hitting all the favorite spots

one of the best parts of these super last-minute vacations is that we don't have time to sit down and map out schedules for every minute of every day.  there are some trips that require that sort of disciplined planning, but this was most definitely not one of them...thank goodness.

we woke up to yet another amazingly gorgeous day at the royal hawaiian.

once again, we got dressed and loaded the floaties in the car.

the first stop of the day was boots and kimo's for their famous macadamia nut pancakes.  ever since we discovered this place a few years ago, it's been on our "must-do" list and this visit was no exception.  the pancakes smothered in that amazing macadamia nut sauce don't photograph well AT ALL, but nobody cares.  those pancakes are perfectly fluffy and chewy, and the sauce is so good i honestly have to keep myself from licking the plate.

somehow we found ourselves at one of the two honolulu locations of waiola shave ice, and despite being stuffed full of those delicious pancakes still managed to stop and find room for a little more sweetness.

by then it was a little late to venture out anywhere too far away, and so we decided to head back to the resort and get in some beach time.  the hub had some work to get through and found a couple of open lounge chairs by the pool while the bean and i spent some time bouncing in the waves of waikiki beach.

when we got our fill for the day, we joined the hub and lounged poolside for awhile.  if you're wondering, the royal hawaiian pool bar does a super delicious lava flow.

and then after we went upstairs to shower and change, we decided to take a walk down the street to grab dinner at another old favorite spot.

we decided to walk off dinner and took a nice stroll down the street past our hotel, continuing along kalakaua avenue to get in some extra steps and do some peoplewatching.  as we walked we stumbled upon a caricature artist that the old lady had also sent us via instagram.

i was amused at the batsignal (cat signal?) in front of one of the shops at the international marketplace.

and when we got back to the royal hawaiian, we got to see how pretty the entrance looks at night.

the days were sliding past far too quickly, as they always do.  we knew we had to soak it all in and take advantage of our last full day in our favorite place, and so we tucked ourselves in that night at a fairly decent time.  the beds at the royal hawaiian are really comfy, so it wasn't long before we were all snuggled in and snoring in unison. muahahahaha.

eating our way through o'ahu

 the next morning, i found a note that hotel staff had slipped under the door:

a quick peek downstairs showed that high winds were not a deterrent to the crowds that were already enjoying sun and waves down at the beach.  heh.

while the hub and the bean slept in a little more, i placed a mobile order for our island lattes and made my way down to go and pick them up.  the daily yoga class had just finished up and i was amused to see that like everything else at this resort, the mats were a bright, beautiful shade of pink.

while that would normally be enough incentive to get me out there for a class, i have to admit that i really don't love yoga.  not that it isn't challenging as hell...i just find it boring af.  heh.

i picked up our coffees, headed back up to the room to wait for the others to get ready and took mine out on the balcony to enjoy the breeze and the sounds of the ocean.  those are the moments i dream about when we're back home and i wanted to take advantage of every chance i got to soak it all in.

outfit of the day - a me-made coverup dress over a bathing suit because you just never know when there might be an opportunity for a nice dip in the water.

and we made sure to grab our floaties too, for the same reason.

the bean was craving some fresh mochi, so we revisited a spot we'd found on a previous trip: nisshodo candy store, serving up delicious japanese confections for 90 years.

the old lady had sent us an instagram reel by someone who had ranked all of the most well-known shave ice spots, and since we were fairly close to one of them we stopped in to give it a try.  shimazu shave ice shares a space with a few other food vendors in a little building right next door to rainbow drive-in (which i still have yet to try, maybe next visit?).

the ice was very finely shaved and melted in my mouth instantly, kind of like cotton candy.  it was indeed delicious and definitely gives waiola a run for their money.

as we made our way out of the honolulu/waikiki area we finally got a taste of those high winds that we'd been warned about.

it seemed that this was our day to eat all kinds of fun stuff, because our next stop was ono seafood for some delicious poke.

we drove around a little more, just doing some sightseeing from the car and then decided we wanted to go back and take a nap.  hahaha!  all of those good eats had sent us into a classic food coma and it was time to sleep it off for a bit.

by the time we woke up again, guess what?  yup - time to go eat again.  this was SO my kinda trip.

this time, we walked across the street and up the elevator to grab a table at liliha bakery.  on our last visit to o'ahu we'd hit up liliha on our first day, but since we knew we had one of their newest locations so close to our hotel we hadn't been in a rush to go.  

if you only get one thing here, it has to be this basket of warm, toasted buttery rolls served with their delicious housemade jam.  this stuff is like crack, i tell you (not that i've ever done crack. i guess that's kind of a stupid description, but you get what i mean).

the rest of our meal was pretty basic - loco moco, steak, breakfast for dinner.  and then as the bean and i got comfy in our beds while the hub went downstairs for a cigar and an evening adult beverage, they went into the fridge and busted out the last of the poke as a midnight snack.

what a day, amirite?

all about that royal hawaiian life

the next morning, the bean and i were up first and headed out to grab coffee and bring it back while the hub slept in a little.  i took advantage of this photo op while it was early and didn't have crowds of people waiting to take a picture:

after picking up our island lattes we took our first visit of the trip to the abc store to grab some snacks, and on our way back through the royal hawaiian we stopped to check out the bakery.

i'd remembered to bring our coupon that got us a complimentary bag of freshly baked banana bread, which paired nicely with my coffee.

at the abc store, the bean had picked up some sushi and i'd grabbed a spam musubi that served as breakfast that day.

the nice thing about last-minute trips, especially with the hub, is that we kind of just wing it and don't have a schedule to stick to.  we just do whatever sounds good at the moment, and that day we threw on bathing suits and headed down to the beach to bounce around in the waves and soak up some sun.

the hub had opted out of inner tubing amongst the crowds of tourists and instead found a nice spot at the hotel pool, ordering drinks and relaxing in a lounge chair.  after the bean and i had our fill of salt and sand, we joined him and decided to share some food.

i threw in an order for their famous pink snowball - a light, fluffy cake with layers of pink frosting and lots of toasted coconut.  the bean and the hub weren't interested, but i found it delightful.

and after that - well, i know we went back upstairs to get cleaned up and then headed back out to grab dinner...somewhere.  i guess i was just living in the moment and didn't take any pictures which isn't like me at all, but hey - we were on a relaxing vacation and spending time together.  that's all that matters anyway, right?