The Zuiderdam arrived to Honolulu close to 8am, docking at Pier 2. But we were not cleared by the local authorities until well after 8am. Ian begged the anxious tour people to please not crowd the gangway. They seldom listen, do they? And because of the early shore excursions, the Pinnacle Grill was not crowded this morning. A few new waiters have appeared, since a couple, like Lois, have gone home. Today, we had Raj from India. Also, looking out the window, we could see a Princess ship docked at Aloha Tower.
We worked online until close to 10:30am, then gathered our stuff and headed out into the warm and humid weather. There was a 10% chance of rain, but we suspect that may be in the center of the island, and maybe late afternoon. Our destination was lunch at the Hard Rock Café, but with many stops along the way. It appears that during the three years since we were here, downtown has been in the process of expanding. Starting around the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor, construction projects are in full swing building more high rises, condos, and apartments, we assume. Walking the length of the Ala Moana Beach Park, we noticed that there were fewer homeless people there. We used to pass a field that was loaded with pup tents, like a village of homeless families. All of that has been removed, and these days the field has been taken over by the pigeons, doves, egrets, and even chickens.
The yacht harbor was in full swing with tour groups ready to go off either snorkeling or fishing. Nice to see that the tourists have come back after the pandemic. Walking through the park, we saw the massive banyans and baobabs that give the area a lot of shade. Many of them are quite old, and are now being protected with orange plastic fencing around them. Supposedly to protect the root systems.
Across the street from here is the Ala Moana Shopping Mall. It is a destination in itself, and we will come back here tomorrow. For the locals and tourists alike, it is a respite from the humidity and heat. We began to reach the start of the hotels. Along the way, we always pass by the Outback Restaurant. It is no longer here…..closed down. The hotel we pass through is the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where we stayed before one of our first cruises in this area. This led us right to Waikiki Beach, where we watched the sunbathers and swimmers enjoying the sand and warm water.
Passing by the Hale Koa Hotel, we walked by the US Army Museum, but noticed there was no activity here. Not sure it was opened to the public. Continuing through Fort Debussy Beach Park, we found our way to the Hard Rock Café. Glad to see it was still opened. Now there is a greeter by the door, and she asked for our name and how many in our party. Normally, we just went to the elevator and took it up one floor. She said we had a five minute wait, then she would page us. No she won't as we do not have a cell phone. We simply stuck around checking out their city t-shirts. We did find one the right size, and proceeded to go buy it. The salesman suggested we wait until after lunch, because they were having a special scratcher game, and we may win. OK with that he put the shirt aside, and asked if we would like to have him take our photo in front of their store sign. Sure, we had time, but we are not sure the photo will turn out good. Nice of him to take it anyway.
Once we were upstairs, we were seated a nice table in the breeze. For a change, we had nachos with grilled chicken….shared of course. The plate was huge. We had no problem consuming two large Coke Zeros during our meal. We had forgotten to look at the salad menu today, since that was always what we ordered in any Hard Rock Café. After lunch, our waitress brought us the scratcher card, and said we could only pick one square. So we went with door # 1, and it was a winner. Maybe they all were, but we could buy one t-shirt and get one free. That worked for us. Two for one. On our way out, we asked the nice greeter lady why they did not serve the haystack salads anymore. She agreed, as they were her favorite as well, especially with the Tupelo fried chicken on top. We all hope it may come back someday……
Time to hit the road, we headed back to the ship. One of us needed to hit every bench along the way, even if it was just for a minute or two. Sure made the walk more enjoyable. There are so many different varieties of birds here, they are fun to photograph.
We got back to the ship by 4pm, and cooled off with several cold sodas. Our veranda was plenty warm, facing the west and the setting sun. Ship traffic kept it interesting. When it started to get dark, a container ship was pulled and pushed over to the dock area behind us. It appeared that the off-loading would be done at night. Looking out our drapes after dinner, we saw that another container ship was very close to our ship, also getting off-loaded. Who knew the work would be done all night? It will be a test to see how good our windows and door are insulated.
Dinner was dressy, which we thought was odd for a port day. Then we saw that it was Happy Thanksgiving for the Canadians. That might mean a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings. So we both ordered the crispy shrimp starter, following by a Caesar salad, and of course, turkey. Well, the plate came with cranberry sauce, which we had asked for doubles. But when we tasted it, what a surprise to find it was sour and not at all sweet. We mean really sour and bitter. Telling our waiter, he brought Johnny over, who went to get one of the chefs. This chef confirmed the fact they used fresh cranberries, but someone forgot the sugar. He offered to make a new batch, but we declined. We mainly wanted to warn them so they did not serve it to anyone else. Truthfully, the dining room was about empty tonight, at least at the second seating. As always, when there is a local performance, such as tonight and the Drums of Polynesia, most folks eat elsewhere and earlier. The show was at 8pm, but for us, it was our dinnertime. We seldom see those performances. In the past, they would repeat this show on the room TV. Not anymore.
Anyway, we ended the meal with slices of pumpkin pie and a side of vanilla ice cream. Took away the bitterness of the cranberries, thank goodness.
Another day in Honolulu, and another hike tomorrow for us.
Bill & Mary Ann
