Claudia and I spent the last nine days in Hawaii. Two days in Waikiki and then a 7-day cruise around the islands. I didn't post before leaving because I never announce on the internet that the house will be empty.

But I'm back now, almost ready to be my usual self - pest or pal. I'll post some pix and tell tales after the time change wears off and the floor stops moving.

I'll bet you didn't eat anything adventurous or exciting Welcome back Rocky.

Glad you made it back alright, Rocky. Looking forward to seeing some photos!

Looking forward to the pics. Wife and I are going on the same cruise later in the year. Hasbeen

Hmm. On a water you were, I take it? Cool! Look forward to hearing and seeing more.

Keith, I was amazed that it was so hard to ferret out any truly "local" food. I did manage to get a loco moko breakfast once (awesome) and finally found a hole-in-the-wall joint in Kona that offered poke (pronounced PO-kay) thanks to a local guy who gave us directions. I had the ahi OG poke - which is yellowfin tuna sashimi with onion and herbs served with seaweed salad and rice. You get about a cup of the tuna for eight dollars - which would run you right up near a hundred bucks in a big city sushi place, triple that in Tokyo! While we ate, they rolled in a 100-pounder fresh from the dock - talk about fresh seafood!

hasbeen, PM me if you want any tips.

Big blue water, kg. Pretty pacific, though. Nothing over about eight feet at the worst, and usually half that. Big boat, too.

Eight foot seas are nothing to sneeze at, especially if they come at you stacked closely and/or with anything other than in a following sea.

Look forward to hearing more.

Edit: 8 is a bit different from 80

My wife has been pestering me to go for years but I just can't get there.

kg, the cruise ship is 957 feet long and 80,000 tons. Kinda makes eight-foot seas into a mill pond.

Still working through all the photos. Darn hard to pare down to a few extra-good ones, but I will.

EdM, we've now been on two: Alaska and Hawaii. Both were superb; expensive but worth it.

Ed, mine talked me in to it. But we don't travel like you do.

Ah, I see... I was thinking fishing boat. Never mind.

I'm glad it was you...and not me! I don't plan on going anywhere....without being able to 'tote iron'!!

Sharps, they don't even allow a pocket knife on the cruise ships. Frankly, Hawaii is pretty safe. I never felt a single second of concern, even in Honolulu with its HUGE homeless population. That place is crawling with police, too.

glad you had a great time Rocky. I have never been there. Maybe some day...........

Good call on keeping quiet about going on holiday Rocky. It never ceases to amaze me the things some people post on Facebook about going on vacation. It's like putting a sign in their front yard saying: "Nobody's home for a week, help yourself!"

Sounds like a heck of a good time, I look forward to seeing the pictures!

Thanks for supporting our local economy. Poke and Ogo seaweed is a local favorite, so is locomoco(fried hamburger patty and egg over rice with brown gravey. Another favorite is Spam Musubi - a piece of fried spam over a rectangular block of black seaweed wrapped rice. If you ever get to Molokai - drop by my small shop: Mel Chung

Fearing sounding contrary here but, well, not necessarily the case, friend. As backwards as it sounds, sushi in general and tuna specifically in Tokyo is often far, far cheaper than what is offered stateside. Take this place, for example. Top left 'set', as they call it, featuring tuna, with some 75 pieces of sushi, is priced at ~$28.00.




I wish, and hard, I could get the kind of quality, variety and price here that is available in Tokyo. In any case, sounds great and glad you and the missus enjoyed. Good times!

I happily stand corrected, kg. I was going by what I'd seen on travel shows.

Funny thing, I saw Spam Musubi for sale exactly once, while at the USS Missouri. And I wanted to try it, but had to hurry for the bus.

In fact, the lack of the promised "local foods" promised by the ship was my major disappointment. With the exception of fresh pineapple, there was nothing but standard US foods. They were good, but when I travel to Hawaii I don't want to eat the same things I could find in Iowa. Such fare shouldn't be the only thing offered (I realize there are folks who are timid eaters) but they could at least have offered more adventurous choices to those who want it.

Photos coming today. Still adjusting to the time shift...

There's lots of "local grinds" to be found around Hawaii if you have the time to find it. Unfortunately being part of a large tour doesn't afford you the opportunity to go off on your own that much. I've spent a bunch of time in Hilo lately and eating "local" there is pretty easy if one is so inclined.....in Kona, not so much. My son, who attends UH Manoa, says some of the best local food comes from the food trucks set up on campus. On his college student budget I thinks he's becoming quite the connoisseur of saimin. Looking forward to those pics!

Looking forward to the photos.

good of you to make the pilgrimage to the birth place of Obama to pay homage Rocky (grin)


what's that? you didn't go all the way to Kenya? lol


I really love Hawaii, we've been there a fair amount since it's only a 5 hour plane ride away.

but it's a Dem controlled environment and anyone prepared to exercise their 2nd amendment rights will be prosecuted under the full extent of the law.

I truly don't know how states get away with that BS, what state is going to pass legislation that you can't exercise your 1st amendment rights?

I have lived in Hawaii all of my 62 years, mostly in the town of
Kailua, Oahu. I am a retired Honolulu Police Lieutenant. I can give you recommendations of where to get good eats. While working
around the island in police patrol duties, I ate out of many places for 25 years, so many choices.

Pictures posted. For some reason - probably a limit on how many gazillion bytes can be in a thread - not all the photos appeared directly. But just click on the links to see them all.

Which cruise line were you on? Have heard that the service on Hawaiian cruises is not very good because of all the American kids working on the ships.

We're limited to 9 image links per post. A bloody PITA it is, but I'm guessing it's design is to make it more difficult for 'bots or malicious postings to eat tons of bandwidth.