Day 4: Iolani Palace and Fly to Maui

Is it possible to have a bad day in the Hawaiian islands? Well, follow along and find out. Slept in late, 6:40am. So a good beginning. We had a leisurely breakfast of malasadas (Portuguese donuts), coffee and juice. Now that's starting a vacation day off right. Yes, it was raining but come on...it's the tropics during their rainy season. Get over it.

Our drive to Iolani Palace was easy even with the traffic. You have to keep in mind that O'ahu has exactly one highway conveniently designated H1. Pretty sharp. So if you can avoid that highway things are going fine. All I can say about the Palace (the only ROYAL residence in the US) is wow. I am partial to natural wood and this place is a dream come true. Doors, floors, window frames and shudders. Restoration has been going on since the 1960s after all the furnishings had been sold off. They even offered pieces of the floor coverings, just walk in and ask for whatever size you want. Hunting down original furniture, paintings, dishes, jewelry, even those pieces of rugs. What a massive undertaking. Still a work in progress but impressive.

Grand staircase

Dining room

Throne room. Dress in the forefront has a skirt and train covered in peacock feathers. 

Crowns for king and queen, scepter and sword.

Honolulu International Airport. Think any airport with a huge construction project or two (or three) and you can image what it's like. Except compact it to half the size of the John Glenn (formerly Columbus) International Airport. Lots of stuff (like people) in a relatively small area. We bailed on the standard waiting area and parked ourselves in the Premier Club. Aren't we special? In our defense, the flight was changed so we were going to be spending more of our vacation at the airport. Make the best of that challenging situation. Oh, wait. While we were waiting for that time the flight was changed again to an even later time. The gate was changed 3 times. When we finally got on the plane we sat back for a relaxing 45 minute flight to Maui.

Wheels up and here's your drink and mixed snack. Wheels down. Get off the plane and none of the boards listed our flight number for the Baggage Claim. Good thing there were only 5 carousels. We may have looked a little predatory going from one to the other but finally located our bags. Soaked completely, they looked like they had been left on the trolleys without covers. Did I mention the rain? If you missed it, this is the RAINY season.

Just to highlight, we have wet shoes and damp everything else. Let's get our rental car, drive to the condo and kick back. Easy walk out of the terminal, get the bus, arrive and sign for the car. Not! I stood outside with the luggage while Bob went in to sign and drive. We arrived at 5pm and the car was brought around at 6:15. It's 68 degrees, raining and humid. Also it's getting dark. The windows are so steamed up (no, don't go there) we can't drive away. While we are waiting for the defroster to work I noticed the "check engine" AND "check battery" lights are on. Whoa!!! We are not going anywhere in this car. Great. Back into the office for more waiting. Finally, 7pm a new car, still raining and heading to our condo.

Beautiful condo. No idea what anything outside looks like except there are lots of plants. Tomorrow is another day. Forecast is for rain in the morning but only 20% by the afternoon. Sounds like a coffee and laundry morning. Maybe snorkeling in the PM.

Condo living room and kitchen. Sliding door to lanai.

So, what do you think? Can you have a bad day in the Hawaiian islands?