On Monday we rented a car for the day, as we needed to make a Costco stop, as well as see some sights that are beyond walking distance!
Our first stop was the Lyon Arboretum in the Manoa Valley which is just above Waikiki. Part of the arboretum is in rain forest, and was incredibly lush and green, with Hawaiian song birds serenading, amazing plants and flowers, and voracious mosquitoes! We probably would have explored longer, but in the end, the mozzies drove us out! The area is only marginally developed, and you could explore anywhere you wanted - hence we had to sign a release that if we got hurt, it was our own fault!
Below is the sign for the arboretum, as well as one of their amazing plant sculptures.
An example of happy plants - this is a stag horn fern that has encircled the tree. We saw lots of stag horns on palm trees throughout the forest.
Another sculpture - someone is very talented!
This was a flower that we had never seen before, and it was really big! No fragrance, though.
Here's a picture that shows just how big this flower is!
This is a view from the look out point - it was very beautiful and peaceful. Notice the haze in the background - that's caused by Kilaeua, which is erupting on the big Island.
A pineapple on the hoof! We've been enjoying fresh pineapple, banana and papaya every morning with breakfast!
We have no idea what this plant is, but it was HUGE, as you can see!
A beautiful Buddhist statue in the forest.
And a close-up view. Someone had given the statue a fresh flower. After we left the Arboretum, we visited Queen Emma's Summer Palace.
Here is the outside of the palace. They didn't allow photography inside. The house was manufactured in Boston in the mid-1800's, and shipped around the horn to Hawaii, where it was reassembled, piece by piece. The furnishings were amazing, with lots of wooden pieces, beds, cradles, etc., made from Koa and other native woods. There were gifts to both Queen Emma and her son, Albert, from French and English royalty. In fact, Queen Victoria was Godmother to Prince Albert, who died at the age of 4 from appendicitis. There was a very early picture of Queen Victoria, there, as well.
After leaving the summer palace, we traveled up the Pali Highway to the Pali Lookout. This view is from the lookout, with the same volcanic haze!
Tuesday morning we took the car back to the rental place, then walked over to Eggs & Things, a pretty popular breakfast place on the island. Lee had eaten there many times with the crews on their trips to Honolulu. The place is so popular that there was a 30 minute wait! The first 15 minutes we waited to get a buzzer, to let us know when it was our turn. But it was worth the wait! Their breakfasts are most yummy!
Wednesday morning we hopped on a bus and headed for the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet! www.alohastadiumswapmeet.net
And a close-up view. Someone had given the statue a fresh flower. After we left the Arboretum, we visited Queen Emma's Summer Palace.
Here is the outside of the palace. They didn't allow photography inside. The house was manufactured in Boston in the mid-1800's, and shipped around the horn to Hawaii, where it was reassembled, piece by piece. The furnishings were amazing, with lots of wooden pieces, beds, cradles, etc., made from Koa and other native woods. There were gifts to both Queen Emma and her son, Albert, from French and English royalty. In fact, Queen Victoria was Godmother to Prince Albert, who died at the age of 4 from appendicitis. There was a very early picture of Queen Victoria, there, as well.
After leaving the summer palace, we traveled up the Pali Highway to the Pali Lookout. This view is from the lookout, with the same volcanic haze!We continued our way out to a new Costco, which is just east of Hanauma Bay, past Kailua. We got all of our final provisions, then headed back to the Condo, to ferry all of our stuff up to the 12th floor! We feel (sort of) sorry for the permanent residents who do that all the time!
Tuesday morning we took the car back to the rental place, then walked over to Eggs & Things, a pretty popular breakfast place on the island. Lee had eaten there many times with the crews on their trips to Honolulu. The place is so popular that there was a 30 minute wait! The first 15 minutes we waited to get a buzzer, to let us know when it was our turn. But it was worth the wait! Their breakfasts are most yummy!After breakfast, we walked to Ft. DeRussy, and visited the Army Museum there. It didn't take long for that to get depressing, though, so we walked over to the Hawaiian Hilton Resort to get our Luau tickets! Lee is taking me to a Luau for my birthday! : ) The flamings above are resident at the Hilton - they were totally unconcerned by our presence!
Wednesday morning we hopped on a bus and headed for the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet! www.alohastadiumswapmeet.net There are over 700 vendors there, selling nearly everything you can imagine, and much of it is made in Hawaii! We were there for 3 hours! I got some Hawaiian shirts, a t-shirt, and a dress to wear to the Luau! Lee got some t-shirts, some 100% Kona coffee (yum!), an old "fogie" hat, and we also got a CD, and a wind chime! Yes, we're good little consumers! The bus trip was one hour each way, and we saw a lot of different areas of Honolulu. We'll be taking the bus to downtown and China town later on.
Last night we met Ken, a NW flight attendant, for a drink after he arrived on the flight from SF. It was great to see him and catch up on all of the NW news!
We are making it a point to check out all of the live music that we can while we are here - I think that tonight we're going to the Halekulani to hear some slack key Hawaiian music!
Yes, it's hard work, but someones gotta do it! We are loving our home away from home!
2 comments:
LOL! Yes, someone's gotta do it! Might as well be you two!
I'm glad to see you're making the most of your holiday. Cool shirt, Lee!
We miss you, but appreciate the freqent posts...
Love,
Cathi
Believe it or not, someone gave us a pineapple here in Ireland. It was our first, and we had no idea what to do with it. Thank God for the Internet! And I would have loved to visit that Swap Meet with you two.
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