Oahu Observations

In no particular order:

1. The best $20 spent: sunglasses from ABC store

2. The worst $24 spent (plus $6 tip): French Press coffee at a fancy hotel

3. I could eat poke bowls from Foodland all day.

4. One should be contractually obligated to eat at Zippy's when here

5. The COVID restrictions in Hawaii are the strictest I've encountered. You must supply vaccine proof to dine indoors along with ID, DOB, address, etc. To get onto the island, you go through rigorous vaccine screenings as well. And my casual observation is that wait people, hotel and airport employees, etc enforce the restrictions with conviction. I cannot tell you why this is. The season? The culture in Hawaii? Job requirement? COVID experiences on the island? Tourism being a major industry? Word out on Omi variant?

6. Beach recommendations: Turtle Beach (near Turtle Bay Resort) on the North Shore for kids. Kailua beach on the east side of the island for quiet.

7. With the time change, you feel somewhat disconnected from the rest of the world here. Or at least I did. It feels like at any time of the day, everyone is doing something else than you. I rather like it for a short period of time.

8. Homelessness in Honolulu resembles the situation in LA and SF. It makes one wonder if there is something beyond progressive DAs going on in the Pacific Coast.

9. In my time here, I saw only one movie theater. But there are Red Box kiosks around. 

10. A car is vital

11. Venus was incredibly bright in the night sky

12. Things I wish I had while here: boogie board for kids, snorkel, telescope. But not really worth buying a snorkel or board for 1 day... 

13. Shaved ice was much better in Maui

14. Easy to hate on Waikiki, but as a central place to stay/eat I thought it worked well. If I could do again, I might try to stay in nearby part of Honolulu closer to Al Moana beach. The problem with shacking up on the North Shore or anywhere else is that I imagine it starts to feel very small very quick.

15. I heard sirens all the time in Honolulu

16. In our final night the hotel was evacuated at 4am for an emergency. It turned out a transient slipped into the hotel and pulled a fire alarm.

17. The meals overall were quite enjoyable: thanksgiving plates from a hipster take out spot (Moku Kitchen), Kona Brewery - which was pretty similar to any brewery except you're sitting on a harbor with a beautiful, lush green mountain in the background -- pretty much one of the best views in a restaurant I've personally encountered, and a favorite: shrimp scampi from a food truck in North Shore.

18. Kids get as much pleasure from buying choco pie from a 75 cent vending machine in an Alamo car rental as seeing some of the great views on earth. 

19. I actually felt like reading fiction while traveling. When I got back home for some reason Selling Sunset season 4 was more appealing.

20. Pearl Harbor memorial was ok. Flying off the island it struck me being a bomber pilot would've been a tricky job -- wouldn't their targets be at least a little bit difficult to find? They were flying over places they've never been or seen before with precise targets to hit. Yet, I haven't heard a ton of stories about pilots being unable to find their targets. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough?