WAIKIKI BEACH

This has been a very happy trip down memory lane for me. When I was a wee lad, my parents took me to the island of Oahu every Christmas. We had Navy friends stationed at Pearl Harbor and we would stay at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the Grand Pink Lady on Waikiki Beach, and we would do the usual touron dances, like hike to the top of Diamond Head Crater and pay our respects at the Punch Bowl military cemetery.

Mom, Dad, Grammy and little surfer boy Steve having lunch on the patio at the Royal Hawaiian in 1963

Chief of Naval Operations Robert “Bob” Pirie and my dad at Pearl Harbor in 1961 for the wedding of my Admiral “Uncle” Bob McElroy’s daughter Susie.

Royal Hawaiian Hotel

This time around, Inna & I stayed at the historic Moana Surfrider, the “Queen of Waikiki”, the first hotel built in 1901, crowning one of the world’s most iconic beaches. The sunsets are still amazing and the surfing will always be the turquoise ride of a lifetime. But, boy have things changed since 1960!

Moana Surfrider

The Japanese money has transformed the face of Honolulu into the land of Jimmy Choo and shiny Gucci goodies. It’s a high rise spectacle of wonder & delight. It’s an expensive proposition no matter what you do, but even off-season, the streets, hotels, restaurants, stores, and tours were teeming with merry vacationers on the prowl.

Duke Kahanamoku statue on Waikiki Beach

Statue of musical legend Don Ho in the sprawling Hilton Hawaiian Village

Coco Head

That said, the north shore is still pretty much as it has always been and the spirit of OH!loha lives on & on wherever you may roam around the islands. It is epitomized by the Shaka, extended thumb and pinky hand signal, which is always accompanied by a big ol’ friendly Mahalo smile that is the native form of greeting.

Byodo-In Temple in the Valley of the Temples

SHAKA