Hawaii, episode 15. In which aloha means goodbye.

Before exchanging a farewell aloha from our 50th state for a return howdy to our beloved Lone Star, I thought I would share with you a few final sites and experiences which were new to Mari and me during our recent Hawaii adventure.

That's us in front of Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu, posing our usual "we own the place" pose. This wasn't the first time we thought about visiting the royal palace and it has been on our travel list every time, but we finally decided to commit and ink it onto our itinerary for our last full day.

Completed in 1882, the palace did not serve as royal residence for very long, unfortunately, with a government overthrow in 1893.

You will learn a lot from the knowledgeable tour guides who volunteer their time at the palace, maybe too much.

Despite being in beautiful natural surroundings with an imposing balance of opulent furnishings and amazing artwork, the historic details of the United States' abuse of power over the Hawaiian people gave me great pause because it certainly wasn't the first time (and won't be the last) the US government failed to provide justice for all.

Touring the Palace is a valuable learning experience for families visiting Hawaii and it is also the only opportunity to visit a royal residence in the United States.

Come along with us on our tour; Mari took some great photos while I was filming.

Your tour begins as you gather on the porch and are given booties to slip over your shoes.

When you first enter the palace, you are greeted by an amazing hand-carved koa wood staircase.

More koa and beautifully carved furnishings in the dining room.

The bedrooms open into a beautiful common room.
Kind of like the common rooms in the Hogwarts houses!

A bedroom fit for a queen.

Several royal gowns are on display in the throne room including a famous peacock gown
created for Queen Kapi'olani to wear at Queen Victoria's 50th Jubilee in London.

Queen Kapi'olani and her successor and sister-in-law, Lili'uokalani, were strong and proud leaders and as independent as their historical circumstances allowed.

The photo of them together at left also reflects their respect and admiration for ceremony.

You will find their remarkable influence reflected throughout the royal residence, especially in the Quilt Room in which Lili'uokalani was imprisoned for eight months after she was forced to abdicate.

The quilt's beautiful handiwork (proudly on display) is a poignant symbol of sacrifice and inspiration. 

After our tour of the palace's private rooms upstairs, our group was allowed to wander (sans booties) several exhibit halls in the palace's lower level.

Of course, there was a royal gift shop (and another tea towel for my own royal collection).

Mari was especially excited to visit the display of royal jewelry, as you might imagine. Before entering the room, I was struck by a prophetic quote emblazoned on the wall at the entrance to the exhibit. The quote is presented in the original Hawaiian and then translated above a commanding photo of Queen Kapi'olani.

"The rays of the sun shall be your attire, Fashioned for you by the clouds of the heavens."

This beautiful expression of the power and beauty of nature moved me as I entered the vibrant and elegant display of "crown jewels" that had adorned Hawaiian royals through ceremony and celebration as well as during times of mourning and loss.

The good Catholic school boy (deep) inside me couldn't help but recall a similar reference. "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars..." (Revelation 12:1).

Somehow, the imagery of being decorated with the sun's golden rays, brilliant white clouds, and bountiful blue skies seemed appropriate in our heavenly Hawaiian environs.

Leaving the palace, Mari and I headed across King Street to sight another local icon and tick another item off our travel list.

This statue commemorates King Kamehameha I who unified the Hawaiian islands more than two centuries ago.

Be sure to visit both websites for helpful visitor information along with some history.

iolanipalace.org

gohawaii.com/islands/oahu/regions/honolulu/king-kamehameha-statue

Mari and I always get a little sad on our last day of traveling and, as I've posted previously, that's always a sign that we have enjoyed our stay.

Sometimes we are even blessed with the opportunity to revisit (and re-revisit) favorite locations and explore them anew.

While our visit to Iolani Palace was during the last full day of our trip, our adventures weren't quite over yet. You will find when you visit Hawaii that your last day involves more than a quick shower and a mad airport scramble, at least if you are heading back home to the mainland.

Hawaii's Pacific location and time zone allow for more leisurely departures, usually an afternoon or evening flight that will land you stateside early the next morning, like traveling to Europe from the US.

What to do with a half or three-quarters day in a tropical paradise? Staying at a resort will allow you an extra few hours at the beach after you have stored your luggage, some souvenir shopping, a deliciously satisfying stroll down to the Steak Shack... or even a catamaran sail along the shore.

That was the case with us. We had been eyeing the hotel's catamaran for over a week from our patio perch (zoomed in at right) and decided our last morning would be fully felicitous for a new sailing adventure.

Don't ever ask me my jib from my jab, and never call me Ishmael, I am not that kind of sailor.

