named after  Duke Paoa Kahanamoku born  August 24, 1890. He is Hawaii's most famous citizen and the "Father of International Surfing"  He is the oldest of six sons and three daughters. The ocean was his play ground and he loved swimming, surfing, canoeing and body surfing. Our President Obama grow up here and also enjoyed bodysurfing. At age 21, the Duke won his first Opympic Gold Medal and then represented the US for 20 years. He had worldwide fame for swimming but enjoyed surfing before it was a competitive sport. He also starred in 28 Hollywood films included one with another famous " Duke" John Wayne. Hawaii's Duke was know for his charm, integrity and courage. He became Hawaii's Ambassador of  "Goodwill & Alaho".  He was inducted into both the swimmers & surfing Hall of fame in 1966.

T Galleria by DFS

This was a small shopping mall that the map guide described as offering the widest variety of luxury brands in fashion & accessories, beauty & fragrances, watches & jewelry, and wines & spirits. Some of the stores I saw were: Gucci, Dior, Hugo Boss, Givenchy, Balenciaga, Loewe, Swarovski, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Michael Korr & Burberry. Most of the stores I heard of. I did not buy anything. This was where we had to go to get the Waikik Trolly. We took a few Island tours

Michael Korr

Just stopped in the store to look. So many nice bags, especially the Purple ones.

Sunset ~ It Was So Wonderful

Yesterday we got our beach towels from the front desk after packing our snacks and walked to the beach.  The Holiday Inn Beachcomber saids that there are 300 steps to the beach. I did not count the steps. Once we got there we found a nice spot.  The sun was hot, the water was a pleasant cool and everything was right with the world.  It was about 77 degrees and a light breeze. There were lots of people on the beach and several boats came to the beach with more people for an hour or so. We saw a lady with purple hair and watched a young child on a tube not wanting to get in the water with his mother. Watching the people was interesting. We stayed until the sun went down and Jim got some good sunset pictures.

First Stop In Waikiki

Wherever we go, we look for the Harley Davidson store.  We looked it up on the iPhone and learned that there were 3 shops on the island. We walked for a while looking and decided to call and they are located in the Royal Hawaiian Center which is a mall in building "A" on the second floor. Jim purchased a few things and was able to get a free insulation bag. Great for keeping beer cold. The Harley shop was our second stop. The very first stop on the night that we arrived was Ono Philly Cheese Steaks. Reservations were needed for the better restaurants.  These sandwiches really do taste like Philly's.   They are made with Philadelphia's famous Amoroso's rolls. Amoroso's Baking Company is located in Southwest Philadelphia. They have been around for five (5) generations starting in 1904. According to there web site, they use a "state of the art flash-freezing process that captures that unique Amoroso's taste. There rolls and the Philly taste are world wide. They are available in all 50 states as well as Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, The Philippines, Bermuda and the Dominican Republic." Ono's still makes great sandwiches. The last time we were here, I believed Jim had 3 sandwiches in 8 days. This time we are here for 10 days. We shall see.

Why Waikiki?

 Jim said, "find me some place warm." He wanted to be away for Christmas.  With the lost of his father in November 2013 and the lost of his mother in January 2014, a break was badly  needed. We have been working on estate stuff all year and continue to do so. He said my parents are gone and your children are out of state, who are we going to cook for? For years, we host the Family Christmas Dinner. This was a transferred task from Jim's grandparents home, down the driveway after they died. His grandmother left us in 1993 and then about 5 years later, his grandfather died. We were doing the dinner for quite a while.

 Jim's dad would bring roast beef and salmon and his mom would bring something sweet. His Aunt would bring a cabbage dish. 

We started looking around the first week of December for some place warm. It was too late for some of our  vacation choices. We researched Costco travel, AAA travel, online stuff and ended up with Liberty Travel. Jim gave an amount limit and she called us back with a trip to Puerto Rico.  Jim then asked, "how much more to go to Hawaii?"  It was reasonable so, here we are. Not a lot of choices when it is the last minute and it is Christmas. We were here in Waikiki four years ago for Jim's 60th birthday and now it is a gift for my 60th birthday & for Christmas. It is nice and warm.

Way Too Early

We are on an airplane from LA to Waikiki on Christmas Day 2014. Arrival time is expected to be at 8:30pm their time but will be 2:30am our time. We got up this morning before 6:00am. That was way too early for retired people. We may be up for 24 hours. Our first flight this morning left before 10:00am but we got to the airport early to get through TSA. At least we did not have to take our shoes off. The lines were extremely long. Will be glad when we get there. The plan is to relax. Merry Christmas!