I suppose there’s a reason I’ve not spent any time in West Oahu before. No one tells you to go there, no one says, oh, you’ve got to go check out the beaches around Nanakuli or Waianae, no one says anything, really about West Oahu to mainland visitors like me. And as the suburbs dwindle, it starts to become perfectly clear why no one has sent me this direction before.
There are some industrial sites. There’s the big dump, Waimanolo Gulch, where Oahu’s garbage piles up waiting to either be packaged and sent to the mainland or processed into electricity, depending on what the current plan is.… continued…
On my third visit to Oahu, I was finally able to visit Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve, a beautiful cove south of Waikiki. I was thwarted on previous visits by not getting an early enough start — the popular park fills up quickly and once it’s full, that’s that, you’re not getting in. I had all the odds in my favor this morning — an early start, the low season, and a tough year for tourism.At 830, I was in the water, chasing the wild humuhumunukunukuapua’a, the best named fish on the planet, though hey, you have to give props to the lauwiliwilinukunukuo’io’i, the long nosed butterfly fish.… continued…
There isn’t much by way of furnishing in the Queen’s imprisonment room. There’s a little white bed, a rather ornate love seat sized sofa, and a dresser. There’s a large crazy quilt displayed under Plexiglas, it’s beautiful and sad, but not as sad as the little Chinese birdcage that stands empty on top of the dresser.
Queen Liliuokalani was sentenced to hard labor for her supposed role in a rebellion she denied having any hand in planning.… continued…
Is anyone else tired of the press trip debate? It returned last week — on the tails of increasing paranoia about the new FCC rulings — in a story posted by Gawker about NY Times writer Mike Albo taking a “free, all expenses paid trip to Jamaica.” The NY Times explicitly prohibits their writers from participating in these kinds of events. Also on Gawker, an excerpt of the Times policy.
The following additional rules apply to travel writers, whether working for Travel, Escapes, T: Travel or any other section:
No travel writer, whether on assignment or not, may accept free or discounted services of any sort from any element of the travel industry.
Loads of kitsch, tough looking waitresses who are sweet as pie, and first rate diner grub. Go hungry. And don’t be fooled by the empty tables in this shot, it was 830. By the time we finished, stuffed with French toast, coffee, and a SOB hobo breakfast, there were easily a dozen people waiting for tables.
Luna Park Cafe is at 2918 SW Avalon in West Seattle.… continued…
