May 7 to 21

My wife retired May 2^nd of this year. Her past two years of work have been extremely stressful, so she asked me to plan a retirement trip for us. Europe wasn’t an option because we’re a little worried about the political environment, but language and currency weren’t something she wanted to deal with on this trip.

It was a slog for her to make it to her retirement date so all she wanted to do was go somewhere warm and relax.

I offered Hawaii as a solution, and she agreed. We split our time between Waikiki and Kauai. We spent our first three days in Waikiki, the following week of Kapa’a and ended our trip back in Waikiki.

Getting There

 I have a Delta AmEx credit card and for years I’ve gotten companion fare certificates which I could never use because we usually fly internationally. This year Delta changed the companion fare certificate to include Hawaii and the Caribbean. I was able to get a direct flight from MSP to HNL for the two of us for $1400 using the certificate. My wife had an upgrade certificate, and they allowed her to use that certificate on top of my companion certificate, so we were upgraded to Delta Premium First Class. But it gets even better! I was checking us in on the app the day before we left and I saw we were upgraded to Delta One. We paid $1400 for two Delta One tickets to Honolulu. Delta, for all the times you raised prices and changed flights giving us shitter flight times, you are forgiven.

Needless to say, the flight was amazing. We checked in the Delta One line and there was only one couple in front of us. We made sure to get to the airport early enough to have breakfast and lattes at the Sky Club. We were in the last row in Delta One cabin, we had 7C and D. Our seats laid flat, so we could’ve slept but we didn’t. There was a large cube shaped cloth back on our seats that contained a blanket and pillow. Sitting on the console between our seats was a wired headset and an overnight bag that contained toiletries. We were officially spoiled. It was still a long flight, eight hours, but it was much more comfortable than having the middle seats in a row of five.

A family of five boarded with us. We were impressed that someone could pay for five seats in Delta One or had enough miles or upgrade passes for five seats. We were wrong, the dad took his seat in the Delta One cabin, and his family continued toward the back of the airplane.

Airport Shuttle

I booked Hawaii23 for our shuttle service. It only cost $42 and it wasn’t a shared shuttle. Mark, the owner of the company, was our driver for three of the four legs of our shuttle journey. He was a super nice and friendly person. We used them for our four shuttle rides to and from the airport.

Hotels

Waikiki Grand Hotel

We stayed our first three days at the Waikiki Grand. I had stayed just down the street at Park Shore Hotel in 2024 and liked the area so we decided to go back. We would’ve stayed there this time, but the rooms were a bit on the small side.  I booked a room at the Waikiki Grand because the rooms were larger than a hotel room and had a couch. My wife doesn’t sleep well and will end up on the couch in the middle of the night, which she did there.

The room had a kitchen with a counter and chairs. It had a window air conditioner that worked perfectly well- wasn’t too loud and it cooled the condo. There was a hostel directly across the street from our room, so we kept the drapes closed for privacy which made it feel dark.

The tenth floor had a small deck with chairs and tables. It was nothing fancy, but it gave you a nice view of the beach and Diamond Head. We saw people enjoying the deck as they enjoyed takeout or a cocktail.

The lobby and front desk were the least inviting of any of the three hotels in the area. The person at the front desk was usually hidden behind a monitor and rarely spoke if not spoken to.

Worldmark Kapa’a Shore

We thought we made a mistake by staying aat Kap’a Shore, and we were going to hate our time here.

Check in was simple and the office personnel were nice. The condo was a large two-bedroom loft on the third floor which meant we had to haul our bags up six flights of stairs.  The apartments were built in the seventies but were kept up so well that we couldn’t tell they were that old. The main floor of the condo consisted of the smaller second bedroom and bathroom, a full kitchen, dining area, living room and a balcony with furniture. The master bedroom and bath were on the second floor.

