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.

leisurely drive through north shore

for some reason the next morning was super busy at the hotel gym.  so much so that i had to be put on a waitlist to get in.  i didn't really want to wait to get my workout in, so i ended up joining the hub for his daily yoga class instead.  i think i've mentioned before that i really hate yoga - it's a really good workout and i still get my sweat on, but it's too slow for me.  i lose interest pretty quickly.  still, i was amused to see the bean standing on the lanai above us, capturing the moment for me to remember forever.

after class, the hub and i went over to honolulu coffee co. for our morning lattes and a quick bite.

we headed upstairs to get cleaned up and change so we could hop in the car and take a nice drive up to the north shore, where we stopped in at foodland for some lunch before hitting the beach.

and we stopped at ted's bakery for a slice of their famous chocolate haupia pie.  so delicious.

it's not a trip to o'ahu for us without a stop at sunset beach.  but since we were missing two of our family members, we skipped the group photo.

while we were up there, we decided to stop in at turtle bay resort to check out their recent remodel.  we hadn't been here since the bean was little, and it was quite the upgrade from how we remembered it from that last visit over a decade ago.  they're still putting the finishing touches on it, but the majority of the resort is completely renovated.

they make a pretty good hawaiian latte here, too.

this looks like a pretty nice gym with a sweet view.

they even have a resort dog that you can "reserve" to take on walks.  he'd just returned from one with a guest, and he was happily stretched out on the floor with a chew toy.  

it's also not a trip to north shore without a stop at matsumoto's for some shave ice.  yes, there are lots of other places on the island for good shave ice - hell, even just across the street - but this is tradition, dammit.

and then we decided to cap off our day with a stop at one of the many food trucks.  short ribs and shrimp made for a super tasty and pretty cheap dinner.

i think we managed to check off all the boxes in one day - beach, resort, shave ice, shrimp.  done and done.