June 2022: Sunday and Monday in Hawaii

Sunday the kids had church, so we had a slow morning. We slept in and went for brunch at the Cream Pot, the very quaint, very un-Hawaiian restaurant in the hotel. That afternoon, the kids took us to the National Cemetery in the Punchbowl Crater, followed by a ride up into the moutains to the Nu‘uanu Pali Lookout. We dropped down onto the windward side of the island for a visit to the Hawaii State Veterans' Cemetery where Meagan placed leis on graves of some of her family members. Back in the Manoa Valley, Phillip made a delicious chicken dinner for the family.

Meagan picked us up Monday morning at the hotel and took us out past Diamond Head to see the rocky ocean cliffs. We also visited the Punahou campus and stopped at the little Manoa shopping center to visit Starbucks and Phillip's bakery to try his pastries. We returned to pack and that evening we enjoyed a delicious Chinese nosh with the family at the Golden Duck. The finale was delicious malasadas from Leonard's Bakery. They are soooo good.

Waiting for a table at Cream Pot

The Hawaiian state flower

Exquisite orchids hanging from the pergola over our table

Brunch

This beautiful little gecko joined us

View back to Honolulu from the Punchbowl War Memorial

A beautiful bit of memorial architecture

The chapel

The mountain top at the Pali overlook

The view of wonderful mountain remnants of an ancient volcano

Kaneohe on the windward side of O'ahu

A few Taylors (Meg was still sleeping after her all-nighter)

Windy? Very!

The man can cook

Grammy helping Meagan with an alteration

Sunday dinner in Manoa Valley

Monday sunrise on the Ala Wai Canal

Halona Beach Cove

So, for some reason this Starbucks is a favorite spot for Japanese

tourists to take selfies -- we just buy their collectable mugs

Pastries at Fendu Boulangerie where Philly makes pastries

Look! Our cliché we-are-in-Hawaii selfie

That's our window up there 24 floors

The Golden Duck (Ollie was on Moloka'i)

Leonards for malasadas 

Tuesday morning early, Phillip dropped us the airport and we flew home via PHX. This was a wonderful trip thanks to Meagan and Phillip and their incredible planning and hosting. But that's all the fun for the time being.

OXO

D.

June 2022: Graduation

Saturday, the morning of Meg's graduation, Phillip picked us up at the hotel for a visit to the Iolani Palace, 19th-century home of Hawaii’s last monarchs. It is remarkable to me because of how it and the monarchy itself followed European style and protocols. It has been lovingly restored and we had an interesting visit. It was fun to put faces to the names of so many Honolulu streets. Later, after getting ready for graduation, we went to dinner with Phillip, Meagan, and Oliver at another local favorite, the Liliha Bakery. We spent the remainder of the evening at graduation in the University of Hawaii arena and then their baseball field for the gifting of leis.

Iolani Palace, 1879

Kris and Phillip in the entry

European china and silver in the dining room

Throne Room

David Kalakaua, the Merrie King in his Masonic kit

Amazing banyan tree on the Iolani grounds

Dinner at Liliha

Butter rolls, grilled in butter, DELICIOUS!

The Hawaii Taylors

7:00 P.M. graduation

Oliver, Lenore, Kris, and Dickie

A posh, well-rehearsed, and beautiful ceremony

Meg received her diploma

Grammy gives Meg her lei

Meagan, Meg, and Phillip

Guests from afar

Piles of leis

A post-grad party with a group of over 4,000

By the end of the evening, Meg was bedecked with flowers

 and all kinds of candy and junk

Another splendid day in Hawaii. There will be more.

OXO

D.

June 2022: Thursday and Friday in Hawaii

May 31 was our 50th anniversary, which we will celebrate later in June with the family. Two days later on June 2, we flew to Hawaii for Meg's graduation from Punahou School. It's a long way to Honolulu but we survived. That evening we had dinner at the Rainbow Cafe, tasted wonderful local shave ice, and watched the sun set at Kaimana Beach. We checked into our splendid little Airbnb on the 24th floor of the Waikiki Monarch Hotel and slept with Honolulu at our feet. Meagan picked us up the next (Friday) morning and introduced us to the old historic heart of Honolulu. Today it is filled with huge office towers and lots of Asian shops, restaurants, and retail. We had time to buy an aloha shirt from Reyn's for me to wear to graduation. I have always admired their fine quality shirts.

Cloud puffs over the Pacific Ocean as we approached O'ahu

Plate lunches for supper with Meagan's mom, Lenore, and the Taylors

I had loco moco: everything is better with an egg on it

The iconic Rainbow Drive-in on Kapahulu Avenue

Shimazu Shave Ice next door

Oliver and Phillip at Kaimana Beach

Sunset on O'ahu

War Memorial Natatorium from WWI next to Kaimana Beach

with Waikiki in the background

View toward Waikiki from our 24th-floor Airbnb

The view the other direction toward the Ala Wai Canal

Room with a view

Sun-up on the Ala Wai Canal

Waikiki in the morning sun

Spanish-style bell tower of the historic pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel

Hanging loose on 19th-century Hotel Street in search of leis for Meg

Hotel Street was the red-light district during WWII

You don't see many lei shops in Provo

Fine little Asian market

Beautiful veg and flowers in Chinatown

Tasty ducks and pork

Delicious dim sum at the Golden Palace in Chinatown

I died and went to heaven! Warm custard pie

from Lee's Bakery

Lee's and the Golden Palace next door on King Street

Reyn's famous aloha shirts

We had dinner in the food court at the posh Ala Moana Center. Twas a fun day. More in the next post.

OXO

D.