Ten Days and Nine Nights, with TSA Update

on Oahu. Somehow, we muddled through.

Old NFO was there last month, and observed that the crowds were much smaller than normal. Two weeks later, we showed up to find the reverse was true. It was wall-to-wall people for the first couple of days; I'm here to tell you that the Hilton resorts are doing land-office business in Honolulu.

Lush landscape

Apart from the crowds, however, the rest is still Hawaii, and it's still beautiful. Even when the sun is hot, the trade winds keep things cooled nicely. The hotel staff is friendly, food and drink are readily available, and there's never a lack for entertainment.

Plenty of sartorial action (or lack thereof) at the beach

For example, there's Thong Guy. This older but under-dressed fellow wanders up and down Waikiki Beach in a state of ... well, undress. His ONLY attire is a thong with a banana cozy. 'nuff said?

Then there's the opposite end of the spectrum. You remember the character "Reverend Jim" from Taxi? Imagine his bald brother in an ankle-length white robe. On the beach.

Guys with large towels folded and draped over their heads. Gals in bikinis, gals in skirts, gals in evening gowns and 6" stiletto heels ... we never did figure out what kind of statement those were making, other than "Hey, look at me: I'm wrongly attired! w00t!"

Last November, we were impressed by the lack of young children; the guests seemed to be mostly empty-nesters, or young couples on honeymoon. This year? You couldn't take two steps without tripping over strollers and a gaggle of toddlers. Interestingly, it wasn't noisy, and the kids weren't misbehaving (for the most part). It's just a different atmosphere than we expected, from the previous visit.

Beachfront dining

The food was just as good as before. Tropics Grill (pictured above) doesn't have the largest selection of food, but what they offer is very well-prepared, and the service is great. We ate most of our meals there, and only experienced slow service one time; it seemed they were understaffed due to illness, and the wait staff was simply stretched too thin.

Beachfront dining

The staff never lost its cool or sense of humor, and a good time was had by all (as the saying goes). It was 83 or 84 every day, the trade winds blew just enough to keep us happy, and we got the rest and recreation we wanted.

It was restful and relaxing, and we came home satisfied and happy. And that's what really counts, after all.

p.s. Matt, in comments, asked about TSA issues. Frankly, there were none. Other than the confusion which is the hallmark of the Honolulu/Alaska Airlines location, it went smoothly and without any privacy invasion or inappropriate touching.

The confusion? Those departing on Alaska Airlines for the mainland must put their checked baggage through a produce sniffer operated by the USDA. Having done that, you must take your bags and then walk in a 360-degree roundabout back past the sniffer, through the line you were just standing in, and get in another line to check your bags. Then you walk another 1/8 mile (literally) to get in the TSA line where you wait for 10 to 15 minutes to pass through security.

The best news is that Honolulu has the newest body scanners, which display only a Gumby-shaped body outline only that highlights any area on the person which might need closer inspection. I watched it to make sure, from the TSA side, as both my wife & daughter were waved through it. I had to pass through only a metal detector - which I promptly set off, as I'd forgotten to remove my wristwatch.