We were sweaty from the trip and hauling our bags up six flights of stair when we entered the condo. The condo was musty from having been closed up. The first thing we did was look for the thermostat to turn the air conditioning on but couldn’t find one. Next we looked for a hand control for the AC with no luck. Finally, I looked for an AC unit; window or other. I checked the breaker box and found a breaker labeled AC but I couldn’t find the AC unit. We looked at the list of amenities for the condo and ac was not listed. I go to Mexico a lot and I haven’t seen a hotel listed as not having air conditioning so expected the Kauai hotels would. My mistake.

I am fine not having AC but Karen needs it to sleep. We opened the windows, and the condo filled with the breeze off the ocean. It worked, she liked having the ocean breeze in place of air.

Shortly after we discovered the condo didn’t have air we discovered that we had to purchase Wi-Fi. It’s been ten years since I’ve stayed at a hotel or condo without free Wi-Fi. Not only was it not free but the options to purchase were either six or ten days, I’m sure everyone stays seven (like us) or fourteen days. It was a racket to squeeze more money out of the customers.

We were forced to purchase a ten-day plan and we also we had to upgrade again because the basic ten-day plan only included three devices. There was a login for owners, so I imagine they paid little or nothing and the association was getting a kickback from the internet company for the expensive fees that the renters paid. Yup, I’m still a little bitter about the fee.

Once we calmed down, we did enjoy the condo. The building overlooked the pool and just past that, the ocean. It faced east so my wife saw the sunrise every morning. I was still in bed. There are stores and restaurants within walking distance and more only a short drive away. We appreciated the size of the condo.

Queen Kapiolana Hotel

I intentionally didn’t book our final four days in Waikiki to allow Karen to explore the area and decide what looked good. Our first day in Waikiki I took her to Knott’s Roasters in the Queen Kapiolana and had drinks at The Deck and that was all it took. It was so much nicer than the Waikiki Grand that it wasn’t a competition.

However, there was a flaw in my plan, on the 17^th the entire hotel was booked. We decided to book the three available dates and stay at the Park Shore down the road. Before we left for Kauai we stopped at the front desk one last time and a room had opened up, so we booked it. We had our four nights at Queen Kapiolani.

Our room was on the fourteenth floor. It was larger than a normal hotel room. It had a small sofa, too small for Karen to sleep on, a refrigerator, and an induction kettle for coffee or tea but no coffee or tea was included. The bathroom we nice. It had a small balcony with chairs and a rainbow above my wiofe’s head on some days.

I worked out at the health club and it was the nicest hotel health club I’ve used. It was large and had treadmills, cross trainers and bikes. It had a good selection of dumbbells, barbells and kettle bells. It even had a yoga area.

I checked lists of rooftop bars in Waikiki before this trip and The Deck was on every list. We had drinks there once and dinner another night. The ambiance was great, it was an open air restaurant with a view of Diamond Head. The staff was friendly, the drinks were good, the Mai Tais were excellent.

If we go back, we will book the Queen Kapiolani again.

Car Rentals

BMW 4 Series convertible rented through Turo

We wanted to explore Oahu on the first leg of our trip so I booked a BMW convertible for a day through Turo. It was a painless experience. I paid an extra $50 to have the car dropped off and picked up at our hotel. That was a no brainer, it would’ve cost that much for Uber to take us to the pickup location and back.

My only complaint was that the person that dropped the car off didn’t want to spend a second more than he had to. I had a couple quick questions which I got a couple quick answers to, and he was gone. Luckily, I own a convertible, so I am familiar with how to raise and lower the top.

Dropping the car off was nearly painless. I stopped to get gas just outside of Waikiki because we were told to give them a twenty-minute notice when we wanted the car picked up. I texted when I stopped for gas but they said they couldn’t pick the car up for an hour but they had an acceptable solution that allowed me to leave the car and not wait for them. The Honolulu Zoo was across the street from our hotel so they instructed us to leave the car there and pay for parking. I left the keys in the console and texted them through the app and they locked the car remotely. No waiting for an hour, which was nice.

Hertz Rental Cars on Kauai

I checked for rental cars on the Delta website, which is usually not the cheapest option, but I was able to find a very reasonable price for a mid-sized SUV. I used to travel a fair amount for work so I had status with most of the rental car companies. I had Hertz Gold which I was able to use this trip.

