On the way to the Pride of America

Here we go again! This time, on another trip to Hawaii.

The sights below

As we flew westward from Los Angeles, here was an unusual sight.

A snow-capped mountain range, a fog-shrouded valley, and the Pacific Coast Highway in the foreground, somewhere just before Santa Barbara.

Clouds covered much of Oahu, but where they parted, the views were spectacular.

Our flight path took us right over the USS Arizona and USS Missouri.

Flying over Ewa Beach, there were these peculiar breakwaters.

Perhaps they create calm, wading areas for beach goers.

Over five hours later, we were in sunny and warm Honolulu. When we left, L.A. was in the low 50s.

Shortening the eatery checklist

We dropped off our luggage at the hotel Equus, and hiked seven-minutes to the Ala Moana Center mall.

We went straight to Tanioka’s restaurant, a pop-up that’s scheduled to close at the end of December (their flagship eatery is in Waipahu city). Really good fried chicken! Good flavors in the spicy batter.

http://www.taniokas.com/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60663-d2304430-Reviews-Tanioka_s_Seafood_and_Catering-Waipahu_Oahu_Hawaii.html

https://www.yelp.com/biz/tanioka-s-seafoods-and-catering-honolulu

What really stood out was the crazy amount of non-food, store-branded merchandise they carried.

Do you know what “hopa” means?

Custom-made shave ice on the left, with mango, guava, and coconut ice cream. Their #6 limited-edition Pumpkin Spice (on the right) was terrific, with shave ice, pumpkin ice cream, cinnamon condensed milk, four pumpkin mochi, and pumpkin syrup.

http://www.houseofpurealoha.com

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60982-d2411123-r153990223-Uncle_Clay_s_House_of_Pure_Aloha-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html

https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Uncle+Clay%27s+House+of+Pure+Aloha&find_loc=Honolulu%2C+HI&ns=1

Back at the Equus

The Equus Hotel has a historic, plantation-styling to the entry areas and rooms; it’s located right on Ala Moana Blvd.

http://www.equushotel.com

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60982-d87008-Reviews-The_Equus-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html

https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-equus-honolulu-4?osq=The+Equus

Here’s one traditional, hotel room feature that I haven’t seen in a long time.

This curious towel sculpture rested on our hotel bathroom sink. I couldn’t figure out what it was.

My Sweetie knew right away that it was a duck.

Next: Aboard the Pride of America