To the Palace and beyond!

Aloha!

 

Beautiful morning!

Breakfast!

Our first rainbow!

Out this morning about 9:45 am as we needed to be at Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu at 10:30 to check in for our 11 a.m. docent-led tour.  There was a light rain falling as we left the hotel, but traffic wasn’t too heavy getting downtown and we made it in very good time.  We found parking in a building about a block away from the Palace, and I think got the very last “public” spot that was available!  The Nissan Rogue is bigger than our Subaru Forester, and the seat is a bit low for me – I’m still having difficulty seeing exactly where the front bumpers are, which makes getting around tight corners – and getting into tight parking spaces – a bit tricky. Fortunately for me, R is very good at giving directions and we squeezed in without a problem.  

 

Out and onto the street, past the Royal Barracks and to the Palace … only to be told that we had to check-in at the Barracks … would have been nice if there had been some signage to that effect, since we truly circumnavigated the Palace, but no, there wasn’t, so back to the Barracks.  Got our stickers and visited the Gift Shop, which had some truly lovely things – although I do draw the line at $120 aloha shirts, beautiful as they were!  We also saw an excellent movie that talked about the building of the current Palace (on the grounds of the original palace) and traced the experiences of the last King and Queen of Hawaii, as well as the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy by the United States, a very sad and painful story.

 

At 11 am we reported to the Palace and were introduced to the docent for our tour.  She was an interesting lady, but I am sorry to report, not a very good docent.  She definitely knew her history, dates and all – but first of all, she talked so softly that people had a hard time hearing or understanding what she was saying.  And then, she tended to just go on … and on … and on … and to say at some points it was tedious in the extreme is not an understatement.  There were two young girls, maybe 8 and 9, and both Debby and I felt very sorry for them; they must have been bored out of their wits!  Additionally, possibly to help with preservation of the artifacts, the lighting in some of the rooms was almost non-existent, and when you’re trying to squint at dark oil paintings in an even darker room – well, makes it interesting, to say the least.

 

The Palace itself is really quite a work of art.  To begin with, it is the only Palace on United States territory.  It was built in a style called “American Florentine” which I’m not quite sure describes the building – but suffice to say it was very interesting with wood coming not only from Hawaii (like Koa) but also from all over the United States, including Douglas Fir, Cedar and Acacia.  

 

Royal Barracks

Front entrance to the Palace

Banyon Tree next to the Palace

Main Palace Stairway

Dining Room

Throne Room

Royal Regalia

King's Bedroom

Queen's Bedroom

When the monarchy was overthrown, the Palace was converted into a government building, and was used as such until 1969, when a new State Capital building was constructed.  At that time, the Palace was restored and given over to the administration of the non-profit Friends of Iolani Palace.  Unfortunately, after the dissolution, many thousands of items that were not the personal property of the Royal Family were sold at public auction over a period of some years.  The Friends are even now attempting to track down many of these “lost” pieces in the hope of returning them eventually to their places within the Palace. 

 

After the tour, we headed back to retrieve the car and decided that it was definitely time for lunch.  We had originally planned on dinner at The Pig and Lady tonight but went over the menu again and decided that, as we had basically all been up since 3 am or thereabouts, lunch sounded definitely better.  So, we cancelled our reservation, and instead made our way back into Waikiki and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

 

Known as the “Pink Palace” the Royal Hawaiian was the second big hotel built in Waikiki.  And, by the way, I don’t think it’s really pink … it’s more salmon colored.  But it does smell incredibly wonderfully, and the food was fabulous!  We parked in their parking garage and headed inside and then on out to the beach – the Mai Tai Bar, where lunch was being served. 

In front of The Royal Hawaiian

Our table next to the beach!

R's Mai Tai - Note: everything looks pink because we're under a pink umbrella!

 

R's not-so-spicy shrimp

R's ahi salad

My delicious lobster roll!

Deb's wonderful mahi sandwich!

Wow!  Sitting right where the cement meets the sand, and watching the surf roll in – with the wind today, some quite impressive waves, for sure!  It was 80 degrees and absolutely perfect sitting outside!  Robert started his meal with spicy garlic shrimp, which he enjoyed but said wasn’t very spicy, and then had their garlic ahi salad, which he very much enjoyed.  Debby had their mahi sandwich with truffle fries, and I had their lobster roll with truffle fries.  Debby said her sandwich was amazing, and I can certainly vouch for the fact that mine was too!  She and I both agreed that we could definitely come back again for repeats on our sandwiches, as well as the fries!  I had a glass of Giesen Sauvignon Blanc with my lunch, and R had – as a total surprise to me, but we’ve only been married 43 years – a Mai Tai, which disappeared in its entirety, so I’m thinking he liked it!  [Actually, it was a disappointment.  I can’t recall ever having a Mai Tai before, so I thought it would appropriate to the setting to give it a try.  Mai Tais can’t compete with Fredericos – but that is a tale for another day. – R]

 

From the Royal Hawaiian, we headed to Safeway (from the sublime to the ridiculous?!) to pick up a few supplies for the apartment – Kleenex, raspberry jam for the croissants, and some large bottles of sparkling water.  From there, we headed back to the apartment, and we were in for the night. 

 

Truly, a busy and lovely day!  Tomorrow, we’re off to the other side of the island and the Polynesian Cultural Center and, possibly, Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck!

 

More later!

m

xxx