 That meant once I hopped off the rental car shuttle, I located my name and location of my car on the board, I deposited my luggage in the trunk and drove off the lot. I hate waiting at the rental car desk.

The process wasn’t as pain free as I had hoped. Once we got off the rental car shuttle, I found my name and number where the rental car was parked. We dragged our suitcases to the spot and saw a huge Dodge Durango sitting there. This can’t be right. I checked the paperwork and saw it was right, they gave us an old, huge Durango. My wife wanted to return it, but I didn’t want to stand in line to wait for another vehicle. We drove the bemouth to our hotel where the parking spaces were smaller than the SUV. Once we unpacked, we drove to the grocery store where the parking spaces were a bit larger but it still barely fit.

Having driven on Kauai before I realized that my wife was correct, the massive SUV was going to be a problem, The lanes are small and there is a lot of city street parking in the towns on the island. Maybe you don’t think a Durango is that large but I own an Audi A3 and a Porsche Boxster, so it is huge compared to what I normally drive.

My other problem with the Durango is that it was old, it had sixty thousand miles on it. I don’t remember what year is was but the tech was old. It had a seven-inch screen, the screen on the backup camera was smudged or broken making it hard to see when I was backing up. I also had to plug my phone into a USB cable (which I knew to bring with) to get Android Auto to work.

I woke up the next morning, found the number for the Lihue Hertz office, called and explained that I had reserved a mid-sized SUV but received a full sized. They kindly told me that I could come in and exchange it. We drove the twenty minutes back to the Hertz location and they happily exchanged the Durango for a Chevy Trailblazer.

The Trailblazer was newer with better tech, it had what appeared to be a twelve-inch touch screen with wireless Android Auto.  It was easier to drive and park and I’m sure it got better gas mileage which is important when gas it $5 a gallon.

2024 Mustang Convertible from Turo

We rented a car for one day during our last four days in Waikiki so we could visit Karen’s sister’s ex-mother-in-law. The relationship is as confusing as it sounds but for reasons I won’t get into her sister has power of attorney for her ex-mother-in-law. She is a famous artist on the island, so we met her and her friend for lunch at Waioli. We also drove the southeast coast of the island afterward.

This experience was the exact opposite of the BMW. When we rented the BMW it seemed like a business, give us the car and get out as fast as they could because time was money. The Mustang felt like a twenty-something had his car listed on Turo to get some extra money. It wasn’t a bad experience, it was different.

I rented the Mustang because the pickup spot was only a couple of blocks from the Queen Kapiolani Hotel. Denys. the person renting the car appeared to be in his early thirties. He kept the car in his mother’s condo parking ramp. When we met him, he was very eager to spend time with us to explain everything about the car.

In high school a friend had a 1965 Mustang, this car road and handled very similar to that Mustang, I’ not sure that it a good thing.

When we dropped the car off Denys wasn’t available, so the mother, who clearly had someplace to be, met us to retrieve the keys. Part of the Turo process is videoing the car before and after renting it. His mother waited impatiently while I took my video then took the keys and quickly sped off.

It was a painless procedure, a little less professional than the BMW but it’s all good.

Driving Routes

East and North Oahu

The day we rented the BMW 4 Series convertible we drove up the eastern side of the island to Kahuku. When I was here in 2024 I took the Waikiki Trolley Blue Line which went along the ocean on the southeastern side of the island. The view was spectacular.  I wanted to let Karen experience that view and we also wanted to check out the food trucks on the northern end of the island.

The car was delivered to us at 9 am and we drove east. At about noon we stopped at Kahuku for lunch. I had a burger from Seven Brothers and Karen had poke from Da Bald Guy. She loved her poke and my burger was great.

One of the things about Oahu and Kauai is there are chickens everywhere and the town of Kahuku was no exception. We had lunch there and once Karen finished with her poke she went to dispose of the plate. When she left I took my phone out and read emails. I glanced across the table and noticed that someone had taken her seat. A chicken hopped up on her chair and checked the table for any morsels that we left.

We drove south and stopped at Makapuhu Lighthouse. We parked in the lot and hiked the trail.

