Our neighborhood

Duke's Alley, next to our hotel, is a maze of tiny stalls selling cheap jewelry, trinkets and souvenirs. I got sucked in there, of course. Almost couldn't find my way out. 

Shopping, shopping. The International Marketplace, bustling away 32 stories below our room, has a big Target, high-end stores, and fancy restaurants. And there's another fancy mall across the street with more designer stores and a food court. 

We got take-out Panda Express there and watched the game in our room on Saturday. Sweet. Go Hawks. 

The famous pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel is across the street on the beach. Remember the lyrics to Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi?" She wrote that song when she came to Hawaii for the first time in the 1970's. She woke up in the morning and saw the skyscrapers and sprawl starting to creep up the green mountain paradise. 

"You don't know what you got til it's gone." 

Yup. Waikiki was a wetland with fresh springs and a fertile sacred place for royalty. The iconic beach is artificial and the sand replenished every 5-7 years. 

As you've probably guessed, this is not a relax under the coconut tree type vacation. But Honolulu is a fun and friendly city. The Uber drivers are a hoot and full of local information.They say international travel is down. Expensive visas are required now for foreign visitors. Some are staying away from American politics. You could have fooled us. The streets are absolutely jammed with people from all over the world, and so many young Asian families. But many are residents of Honolulu. 

You expect Hawaii to be expensive, but we were surprised the prices are comparable to Seattle. The sales tax here is only 4%, compared to 11% in Seattle. Our shocked Uber driver said we must have wonderful roads and services in Washington from paying all those taxes. We laughed. 

As for today's excursion, we walked to the Honolulu Zoo. Not a world class zoo in terms of animals, but the inmates looked happy and the grounds are pretty.  A nice peaceful break from the hustle bustle on Waikiki Beach.