Heading to Hawaii - off to Oahu!

I'll be heading off to Hawaii with my better half July 12 - 18. We're staying at a place on the other of Diamond Side from Waikiki. I've researched the forum on what to see and do, and combined with our tendency towards laziness, we'll stick to the bars and kitsch locales.

Anyway, if anyone has any up-to-the-minute details we should consider, I'd love to know. Otherwise, we'll be hitting la Mariana, the PCC (and the groovy McDonald's next door!), thorstor, Waikiki shtick and generally laze about.

Also, if anyone in the area wants to meet for drinks, we're game.

Mel

Aloha Mel - we've been having spectacular Hawaii summer weather recently (82 degrees with strong trade winds) interspersed with just plain hot days. With luck, the good weather will continue through your visit.

Be sure to have good directions to La Mariana - even locals have trouble finding it for the first time. You will enjoy the atmosphere - the food and drinks are OK. Try to arrive just before sunset, say 6:30 or so, so you can see it both in the light and dark. Also try to pick a day when the trades are blowing - it can get pretty hot and stuffy in the still air. And don't forget you have to drive home - you can get plenty looped plenty fast on their rum drinks.

Plan for rain at the Polynesian Cultural Center - you're on the windward side of Oahu. Rain doesn't spoil the fun, if you have umbrellas.

The Waikiki Thor Stor is now on Lewers Street - the old location on Kalakaua is now the entrance to Jimmy Buffet's restaurant. Always jarring to see that when I drive by. They only had $$ art at the new location last time I visited - mugs and such are at the Thor Stor at the Navy Exchange near Pearl Harbor.

Sunday morning at the Aloha Stadium Flea Market is good if you're into tiki collectables - remember, the non-tourist stuff is close to the stadium on the mauka side. You might even run into Gecko!

Have a great trip - spend a lot of money so I don't have to pay so much taxes! :)

LA MARIANA SAILING CLUB in Waikiki!!! Probably the last remaining old-school Tiki bar and definitely the closest you'll get to "Poly-pop Tiki" in HI . The owner died a year a or so ago, so it's future hangs in balance. See it before it goes away.

Oooh, let me be the third to chime in on La Mariana! Don't know if you're driving yourself or taking a cab, but it's off Nimitz on Sand Island Access Road in a very industrial, non-touristy looking area (our cab driver didn't know where it was, either - we had to direct him). Just as the road starts to bend off to the left, you'll see a chain-link fence on the right side of the road with a bunch of signs on it. Take that right past the signs and in a couple of seconds you'll see La Mariana. Koolau had a great suggestion about arriving at sunset - that's what we did, and it was a perfect way to see the place.

They're selling their own mugs and shot glasses now, designed by one of their waitresses, Toddlyn. The whole place is a tiki aficionado's dream come true...

Glad you're going to go to the PCC - they do a great show.

Have fun!

JOHN-O's Guide to Honolulu (short version).

• What I like to call the Kapahulu Ave "triple" (all within walking distance of each other). To me the quintessential Honolulu afternoon:

1. Plate lunch at Rainbow Drive-in -
   http://www.rainbowdrivein.com/
   http://www.yelp.com/biz/rainbow-drive-in-honolulu

2. Shop for vintage Aloha shirts and Hawaiiana at Bailey's Antiques -
   http://alohashirts.com/
   http://www.yelp.com/biz/baileys-antiques-and-aloha-shirts-honolulu
   This place blew my mind !!

3. Shave ice at Wailoa Shave Ice - (Update - this location has moved)
   http://www.yelp.com/biz/waiola-bakery-and-shave-ice-ii-honolulu
   Arguably better than Matsumoto's in the North Shore.

• Here's a couple of restaurants that my local friends took me to. Highly recommended and definitely not "tourist" Hawaii.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/tokkuri-tei-honolulu

http://www.yelp.com/biz/side-street-inn-honolulu

• I think by far the best Mai Tai I've had in Honolulu was at the House Without a Key outdoor lounge at the Halekulani Hotel. I had a Zombie there (which wasn't on the drink menu) that was also very tasty. The tropical drinks at the Royal Hawaiian used to be really good 10 years ago but in my opinion have really gone downhill. I thought the drinks at La Mariana were very disappointing give their reputation. The atmosphere is pretty cool though. It's funny, I tell my local friends I want to visit La Mariana and they always say "WHY ??".

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2010-01-22 21:23 ]

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2010-10-31 11:11 ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7nqgQIZKgw

Thanks for all the tips - and I'll make sure to stay off the waves on the north shore!

Makapu (sp?) beach on the lower east,south side of the Island is a nice baech.
there is (at least when I was there 10 years ago) a cool lighthouse up on the point, and the Island off the coast is called Rabbithead Island, as it looks like a rabbit laying his head backwards.

up the East Coast is Chinaman hat Island.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

This should be of use also.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=26224&forum=16

Oahu/Waikiki will probably have the most nightlife. Maui has a few clubs but I'm not really up to speed on them. I tried web searching them and the only one that came up was Ambrosia.
hawaii off road

Thanks everyone! We're in Honolulu now and had drinks/dinner at La Mariana. Incredible place; the ambiance makes it worth the trip and we'll be going back. I've got the rest of the tips printed out for the remainder of our stay.

Thanks!
Mel

Just saw this in the Honolulu Star Bulletin looks like a fun way to get around Oahu!

http://www.starbulletin.com/business/20090729_Scoot_coupes_hit_the_streets_as_comfy_mo-ped_alternative.html

Not to be missed is a visit to Lewers Lounge at the Halekulani Hotel on Wakiki Beach. Lewers is one of the top cocktail bars in the nation, and it's chief consultant is none other than the great Dale DeGroff, one of the fathers of the modern Cocktail Renaissance. Lewers is a class act, with live jazz, exquisite service and top notch cocktails. while not Tiki per se, you can rest assured that the well trained mixologists at Lewers can make any classic Tiki cocktail with expertise. The place is not inexpensive, it was a special night out for my Wife & I during our Hawaii trip. If you really want to top it off, have dinner at La Mer, the hotel's top restaurant, and maybe the finest restaurant in Hawaii. Again, it's a splurge, but a truly memorable one.

Another recommendation, you should visit the Punchbowl, The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific; it's the resting place of the heroes that gave their lives during the War in the Pacific, Korea and Vietnam. It's the Pacific Theater's equivalent of the American Cemetery at Normandy, France and it's a very moving memorial to visit indeed. Also do pay a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial; it's the resting place for over 900 sailors and Marines that gave their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Arizona's dead are said to still at their battle stations on their sunken ship, and the Arizona continues to leak oil into the harbor as though she were bleeding. Her Survivors claim that the oil will continue to leak until the last Pearl Harbor survivor dies.

Directly astern of the Arizona lies the USS Missouri, where Japan signed the surrender that ended World War Two. within minutes you can visit the starting and ending places of the Pacific War.

[ Edited by: CincyTikiCraig 2009-07-29 23:36 ]