These final offshore views (you're welcome for saving my favorite shirt for the final day, by the way) provided the perfect final memory.

I want to thank you, dear reader, for following our adventures from paradise.

I realize that currently it is cold and slushy and maybe a little miserable where some of you live, but please remember that is not always the case (and cold is not always miserable).

Postcard pictures are perfect for a reason, but life's adventures are often far from perfect. As a new year approaches, let us continue to do our best to perceive perfection even in the most unexpectedly imperfect places (and people).


I am excited to begin sharing with you our Maine adventures next time. There are many fabulously overflowing fleas, many (almost) postcard-perfect photos, many foodie favorites, and perhaps one too many lobster rolls.

Many thanks to my supportive and spirited fleamarketing copilot for always steering me in the right direction, even if we wind up taking a wrong turn. Aloha!

Hawaii, episode 14. In which we are tour guided.

One of my most favorite days with Mari was our guided tour of southern Iceland during our Baltic/Nordic summer adventures in 2017.

We shared that day with an experienced guide who, while not a native Icelander, navigated us safely and expertly around the Land of Fire and Ice while sharing with us some of the island republic's history and fascinating folklore.

While we had enjoyed a day tour of Oahu during our first visit to Hawaii as well as various shore excursions during our second visit, Mari and I were hoping for a more personal experience third time round, something like our private Iceland tour with Sergei.

After doing some research on our tried-and-true trip planning site, TripAdvisor, Mari identified a tour called "Ancient Oahu Circle Island Tour" that truly fit the bill. Part of the tour's description promised we would "learn about Hawaiian history and culture while exploring ancient sites" and that sounded like an absolutely maika'i day. It was quickly into our very full (nearly 11-hour) day with our new friend Jason that we realized how perfect a day this would be.

That is Jason posing with me at the final stop on our spectacular tour, a tour that started with an early morning pick-up (7:30 AM is early when you are on island time) at our Hilton home-away-from-home. When Jason dropped us off just after 6:00 PM we couldn't help but give him a big hug and be a little sad that our day was over. We quickly felt at ease with our expert tour guide and as the day progressed, Jason learned enough about us and our travels to choose appropriately picture perfect stops (and snap practically perfect photos of us) throughout the day.

Our first stop was the beautiful overlook seen in these three photos above, with incredible views of Honolulu below. Mari and I decided to wear our gifted leis one final time, hoping to leave them as an offering at an appropriate site in honor of our anniversary observance.

 

The three photos above are at Mu-Ryang-Sa Buddhist Temple, the largest Korean temple outside of Korea (Korea is on a travel list, too, of course). Jason drove us up the steep Diamond Head hills to the upper Palolo Valley landmark where Mari and I roamed the well-tended gardens and explored the site's buildings and monuments. Unlike Byodo-In, Mu-Ryang-Sa is well-hidden by its surroundings, both natural and man-made, but once you step through the gate of the Four Heavenly Kings, a lush central courtyard warmly welcomes you. After doing our best to firmly embed this memory in our very full hearts, we placed our leis among the flourishing greenery and asked our guide to snap a photo.

I only recently discovered the incredibly informative temple site and highly recommend a visit before your own visit to the area. There is a wealth of information about the structures on the temple grounds appropriately layered with Buddhist wisdom. You will also find audio "Dharma Talks" about meditation as well as a link to a photo montage on YouTube.

muryangsatemple.com

Mari and I thoroughly enjoyed our postcard day as evidenced by these photos I would like to share with you, dear reader. Come along on our journey.











While we didn't do any fishing ourselves (fleamarketing antique Limoges fish plates is more my speed), we did enjoy an immensely flavorful local catch at a local "dive" featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. During our morning Oahu-trotting we had shared some of our travel history with our attentive tour guide, including favorite foodie haunts. Jason recognized immediately that we would enjoy the casual outdoor setting as well as the abundant local flavor at Fresh Catch.

Visit the site to learn more about Fresh Catch,

watch clips of Guy's visit,

and explore the bountiful menu.

freshcatch808.com

Our final stop was at the location pictured below, Puʻu O Mahuka Heiau, an historic site that serves as a sober reminder of local history. The temple grounds functioned historically as a military outpost as well as the site of ritual human sacrifice in preparation for battle. Only the rock walls outlining the 17th century temple remain on the seemingly untamed site, the effect appropriately chilling and formidable.


Today, the national historic landmark offers expansive views of Waimea Bay below and of the Waimea Valley beyond. Mari and I noted how especially quiet it was up there. Not exactly a popular tourist trap, the heiau or temple site with its spectacular views did offer an appropriate location for reflection and to mark the end of our Ancient Oahu tour.

Visit the official site for plenty of visitor information and

to read up on an abundance of Hawaiian state parks.

hawaiistateparks.org/parks

Before I pack up my island souvenirs and migratory melancholia, I have one more palatial post to share. Aloha until next time.

NYC special. In which I attend to the divas.

If you recall, our last attempt to visit NYC was beleaguered by blizzard. Not quite snowstorm Stella from our multi-day-delayed 2017 Spring Break visit, the snow stormlet of November 15th did keep us from reaching our hotel until just before midnight on Friday the 16th, about nine hours later than (obsessively) planned. Our re-routed route unfortunately did not sync with our luggage's travels (which somehow managed to travel via our original itinerary) so our LaGuardia-arrived luggage did not meet up with its JFK-arrived owners until 42 hours into our five-day "weekend."

When asked at JFK baggage help to list the contents of my gate-checked bag I was a little embarrassed to admit that the nearly empty pilot case contained but one item. If you don't know me by now to know that I was fleamarket traveling with an expectantly empty suitcase then you might guess that I was fairly flustered to admit to the very helpful and friendly American Airlines staffer that I was transporting bubble wrap in my otherwise empty suitcase.

To wit, said suitcase would eventually encase a few additional new-to-me items on its homeward bound journey a few days later, but not until I had attended to the divas we had traveled 1,700 miles to see.

More on our Broadway divas in a blog bit, but first a flashback... Among my favorite journeys with Mari was a punctiliously planned "divas concert tour" during Spring Break 2011.

It was all due to an alignment of divas which is likely never to happen again for another 75 years (I suppose that's Haley's Comet, but you get the idea). It started with Lady Gaga in Dallas, then Celine Dion in Vegas two nights later, and finally Miss Jackson at Radio City Music Hall at the end of our jet-set week.

Our divas on Broadway pre-Thanksgiving fleamarket visit to NYC last week did not involve any actual diva sightings (unless you count Miss Peppermint of RuPaul's Drag Race fame), but would include three musicals devoted to divas and their transcendent tunes.

I was saddened to learn just this week that Head Over Heels will end its run prematurely in January. Mari and I enjoyed the beautiful new-to-us historic Hudson Theatre as a lush backdrop to a very clever reimagining of a medieval tale set to a modern beat. If you are looking for a lively musical with a contemporary spin and if you love the music of The Go-Go's and Belinda Carlisle, then please head your heels over to the Hudson before January 6, 2019.

During our recent stay, Mari and I also enjoyed Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and The Cher Show. Legendary music and divas from our childhood came alive for us once again. Mari and I have fond live concert memories of both Donna Summer and Cher, but their Broadway musical bios transport the lives of both remarkable women beyond the dance floor. You'll be truly inspired and not just to get up and dance.

Of course, Mari and I carefully planned our visit to include a full Saturday and Sunday. As you know, dear reader, that means fleamarketing our favorite fleas. A full morning at the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market followed by our favorite sloppy Joe at Schnipper's is nothing short of a perfect New York Saturday morning. (Currently I'm in love with the Mac and Joe--half mac and cheese, half sloppy Joe, but the sloppy fries are a comforting favorite.)

Here are both sites again.

annexmarkets.com

schnippers.com

We met a wonderfully friendly new vendor on our Thanksgiving-chilly Saturday morning. We detected her beautiful accent as she greeted us with a warm smile, hands searching for warmth in the pockets of her long wool coat. We told her we had traveled from steamy South Texas to enjoy some wintry cold weather and I teased that I would likely be putting away my winter coat and boots for the season after returning home in a few days. We soon learned that our vendor was originally from St. Petersburg and we were thrilled to tell her how much we had enjoyed our visit last summer.

While fleamarketing often brings secondhand goods and childhood memories flooding back into our lives, it is always heartwarming (especially on a blustery Saturday morning) to relive that universally musical truth, "There's so much that we share that it's time we're aware it's a small world after all." The comforts of home are often found in surprisingly faraway places.

Let me share with you a few items that made the return journey with us to their new home. You won't be terribly surprised to find a couple of new old tea cups.

I purchased the tastefully tarnished (tarnish equals character) sextet of silver-plated appetizer forks pictured above from our new Russian ally to add to my collection of... well, appetizer forks. The arrow-tipped tines on these slender miniatures reminded me of the herring forks I had purchased last summer in Stockholm. Those have yet to stab their intended briny morsels, but always serve up happy memories whenever I open the silverware drawer.

So, along with having enough bowls and dishes for the next neighborhood block party, there are quite a few herring and appetizer forks, too.

