In answer to comments, no, no Spam for breakfast (or any other meals). I actually love Spam whereas Elaine despises it. I used to eat fried Spam all the time as a kid. And I loved raw Spam right out of the can, sliced up with mayonnaise and onions. Yum. No Poco Moco either. Sounds good though.
Monday broke bright and sunny and stayed that way all day. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast at the Royal Hawaiian right at beachside. Scrambled eggs with sausage and potatoes for Elaine. Everything omelet with bacon and potatoes for me.
Then we were off on a drive to Oahu’s lesser seen North Coast. We made several stops.
At Beautiful Kualoa Regional Park we stopped and enjoyed the views and the quiet. The beach is as beautiful as Waikiki without the crowds. Birds and chickens everywhere.
We stopped briefly at Turtle Bay but quickly backtracked to Romy’s Shrimp Food Truck for lunch. GIAGANTIC steamed prawns for lunch. They looked more like lobsters. Peel them yourself. Four each with rice and dipping sauces. Delicious!
Then we doubled back again to Turtle Bay and Kawela Bay for some pictures. Turtle Bay Resort, once an independent resort, is now a Ritz Carlton. We didn’t see any turtles although they actually do nest and live here..
Then we started back towards Waikiki, about an hour and a half away. We stopped briefly at Dole Plantation, an outrageous tourist trap. You can take train rides through the pineapple fields at a ridiculous price. We didn’t. There is a huge gift shop. Blah. There was nothing worth photographing. We did enjoy excellent pineapple ice cream waffle cones (that were more expensive than our gold leaf ice cream in Tokyo).
Back at the hotel we walked next store and had pina coladas at the Sheraton Waikiki. Here are some random shots taken on the grounds of the adjoining Sheraton Waikiki and Royal Hawaiian both before, during, and after our pina coladas.
Good day! One more full day before we leave on Wednesday. Oh, when we driving back from the North Coast we saw a horrendous traffic jam on H-2 (a Hawaiian Interstate that of course doesn’t go interstate) caused by a bad accident. Fortunately we were going in the other direction and it didn’t affect us. Traffic was backed up, conservatively, eight miles. Not much on the agenda for tomorrow. Rest and relaxation and packing up.
One more post to go. Bye for now.
Ohh…you missed the beautiful rainbow sycamore trees in front of the Dole plantation. !!! Best I’ve ever seen! First time to Hawaii! If you can find a show near Kakapana featuring Ledward Kaapana he is a virtuoso for Hawaiian slack key music.
Nice pic together you two. Sorry about the Dole Plantation. Way back, when we were there, it was very different. Any taste testing of macadamia nuts. Of course, always better covered in chocolate. Getting closer to home every day now. We are still in the 80s and sure hope our winter will be mild too!
Love the pictures – makes me want to go back to Hawaii – best pina coladas we ever have are always in Hawaii….
Enjoy your time left…safe travels home…
Go to the Doris Duke museum which is in her home or climb Diamondhead, Todd and I did that in 2017.
Safe travels home on Wednesday. Are you doing Hawaiian Airlines? I like them because they have a noon flight home to PHX. Or they did.
What a lovely spot for breakfast. Joe, I remember eating fried spam as a kid too. And spam, mayo, onions and sweet relish sandwiches. Delicious. I would have ordered the “everything Spam” breakfast for sure.
Absolutely beautiful scenery and the two of you look great. Hawaii agrees with you. Or maybe it’s the pina coladas!!