Kauai

The week we had the car in Kauai we drove to Hanalei which was a beautiful drive. We had been to Princeville/Hanalei in 2018. It was nice to go back. A pizza restaurant that we liked in Princeville had closed but the grocery store and coffee shop we frequented were still there.

Hanalei was still a tourist mecca. The beach is beautiful even though we were chased off by rain. We wondered through the shops recalling the ones we saw in 2018.

Driving to Kauai is similar to driving on highway 307 south of Cancun. The speed limit is constantly changing so you’re always wondering if you’re going to get a ticket.  I was happy to have Android Auto with Waze because it showed me the speed limit on screen however it was wrong several times.

I laughed when I saw several Corvettes driving on highway 56. The fastest you can legally travel it 50 MPH, which is probably still first gear for them.

We drove to the Poipu area and Koala several times. Sections of the drive are absolutely beautiful.

We took a short drive to Opaeka’a Falls which is just outside of Kapa’a.  The falls were scenic. There is a scenic overlook on the way back to town which was beautiful. There was the largest group of chickens I’ve outside of Tyson poultry farm gathered at a picnic table at the overlook.

The thing about driving on Kauai is that there are a lot of 25 mph zones and even a 10 mph zone on the way to Hanalei. Locals never do the limit. You can tell they’re irritated at the tourists slowing them down because they stomp in the accelerator when there is a passing lane. I get the frustration but myself and other tourists don’t want to have our vacations ruined by a speeding ticket.

I have to admit I was a tourist idiot when we were driving back to the airport. As I mentioned, I used to travel for work and one of my pet peeves was attempting to find a gas station to fill up the car before returning it but arriving at the airport without finding a station. I took highway 54 south from Kapa’a toward the airport. On the southern edge of town is a Sunoco on the left side of the highway sitting on a small triangular spit of land. There is no left turn lane into the gas station.

It was rush hour when I tried to take a left turn into the gas station. Since there wasn’t a turn lane traffic was piling up behind me. I was going to cut in front of a truck approaching in the oncoming lane but decided not to and wished I had. The truck was pulling a large trailer of lawn equipment (mowers, etc). I had one wheel in the turn lane and he waived at me indicating I should get back in my own lane but wasn’t going to move. Eventually there was a break in the oncoming traffic.

Unfortunately, when I pulled up to a pump it was on the wrong side of the SUV so I had to turn around which involved making a U-turn in the middle of the side street which drew several more well-deserved honks from angry motorists. I finally pulled up to a pump on the correct side of the SUV and was able to tank up.

There weren’t any other gas stations before the airport so even though it was an ordeal I’m glad I tanked up there.

Hikes

Oahu

Makapu’u Lighthouse

The day we rented the BMW convertible and drove to Kahuhu, we drove highway 72 on our return to Walkiki. We stopped at the Makapu’u Lighthouse parking lot. In the lot you will see warnings everywhere not to leave anything in your car. We had leftovers wrapped in a paper pouch (which we threw out when we got back to our room) sitting on the floor of the passenger seat. When I locked the car, I thought it looked like a purse sitting on the floor. I didn’t bother putting it in the trunk because I thought we were going to just do a short hike, but we hiked to the lighthouse which took over half an hour. The entire time I was worried that someone was going to smash the window to get at our leftovers because they resembled a purse. Luckily that didn’t happen, and we had a great hike.

The view overlooking the ocean is beautiful and the view looking down at the lighthouse is spectacular. The path to the lighthouse is paved but sections are steep which made it a somewhat challenging hike.

Diamond Head

This must be the most famous hike in Hawaii.  Reservations are required so we made them and booked our Trolley tickets online two days previous.  There is supposed to be a Trolley stop near the zoo entrance which is just outside our hotel. We found a trolley stop on Kalakaua Ave but it wasn’t for the Green Line.  The trolley driver pointed us toward Monsarrat Ave where he said we’d find the correct stop. We cut across the boulevard separating the two roads but couldn’t find the sign for the trolley stop.