Spotted among various assorted sundries (including a delicately precarious balance of household goods and garage tools) from another vendor, the miniature fluted Salisbury bowl pictured next did not have a lid, but I am guessing it is a sugar bowl. The blue floral "Harvest Time" pattern with gold rim made this English bone china bric-a-brac hard to resist at four dollars.

Also standing tall at four dollars from the same vendor is the six-inch-long cast iron owl trivet. We have a few of these old trivets in our kitchen festooned with various degrees of undulating loops and regularly put them to practical use. The newest addition to my owl collection will likely not join the parliament on display over my computer, but I assure you he will be in safe hands in the kitchen where he can serve a more utilitarian purpose, perhaps joining us for tea occasionally as he cradles a tepid teapot.

The vibrant pink and burgundy roses of the Queen Anne bone china teacup were barely visible beneath layers of neglect at another vendor's collection of household goods. Had I not been so deep into my hunting and gathering I likely would have missed this British beauty altogether. For five dollars I couldn't resist rescuing yet another teacup and saucer.

That sound you hear is the sound of Mari rolling her eyes in my general direction.

You may recall an earlier antique find from our previous snowbounded visit to the Grand Bazaar NYC. Tucked inside (recently renamed) MS-245, the vendors nestled in the comfortable environs of the school cafeteria offer a beautiful array of collectible goods. On Sunday morning, I walked eagerly and directly up to a familiar table and the familiarly familiar vendor I had looked forward to seeing once more.

On our last visit I had purchased a beautiful bone china Limoges teacup and saucer that was over a century old (NYC Markets revisited, episode 5). Delighted to see vendor Sharon Murphy again, I reminded her that I had last purchased from her during our 2017 Spring Break and that I was hoping to export another antique back to South Texas. I had never seen the not-exactly-romantic sounding Schleiger 381 Haviland China pattern, but I could not pass up another 100-year-old delicate Limoges beauty from Ms. Murphy's collection. Be sure to visit her colorfully curated online shop should you also have a teacup fiend in your life.
teacupsfromsharon.etsy.com

My final purchase was back outside in the school parking lot where an inviting variety of vendors had gathered for a beautifully crisp Sunday before Thanksgiving. As usual, you will find here a diverse assortment of household goods, clothing, books, collectibles, decor, and furniture for sale on any given Saturday or Sunday. Some items cleverly crafted, others carefully curated, all with their own story and all awaiting the opportunity to become part of your story.

Two of these Schumann bread and butter plates from Bavaria, scalloped edges and all, made their way into my fleamarket backpack that afternoon. Ready for an afterschool snack, evening dessert, or halftime treat to share with my own beloved diva, these delicately detailed reminders of a fall fleamarket journey with Mari will always bring me home.

Before I forget, that's us up top at the Bryant Park Holiday Shops. You will love strolling the park, shopping the vendors, tasting the treats, and enjoying the festive atmosphere. I'm guessing you will especially enjoy the experience after dark when the festive glow is at its brightest. Visit the site for helpful visitor information.

bryantpark.org

I hope you will return with me once more to our fiftieth state next time.

Hawaii, episode 13. In which it is high time for tea.

We'll get to my wardrobe choices later, I promise, but let us focus on more pressing matters... like tea. While revisiting our London visits in episode 12 of that series, I confessed to being a long-time subscriber of TeaTime magazine. Here's how we met.

It was during our first visit to Hawaii that Mari and I found ourselves on an airport shuttle bus with a good 45-minute ride ahead of us to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. In between admiring the spectacular views (of the Pacific at my right and Mari at my left) I chanced an eavesdropped glance forward at the older couple seated in front of us. The wife was animatedly paging through a magazine and pointing photos out to her travel-weary husband. Fortunately for me I paid a great deal of interest and noticed the colorful publication gripped so excitedly by my fellow mainland traveler and presumed purveyor of tea for she was reading a magazine previously unknown to me, but now decidedly familiar.

Aside from its regular reporting and colorful presentation of seasonal tea celebrations (and temptalicious recipes) each bi-monthly issue of TeaTime highlights one or more local tea rooms that pay proper tribute to the art and everyday luxury of drinking tea. Often "local" means close to mainland homes, but sometimes it is far and away like Brighton's Tea Cosy, the royally royalty-themed shop we visited as we embarked on our grand Olympics adventure in 2012.

On our most recent visit to Waikiki, Mari and I decided it was high time to enjoy high tea Hawaiian style. Last summer's (July/August 2017) issue of TeaTime featured an article highlighting several locations to enjoy afternoon tea in Waikiki. Among them was the Westin Moana Surfrider resort, an easy-breezy just-less-than-a-mile walk from the Hilton. Mari and I enjoyed an awesomely tropical full service tea on the veranda facing the ocean at the century-old historic hotel.

