Post #699154 by AceExplorer on Tue, Nov 12, 2013 8:28 AM

Yes, absolutely true in Waikiki - it has become a high-end pukefest for those who seek some of the area's more real roots. I was suggesting not to write off the entire island. Those who look carefully, those who do research, and those who care to ask others for advice and information, can still be rewarded, even in Waikiki.

I will remember the IMP with fondness. (Especially when I see it pop up in the background of Elvis' "Blue Hawaii.") Progress is sometimes a strange irony, especially in this case. But the lack of "real" Hawai`i amid all the concrete and high-end retail may come to inspire someone else in the future. I will not give up hope that this is just a temporary and intermediate step in the ongoing evolution of Waikiki. Island tourism is merely 65 or 70 years old, and that's young. There will be others after us who may also come to miss the old Waikiki and the lush plants and trees and other features of the IMP. In my mind I will not be closing the book on what once was and what may come to happen again.