The trolley approached and we waived, the driver pulled over and let us board. It was a short drive to the Diamond Head Park entrance.

The park sits in an extinct volcano. In WW I and WW II it was used to guard and defend Pearl Harbor. The Trolley lets you off at the park entrance and you have to show your reservation to enter the park.

In the beginning the trail is paved and slopes gently upward through the trees. As you gain altitude the trail serpentines up the hill and the trail changes from asphalt to rocky. You finally reach a tunnel that is nearly pitch black. The tunnel ends at a T where you can go left to a scenic overlook or right up what is referred to as 99 Steps, but I didn’t count them.

The top of the steps brings you to a spiral staircase inside the mountain. You climb the steps up to the “pill box” on top of the crater rim. I’m not sure if it was used for observation or if it contained guns during WWII. There are several scenic overlooks. The one at the top gives you a spectacular view of Waikiki.

The hike down was simple. At the bottom we stopped at the visitor center and bought several souvenirs. The bus runs on the hour and it took us more than an hour for the hike so we waited at the bus shelter for the trolley to come.

Kauai

Things to know- In Minnesota if you want to visit a state or national park to hike you get in your car and drive there. If it’s the weekend it could be busy but they won’t turn you away. It’s different for Hawaii, there’s so many people that want to visit the parks that you need to make reservations for most everything including hiking.

Kauai Multi Use Trail also called the Ke Ala Hele Makālae Trail

No reservations needed for this trail. It starts at the Waipouli beach on the south end of Kapa’a and follows the ocean north.  It is an easy flat trail with beautiful ocean views.

Kalalau Trail to Hanakapi’ai Beach

Karen researched hiking the Kalalau trail. It’s north of Hanalei. If you want to dive to the trailhead, you have to make a reservation thirty days ahead of time and they fill up within minutes. The other option is to make a reservation on a shuttle bus that you catch at the Park and Ride on the north end of town.

We had a reservation for the eleven o’clock shuttle. We left our condo with plenty of time to catch our shuttle, but crews were trimming roadside jungle foliage which caused a huge backup and made us late. Not a problem, they put us on a later bus.

The shuttle dropped us at the trailhead. There was a beautiful beach called Ke’ke at the trailhead. There’s signage warning about the difficulty of the trail.

The trail is only two miles long…that’s not very long, how hard could it be?

The trail is steep, muddy or rocky in parts or some sections are steep, muddy AND rocky at the same time. There is a lot of vertical at the beginning of the trail and that section is also very rocky. It took a while before we got into the mud but once we hit it sections were muck. Unfortunately, I was wearing tennis shoes, not hikers, so they had minimal tread and once we got to mud covered rocks it was like I was on ice, my shoes had no traction whatsoever.

As we approached the beach there were switchbacks on the way down that led us to the Hanakapi’ai stream. If you arrive early enough you can continue to the waterfalls or if you’re really daring, you can continue for eleven miles to the end of the trail to the campgrounds.

We stopped near Hanakapi’ai beach. This is the most dangerous beach in Hawaii. In the winter there can be large swells and people have been dragged out to sea or smashed onto the rock. It is not easy to get from the trail to the beach, you can wade across the stream. We saw people cross the stream, the water was a foot and a half deep and there appeared to be large, submerged rocks that made finding footing in the flowing water difficult.

The other option to get to the beach is to follow the stream toward the ocean. There is a mine field of large and small boulders making it very difficult to cross. It appeared wading across up stream above was easier than trying to crawl over the boulders below.

I was able to traverse the boulders far enough to see the beach. It was beautiful but if you search online, you’ll find many news stories about people being swept away or smashed onto the rocks by the ocean swells. It is literally the deadliest beach in Hawaii.

We had lunch and hiked the trail back to our shuttle bus. The return trip was much harder, we were physically tired and out legs were gassed by the time we made it to the steep rocky descent toward the beach. We were happy to finish the hike.

The trail has an interesting history. It was created so farmers living further north along the Na Pali cost could use mules to transport their produce down the coast. I feel sorry for the poor mules loaded with crates of produce walking the trail much further than we did.

