On Tuesday, David and I rose early so we could hike up Diamond Head before it got too hot. We weren't exactly successful at that last part. It was pretty darn hot from the very first steps. The ascent to the top of this former military outpost that is now the major landmark of Waikiki, looming greenly over the blue sea and white beach, is not long but very steep. In the less than a mile round trip hike, there are 271 stairs and two tunnels, the first one long enough to freak me right out since I'm claustrophobic and couldn't see the end. At the top, you crawl out of some kind of stairwell under a cement overhang, and you are perched on the very pinnacle of the peak, on a platform with a couple of levels. We saw people of all ages and fitness abilities on the trail, but the one thing we all had in common is that we were soaked! The view from the top was almost surreal. In one direction, hills, a few houses and a wide expanse of coral-filled ocean; in the other, a city so large and so dense that it looked like a CGI blue screen for a movie. Apparently, Honolulu is the 11th largest city in the U.S.! (population-wise, I'm assuming.) Which is pretty amazing when you realize you can also drive across the entire island of Oahu in about 25 minutes.

When we came down, we were hungry and thirsty, and I wanted to find the New Otani hotel, where I'd been told that Robert Louis Stevenson used to write on the lanai. It ended up being a longer walk than we thought from where we parked, and I was feeling pretty cranky by the time we got to the hotel (I think David was, too, which is rare for him! :)) The patio restaurant was very pretty and once again, we received a table right on the beach. We ordered some "virgin" cocktails (I found my strawberry daiquiri too sweet and stuck to water) and split a hamburger that really hit the spot. While we ate and sipped, we watched a scantily-clad young man practice some sort of tumbling activity on the beach with a large stick. He would dive forward into the sand and then roll up again, brandishing the stick like a baton. It was especially interesting that no one else seemed to notice him.

When we got back to the hotel we were a bit crunched for time, because we wanted to visit the Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu, and I'd received conflicting reports of its visiting times. Also, we needed to be back to the hotel early to catch our bus to the Sunset Cruise. Somehow, we managed to shower, collect Joan and John and get over to the Palace (right in the middle of very official-looking government buildings in the city center) and catch the very last tour. The history of the Palace is quite interesting, as it was established by King David Kalakaua when the island was still its own republic (already in various negotiations with the United States) in the late 19th century. Intended as a signifier of Hawaiian pride, the palace was very grand for its time, and even had electricity before the White House. It was originally filled with precious ceremonial and traditional objects, many of which were sold, so the rooms were rather bare. Our docent instructed us to slip blue cloth booties over our shoes to protect the highly polished wood floors, and taught us a lot of history about the island-the palace even includes a room where Queen Lilikulani was imprisoned for eight months after a sort of coup with her advisors. The tour was enjoyable but by the end we had to hurry through the ground-floor exhibits (which included some cool crown jewels) to wend our way through the growing traffic back to Waikiki. We decided in the car to miss the bus and take our chances on parking at the boat dock.

Our trip to the harbor was surprisingly easy. We didn't hit traffic and we pulled up and parked right next to the embarkation ramp. A gaggle of people snapped our photo, and ushered us onto the boat, where we were seated with a nice couple from England who were visiting Hawaii for the first time. We arrived earlier than the bus, so we got a good seat near the window. A waitress brought us some excessively tall mai tais (no skimping on the rum!) and we chatted and sipped as the boat made preparations to leave. Just as we pulled out of the harbor, David and I ran upstairs and watched Waikiki recede, which was beautiful until suddenly the wind changed and we were practically blown overboard. :) Downstairs, people were already helping themselves to the food, and a one-man band was playing some classic rock for our entertainment. After dinner, most people wandered outside to see the scenery and look for the sunset (elusive in the clouds) and the show kicked in, with singing and hula and eventually some group dance numbers including "The Electric Slide," which I joined in on. I noted with amusement that an extremely jaded and competent 10-year-old girl next to me knew every move, every word, as if perhaps she has grown up on cruise ships. Before we knew it, we were docking again and the cheerful crew were singing us out. I felt I had been to an extremely concise wedding reception.

It was early, so we hopped in the car and tried to find Chinatown. Eventually we did, but sadly, it was very quiet at night. The only things open were restaurants and lei-making operations. It did look like a fun neighborhood to walk and shop in, but perhaps another time. While we were wandering, we ran into a wizened little man who cheerfully made fun of us for showing up in the dark. He made suggestions about where we could get dim sum the next day. He appeared to be Chinese, and we thought he was a native. Turns out he's from New York City and arrived on the island a few years ago to baby a heart condition. It was a funny little encounter.

We dropped off the car and started walking into Waikiki, since it was our last night. Sadly, the four of us were not in agreement about refreshment options, because Joan and John wanted coffee, and I was fixated on a hamburger since I'd avoided the food on the boat. We dropped J & J off at the Moana coffee shop and continued down the strip to "Cheeseburger in Paradise," which tickled my fancy. The cheeseburger wasn't bad, and there was a band that sounded very much like the one on the boat. It was warm out, but it started raining a bit while we ate. We walked home in the light rain, savoring our last night in Waikiki.

In the morning, we met up with Joan and John for a celebratory good-bye breakfast at the Halekulani. It was a glorious breakfast, if a little melancholy, with lots of fresh fruit, and some wonderful popovers with some kind of jam made from local berries that I'd never heard of. We ate enough to last us through a 5-hour plane trip (almost :)). We packed very quickly and said our good-byes in front of hotel. The trip home was long and noisy, but uneventful.