We started the day, shockingly, with a walk since we had run the night before. That was definitely the way to go. Courtney left for work and I found another good açaí bowl on the beach. This place is the last locally owned convenience store / gift shop in Hawaii and they label all the products Made in Hawaii, so I felt pretty good about getting a few things there.
I had been waiting to hear from Tamara about taking a helicopter tour with her, but unfortunately it was a no-go. She was second alternate on the schedule, which meant it was very unlikely that she was going to fly. Bummer! I guess there's another reason I have to go back!
I had reserved another Jeep for today, but several people pointed out that there was a Big Wave Competition on the North Shore and that traffic would be horrendous all over the island, so I cancelled the Jeep reservation. So sad. I was looking forward to another day pretending I owned a Jeep!
Instead I decided I'd do what most people do when they go to the beach - I'd go to the beach, read my book, relax and swim. It was nice for about 30 minutes. I'm not good at sitting still for that long, and Waikiki Beach started to get really crowded. I tried. I left.
There was a little divey coffee shop just around the corner from our hotel that I had been wanting to try, so I popped in there for lunch. It was a sandwich. The coffee was good. The place was done up nicely for Halloween. Meh.
I decided to grab my few souvenirs - some more 100% Kona Coffee, a magnet of a Hawaii license plate that says, "ALOHA," and some stickers. I passed on the 8 million other possible things you could buy with ALOHA or HAWAII emblazoned on them. Plus, before I flew out to Hawaii I had found this flip flop abalone shell pendant on eBay that is made in and ships from... you guessed it, Honolulu!, for $16. I'll order that when I get home, thank you.
I walked across Waikiki to the US Army Museum, which had some cool Army Aviation displays outside (those of you who know me know that I am a huge aviation nerd). It was definitely worth a visit. Then I hopped onto another Biki bike share bike and rode out to Ala Moana Park, which is the park we ran through with the run club last night. It was practically empty! THIS is how I can beach. I took a short nap, read my book, swam in the ocean, watched the lone surfer, etc. This was the perfect afternoon for my last full day in Hawaii.
I rode a Biki bike back to Waikiki and had the interesting experience of not finding somewhere to dock it. The first two docking stations were close together on Waikiki Beach - fine. I pulled over, took out my phone and the app said that the next station had one free spot. I rode over there, which was a little over a quarter of a mile or so, and it was not empty. The next one was another quarter to half a mile away. It took me four docking stations to finally drop my bike past the Honolulu Zoo. I guess I just wanted a little more of a walk!
So I walked... to LuLu’s for gorgeous views and a happy hour daiquiri for $4. I think I liked this place so much because it was not crowded and had great views. It was at the very edge of the strip and upstairs so fewer tourists wandered in. My favorite ridiculous reggae song from Pandora came on “I packed this bowl for two, and I-I-I, wanna smoke it with you...” It makes me laugh every time! It's just so sing-songy and it makes me chuckle. LuLu’s reminds me of a little bit of Costa Rica pura vida in touristy Waikiki.
Before dinner Courtney and I went shopping for some accessories for her Halloween costume. Let me start off by saying that 90s fashion was bad the first time and I have no idea why it is making a comeback. No idea. And is Forever21 a costume store?
We had dinner at Maui brewing Co. and watched the sunset over the beach. Not only is their beer good, but the food is pretty solid, too. Even though it's on the strip, it's a good spot. After dinner we went into the depths of some Asian market and got crepes. I know that sentence makes no sense, but it's true. I got some kind of Nutella whipped cream crepe and Courtney's had strawberries and chocolate. We didn't want them to end. At least it was a good way to end my last night in Hawaii.
We went back to the hotel, chatted, did some reading and hit the hay.
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