We saw a couple of odd things during our hike.  On the way out we encountered a group of four women in their early twenties dressed in bikinis with hydration packs on their back approaching us on the trail. On the way back we encountered them again, they were doing another lap. Once was enough for me. They had to be in excellent shape to hike the trail twice…or more.

On the way in we saw a woman hiking the trail barefoot in a bikini and on the way back we saw a different woman hiking the trail in a bikini and barefoot. I had no idea why they would do that.

Shortly after we finished a woman and her two teenage sons exited the trail, I asked her how it was and her reply was “been there, done that, never coming back”, she was serious about the never coming back part.

After we were there, they had heavy rain causing the stream to turn inro a torrent. Two people were hurt trying to cross and had to be helicoptered out. There were fifty people stranded on the other side of the stream and had to shelter in place and wait for the stream to become crossable.

We would hike the trail again but this time we would be aware that that trail that AllTrails referred to as moderately difficult has spots that are extremely difficult. It also occurred to us that if it had rained during our hike the trail would have been much more difficult.

Mahaulipu Trail

I saw a recommendation online that Shipwreck beach was worth visiting and it’s also the starting point for the Mahaulipu trail. It’s located south near Poipu.

The trail isn’t marked so we started hiking a service road in the parking lot before we figured out that wasn’t the trail. The beginning of the trail is so difficult to find that a mother and her two adult daughters followed until we realized we weren’t on the trail and they had been there ten years previous. The trail begins at the east end of the beach.

The trail is sandy and routs under, around and through pine arches, palm trees and along craggy cliffs. I read that you can either take the ocean trail or the other trail that’s inland further away from the craggy cliffs. The reality is that there isn‘t just an ocean trail and inland trail but a web of trails that run in the area and they are not marked so you weave your way through pines and palms.

We took the cliffs trail on the way out and took the inland trail part of the way on the return. It was simple to cross from one trail to the other. Liked all the Hawaiian hikes along the ocean, the views were stunning.

The two trail merge when you reach the golf course, then they skirt the edge. There are signs warning hikers to stay off the golf course. On our trek back we approached a golfer whose ball was on the hiking path and could have hit a hiker if one had been on the path. He swung his club, watched the ball soar toward another foursome, yelled fore and dropped his club in disgust. And that’s why I don’t golf.

Past the golf course the trail continued along a horse farm or maybe on the beach, it was hard to know for sure. At that point it started to sprinkle so we called it quits and turned around. We ran into the woman and her daughters, they continued on the trail in the sprinkling rain.

As we hiked south, we were quickly out of the rain. We took the inland trail but realized that we preferred the cliffs trail so we cut over. Once we got back to the parking lot we ran into the mother and daughters. It had started to pour so they turned around just after meeting us.

We grabbed our beach chairs out of our SUV and went to enjoy Shipwreck beach.

Restaurants Bars and Coffee Shops

Oahu

Barefoot Beach Cafe

Mark, our shuttle driver, recommended Barefoot Beach Café. We had both breakfast and dinner at the café and we enjoyed our meals both times. The café is south of Waikiki on Kalakaua. If you approach from the roadside rather than the beach side there aren’t any signs so we missed it and had to circled back.

You place your order at a window, find a seat and they call your name when you food is ready.

The only thing to be careful of is leaving your food unguarded. A woman sitting behind us did just that and the gulls were all over it. I had to scare them off. She brought her breakfast back and the gave her another one.

The Deck

As I mentioned before it’s a great place to hang out. We had dinner here twice and drinks once, it was good place to enjoy a meal or a cocktail.

Tiki Grill and Bar

It was a popular outdoor restaurant, but the food and drinks were just average.

Skybox Taphouse

You want to go during happy hour to get a deal on a burger and beer. The food is what you’d expect at a sports bar.

Tommy Bahama Bar

The main floor of Tommy Bahamas is a clothing store. We had to ask someone in the store how to get to the restaurant, they pointed to the elevator. Next to The Deck, this was our favorite roof top bar/restaurant.

