Vacation

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot, with a pink hotel (32 of 274)

February 1, 2009 by kathi

I have always loved that pink hotel, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

The hotel was closed for a major renovation last year. Certain areas began reopening at the beginning of January, and the grand re-opening is set for March.

Banquet facilities and more guest rooms were opened a few weeks ago, featuring a gala inauguration ball on January 20. However, with the full re-opening over a month away, it seemed like a good idea to make sure all was well for our personal vacation tradition of having a drink at the Mai Tai Bar on the last night of our stay.

All is well:

Looks like they still have more work to do, but we’ll be able to enjoy some cocktails here on Tuesday evening.

The photo links to a few more Royal Hawaiian photos. If you like pink, that is.

And not to forget Axel. Final update for the weekend: Sunday, Winners Dog and Best of Winners for one more point. Three total points for the weekend, 12 more points and two majors needed for his championship. Good start for his very first weekend out! I am very proud of my puppy boy.

‘Ilio and honu news (30 of 31/30 of 274)

January 30, 2009 by kathi

‘Ilio (dog) news: Axel went Winners Dog and Best of Winners today in St. Joseph, MO to get the first point towards his AKC championship! This was his very first AKC conformation show. I am very proud of him and hope he does well in the rest of the shows this weekend.

Honu (sea turtle) news: We made a return trip to Laniakea Beach to see the basking sea turtles. Last time, there were not too many turtle fans on the day we visited. Today, there was an entire tour bus full of Japanese tourists, as well as a full parking area of tourists and locals due to good surf and swimming conditions in the area as well. Throughout my whole life, I have found at least one stereotype of Japanese tourists to be true. They are obsessed with photography and this group was no exception. They all had to be in the photo with the turtles, too.

Click the photo to see the November 2008 photos, plus seven new photos from today.

Some things barely change (29 of 31/29 of 274)

January 29, 2009 by kathi

Looking out on the koi pond at the International Market Place from Coconut Willy’s bar.

I have been coming to this bar since before I was actually old enough to drink. I was 17, I think, and the legal drinking age in Hawaii at the time was 18. A friend’s band played on Sunday afternoons so we would go to support them. The bar was called the Cock’s Roost then (it’s on the second floor so the name does sort of make sense). I don’t remember all of the in-between names. The interior of the bar hasn’t changed much at all over the years. With all the change that has taken place here, and everywhere, it is sometimes nice to see something that has not changed much at all.

Sunshine? (28 of 31/28 of 274)

January 28, 2009 by kathi

Not much sunshine today but I hear it is supposed to make an appearance tomorrow. In our one hour of sunshine today, I did get this sliver of ocean to show you.

This was taken looking off the patio of Ryan’s Grill towards Ala Moana Beach. See the little teeny bit of ocean there?

Honolulu! (26 of 31/26 of 274)

January 26, 2009 by kathi

Heavy-ish rain interfered with picture taking, other than my snarky airport and traffic shots Twittered earlier. If we are not following each other on Twitter… why not? Check my links or comment and we’ll fix that!

Also didn’t think to photograph my supper, a mini Loco Moco from L&L Drive-In, until after inhaling it.

7:45 pm here, but my body thinks it’s still in Chicago and close to midnight. So we’ll see you tomorrow.