Vacations & Trips

We got to Hawaii on Monday, 3/30 and rented a car from Dollar. We stayed at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel on Kapahulu, where we have stayed before. I got a good deal on a Deluxe Ocean View room so that was nice. Really just a standard size room with a great view and a mini fridge.

We ate at a new place inside the International Marketplace, called the Tree House Cafe, which is on a second level there. They do really good burgers and smoothies. That night we ate dinner at the Ala Moana Shopping Center in the food court. It's one of our fave places to eat, since you can get what you want! My spot is the Poi Bowl where I can get my order of Kalua Pig, extra rice, no mac salad! Dh and DD get some haupia (coconut creamy jello, like a jiggler) for dessert.

During the week, we drove around the island with our stop in Haleiwa, went to the Bishop Museum, Honolulu Zoo, Waikiki Aquarium, Swap Meet/Flea Market, the Girl Scout Council office, climbed Diamond Head and probably one or two places I forgot about!

We ate at Teddy Burgers and Rainbow Inn, which were both new to us. Rainbow is one of the places that Obama likes to eat at when he’s home there, so we figured it was good enough for us and it really was. We all had plate lunch and were too full afterward! We also had our usual malasadas from Leonard’s Bakery, great as always. We also ate at Chuck’s Cellar, Chili’s (only cause everything else was so busy), Chuck’s on the Beach, the Willows (for a party), Tiki’s Grill and probably another place I can’t remember!

It was a nice relaxing trip for us, we didn’t spend as much as we have in the past, didn’t buy too many souvenirs, but did get some fabric to play with. I’m hoping to make a new shower curtain and window curtain with it. Found some new books to read and some new CDs to listen to.

So I forgot to tell you that I met the Mayor of Honolulu, Mufi Hannamann. We was at the party at the Willows Restaurant and presented a check to the organization that we were out there for. He mentioned that normally he would be at the event the next day, but this year he couldn't since he was flying to Chicago the next day to work with Mayor Daley on the Olympic Bid to Chicago. Mayor H is the head of the Conference of Mayors in the US and is on the Olympic bid committee.

Anyway, after he was finished and the crowd around him thinned out, I went up and introduced my self, saying that I was from Chicago and only in Honolulu for this event, that I've been coming to this event for 18 years and have encouraged a number of people to come out to the event too. He said he was glad to meet me and thanked me for coming to Hawaii all these years. I said we could wave to each other in the air, as we were leaving Monday night for Chicago and he said he would be flying at the same time, since he would return to Hawaii on Tuesday. We both got a chuckle out of that.

My dh thinks it's silly to try and talk with people like that, so needless to say, I did not get a pic with him. However, in Chicago, I would never have gotten the chance to talk with Mayor Daley, too many bodyguards around him!! It was really cool to get the chance!