Momosan

When I was in Waikiki in 2024 I meant to stop in, but the restaurant looked small with minimal outdoor seating and ramen in hot weather wasn’t appealing. I was wrong on all three points. Most of the seating is behind the restaurant entrance and there are plants and trees lining the outdoor seating area, so it was almost serene. The ramen here was excellent, even in warm weather.

Maui  Brewing

I was here several times in 2024 so I was confused when it came up as one of the best roof top bars in Waikiki because I did think it was a roof top bar but the side facing the street has a cloth awning that can be retracted. Regardless, the food and beer are good.

Waikiki Brew Company

When I was here in 2024 this location housed Aloha Tap Room so I was surprised when we entered, not looking  at the new sign, sat down, looked at the menu and noticed that there weren’t any Aloha beers on the menu.

It’s still a great location with good food but I liked Aloha beer more than the Waikiki brews.

Seven Brothers Burgers

The restaurant is located Haleiwa. I had one of their smash burgers and it was great.

Da Bald Guy

Karen ordered at Da Bald Guy and met me at a picknick table in front of Seven Brothers. She had poke that was very good.

Café Alani

We found this café on Google. It had good ratings, but my breakfast sandwich wasn’t good and they didn’t have decaf coffee so I had water. Karen’s coffee was terrible, but her breakfast parfait was good. Not sure how it got such a high rating on Google.

Waioli Kitchin and Bake Shop

As I mentioned before we met our ex-brother in-law’s mother, Yvonne, and her friend for lunch. They picked Waioli to meet at. The food is excellent and the setting for the restaurant is beautiful. The unique thing about the restaurant is the workers are disadvantaged twenty-somethings that are receiving job training at the restaurant.

After lunch we went back to Yvonne’s studio. Tia is a friend and an agent who is helping her sell her artwork. I never realized how talented and important Yvonne was.

La Mariana

Tia recommended that we go to La Mariana for a taste of old Hawaii. Hawaii Five-O, the original and the most recent series shot scenes here. It’s located in an industrial park near the marina, so there was a moment of panic as we were driving to the restaurant that we might be in a really bad neighborhood, but it was all good.

The restaurant faces the harbor, so you have a view of the powerboats and sailboats docked there. There isn’t any air conditioning, so the windows are left wide open which allowed squadrons of flies to join us for dinner. The food was average at best.

If you’re a huge fan of Hawaii Five-O you’ll want to visit the restaurant but if you’re not I’d recommend skipping La Mariana.

Lulu’s

The restaurant is located on Kapahulu and Kalakaua in the Park Shore building. I don’t know if it’s been in that location a long time but the furnishings would suggest it has. The food it very good but it was more expensive than I would have expected.

Leonard’s Malasadas

Mark, our shuttle driver pointed out Leonard’s on the trip from the airport and said it was a Waikiki institution so when we rented the Mustang we stopped and bought malasadas. I’ve never had them before, my take is they are holeless donuts. They were very good.

Kai Coffee

In 2024 the Kai Coffee closest to Park Shore Hotel never had an open table, from when they opened until they closed. It was the same this time.

The two times we went there we were up at six and standing in line, so we were able to get a table to enjoy our coffee. We also went to the Kai Coffee at the Hyatt, that location wasn’t nearly as busy.

Knotts Coffee Roasters

It was nice having a good coffee shop in our hotel. It was always busy in the morning but we were able to get a table on their patio overlooking Kapahulu and the coffee was good too.

Kauai

Since we had a condo with a full kitchen, we had breakfast and dinner in the condo several days. One evening we got a Safeway pizza and another night I grilled chicken. We also had leftovers for dinner.

Kenji Burgers

Kanji was located walking distance from our condo. Karen loved her burger…my fish sandwich, not so much.

Hualoni’s

We overheard someone in the hot tub at our condo talking about how amazing the restaurant was. It’s located at The Timbers in Lihue. The restaurant has a Michelin accreditation of some sort but not a full Michelin star. Since this was Karen’s retirement trip I planned to take her someplace to celebrate and this was the best option.

