Good morning my darlings!

Just a few photos from our afternoon walk yesterday.  First, some of our fellow diners at Duke's Canoe Club.  There is no wall on the ocean side of the restaurant, so the pigeons have chased away all the little brown beggar birds and taken over.  See the piebald pigeon up at the top? There are five more behind him, squabbling over the detritus under a toddler's chair.  They must have someone who goes around and cleans the carpet constantly because I saw no pigeon poops anywhere.

There is a lovely pond and a big tree in the center of the International Market Place.  The koi in the pond are about two feet long.  They live like KINGS!

The first time I was here, back in the 50s, there was a restaurant at the foot of the tree, with a cozy little room way high in the branches for very, very intimate dinners.  The food was delivered by dumb waiter, so the diners were uninterrupted from the time they mounted to their perch until they were done with the meal. ALWAYS thought it would be awesome to eat up there, even before I was old enough to appreciate the possibilities.

The Royal Hawaiian is one of the oldest, most recognizable hotels on the beach.  I like to think what the island must have been like when it was built.  We saw a wedding party posing for photographs on the lawn as we passed.  Kyle asked why bridesmaids choose such - fluffy dresses.  I explained that the bride chooses them and the bridesmaids have to pay for them.  He was outraged.  The bride should have to pay!  Yep, but it doesn't work that way.  And if it's a destination wedding, the bridesmaids have to pay for their own transportation, lodging, food and entertainment, too. Groomsmen do as well, and so do all the guests.  Weddings must be BIG business here.

Waikiki beach and Diamond Head.  Iconic.  It amazes me what people will wear on the beach. We saw everything from butt-floss thongs to mommas in muumuus.  Asian and European guys in banana hammocks, and American Dudes in saggy, baggy below the knee board shorts.  And one young lady in what appeared to be a very stretchy bikini bottom with the sides pulled up over her shoulders, no coverage what-so-ever on the sides, and the puppies struggling to poke their noses out for a look.  I stared.  Kyle had class enough to just walk by as if he didn't see it.  He is a PRINCE!


So it is now seven A.M.  I have been lounging on the lanai for an hour, watching the city wake up.  Tomorrow, dear Drew will take us to the Aloha Bowl Flea Market where we will pick up another suitcase, and a load of cheap t-shirts!!  I may also get some tropical print quilt squares.  And maybe a pound or two of macadamia nuts will sneak in to the knapsacks as well.  Thursday morning we are going to a time-share sponsored free breakfast where they will pay us $100 to listen to their spiel.  I wonder how much profit they must be making that they can afford to pay us that much.  They must be rolling in dough!

The Hilton Hawaiian has a luau on the roof that we can watch from our lanai.  Free hula show with fire dancers.  Wayyy cool!  I tried to get photos but it's just far enough away the all you could see were colored blobs.  But tonight, they also have fireworks!