Other than the spectacular views and attentive service, we especially enjoyed the tropically local enhancements (like lilikoi and coconut) to traditional tea treats that we have come to enjoy during our UK travels.

Please visit both sites to learn more and to make a reservation.

teatimemagazine.com/the-tea-experience-afternoon-tea-on-waikiki/2/

The TeaTime site links directly to the Surfrider page, the second page of the article.

marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/hnlwi-moana-surfrider-a-westin-resort-and-spa-waikiki-beach/

Recently, Mari and I revisited a favorite that I highlighted during Mari's 50th birthday revisit to California.

We had first discovered Duke's Waikiki during our 20th anniversary Honolulu revisit in 2010. It is next door to one of my perennial favorites, The Cheesecake Factory, so it took Mari a little persuading to convince me to try something new and local, but I am forever grateful that I did.

You can reread more about Duke's (and Duke) in that earlier post (Rose Bowl, episode 2), but here are perusable pics from our recent visits.

Yes, that's intentionally plural.

A perfect combination of setting, service, and surf beckoned us back to Duke's more than once.

I want to make a special aside to thank my wonderfully supportive and generous former co-workers for treating me to the spectacular fresh seafood buffet at Duke's two days in a row this past June. Other than your years of support and friendship, McAllen ISD librarians, I treasure your kind words and warm wishes shared in my yearbook and I want you to know that I held onto the generous (green) note enclosed in my retirement card so that I could use it to pay for lunch at Duke's and remember you all once more.

Here's the view from our table.

Almost as beautiful as my view of Mari above.

You may still be wondering about that pineappled pose above, correct? That was back on the first day of my favorite shirt's appearance in laundry rotation (you'll see it again in a final post) when I took it for a casual walk down the beach for lunch. While not a recommendation from a magazine article read on the airport shuttle, The Steak Shack was indeed a recommendation from our most recent shuttle bus driver.

Mari and I have had the great pleasure of meeting and greeting so many friendly and knowledgeable tour guides during our travels, but we have also been driven countless times by the capable and well-trained hands of many local men and women on so many routinely mundane cab rides and shuttles to and from airports.

I am always thrilled when a driver goes the extra mile to inform me about a site new to me and I have learned over the miles how valuable a resource local drivers can be.

Our airport shuttle van this past June was driven by an exceptionally entertaining and knowledgeable young man who did his best to entertain his passengers along the traffic-glistened route to Waikiki hotels as he offered warnings against tourist traps as well as a few personal recommendations.

We were delightfully rewarded when trying out one of William's dining recommendations, just a half-mile walk down the beach from the Hilton.

Can you blame me for enrobing myself in tropical pineapple attire for a sandy and leisurely lunch jaunt?

Open daily during prime tanning hours (10:00 AM to 7:00 PM), the Steak Shack offers wonderfully flavorful plates of grilled steak (or chicken) with rice and salad at incredibly reasonable prices for varying appetites. William had promised the Shack offered food just as good as local steakhouses for less than half the price and he was deliciously dead on. You'll find the Steak Shack beachside in front of the Waikiki Shore Outrigger resort. The beachfront atmosphere was a complimentary (and complementary) bonus.

While I don't (never say never) drive a tour bus or airport shuttle, I do enjoy receiving and offering recommendations for local specialties. If you are willing to walk a ways away from your colossally inclusive resort, you are likely to find local specialties as well as a bit of relief for your travel budget.

While at the Hilton, however, Mari and I took daily advantage of the proximity of two ABC store locations on site. From our first visit way back in 2004, we heard frequent jokes from locals about the ubiquity of these very convenient convenience stores. Kind of like seeing a Starbucks or 7/11 on every corner of the mainland, but they are there for good reason (convenience, of course). ABC is also one of the unfortunately few places where you can find kona coffee glazed macadamia nuts. Unless you live near Vegas and Guam locations, you can also shop the site.

abcstores.com

Among my daily provisions were the Meadow Gold tropical yogurts pictured above (yes, those are resort prices for sure). I fell in aloha with the tropical flavors, particularly the pineapple. Who would have guessed I liked pineapple? Imported from tropical Midwestern dairylands, my "local" morning nourishment provided the proper start for which my maturing beach body begged. Other, soul-nourishing cravings were occasionally satisfied at the Honolulu Cookie Company by their famous pineapple-shaped shortbread.

I'm not kidding.
Pineapple-shaped shortbread cookies.

See for yourself.
(Locations in Vegas and Guam as well.)

honolulucookie.com

Next time, I look forward to taking you on a private island tour with the help of a new hoa (friend).