Karen commented as we entered the grounds that the landscaping was so nice it made her feel special. The restaurant had a nice patio and pool area, but it was raining so we couldn’t enjoy it.

We both had the Mahi which was very good. Interestingly, the menu gave the name of the fisherman that caught our mahi.

Our waiter, who I liked, wasn’t Michelin star grade. He couldn’t make recommendations or answer questions, but he was very nice even though the service was slow.

Karen made a comment about staying at the Timbers so once we got home, I checked the price- $2200 for a night, not a week but a night. We won’t be staying there unless we win the lottery.

Java Kai

This was our best breakfast the entire trip. We ate there twice. I had the egg sandwich both times. It was extremely messy because the eggs were over easy and the yoke spilled out of the sandwich but it was so good that it was worth the risk of dripping egg yoke on my shorts. The coffee was excellent.

Imua Coffee Roasters

When we were here in 2018, we discovered Imua and wanted to go back but we couldn’t remember the name. Luckily, I had written about it in this blog.

When we returned this year the coffee shop was still in the same location, but it had changed owners, and the new ones are vegan. I had an oat milk latte, and it was every bit as good as a regular milk latte. We ordered vegan banana bread, and it was so good I wouldn’t have known it was vegan.  Not sure how they did it but that was the first time I ate something vegan, and it was as good as non-vegan. We talked with the owner for a while and was a really nice guy who moved his family from Canada.

Tours

Oahu

Pearl Harbor

The Pearl Harbor tour is a must. We took the city bus to get there which was easy. Their website was confusing because it seemed to state that we could buy tickets when we arrive which wasn’t completely true. You are supposed to buy tickets in advance but if you don’t there is a convoluted standby process. Once we figured it out we were only delayed about forty minutes.

We wanted to see the Arizona Memorial, so we took the boat ride to the memorial, disembarked and saw what was left of the sunken ship which contained the remains of many of the crew. To me it was amazing that some of the sailors that survived the attack on their ship chose to have their ashes put with their shipmates on the Arizona once they had passed away.

Kauai

Allerton Garden

It’s a botanical garden that is packed with gorgeous flowers, wildlife, and fountains. Our tour guide was Bob, he was a retired dentist that has a wealth of knowledge about everything Hawaiian. The tour was very much worth it.

Other Transportation

Waikiki Trolley

 When I was in Waikiki in 2024, I bought a four-day pass on the Waikiki Trolley. I took the Blue line along the east coast to Sea World Park. I took the Green line to Diamond Head and the Red Line to Honolulu and Chinatown. This year we only used the Green line to get to Diamond Head. Regardless, if you are in Waikiki and you don’t want a rental car the Waikiki Trolley is a worthwhile option.

The Bus/Holo Card

As mentioned, we took The Bus to Pearl Harbor using our Holo card that we purchased in a ABC store. The nearest bus stop was several blocks away on Kohio avenue. It took about an hour to get to Pearl Harbor. The return trip is a little confusing because the bus stop isn’t where we were dropped off but on Nimitz highway. The bus drivers are always happy to help you with the correct bus number that you need.

The only problem we had was on the ride to Pearl Harbor, a drunken street person boarded the bus and couldn’t pay. The driver couldn’t leave until he got off. I thought about paying his fare until the bus driver said, “you smell like pee, get off the bus”. I felt sorry for him, but I was afraid he’d sit by me if I paid his fare. The bus driver eventually convinced him to go.

Other than that incident The Bus is a good way to navigate Honolulu.

The Return Trip

We woke up early, walked to Kai Coffee and returned to the room for breakfast. We had yogurt and coffee on our small balcony. I suggested that we go to the airport early and hangout at the Sky Club but I forgot that you’re only allowed access three hours before departure. We finally got in and were able to enjoy the food and wine before out departure.

We were upgraded to Delta One again which is amazing, again. I didn’t sleep on the flight, I read and watched several movies so by the time we got to our house I had been awake for almost a day and I was bleary eyed.

Recap

Karen still tells me how happy she is that we went to Hawaii for the first trip of her retirement. It was the perfect amount of relaxation, exercise (hiking) and new experiences.