Jax Stumpes: Hawai'i - Honolulu Zoo (12/23-24/2011)

Friday, December 23, 2011
It seemed like a good plan. Meet somewhere halfway between Shanghai and St Paul, Minnesota for Christmas. From Shanghai, we left at 6:00 PM on Friday, flew 9 hours and arrived in Honolulu, Hawai'i at 9:00 AM the same day. The net result was that our Friday was 42 hours long!
We picked up the car rental, picked up our Waikiki Trolley passes and the zoo and aquarium tickets, and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe Honolulu, with its wave of guitars on the ceiling:

A wave of "flair"/Hard Rock Cafe lapel pins:

We had a coupon for a free gift - a pair of Hard Rock Cafe luggage tags.
Checked into the Ohana Waikiki West Hotel.

Meanwhile, Brynne left Minneapolis at 1:20 PM on Friday, flew and stopped over 11 hours, and arrived in Honolulu at 8:15 PM. We drove to the airport to pick her up, but got lost trying to find the correct terminal, to find parking, to find a place to get a drink... Gosh, we weren't even in China anymore, and we were still wandering around.
The main lobby of the Honolulu Airport has a 3/4 scale 1931 Boeing USN F4B-4 plane (same as the Army P-12 model):

The airport is mostly open to the weather, meaning no solid walls.
It was raining as we looked for a place to have dinner this late in the day. There was a private party at Nico's at Pier 38 and Uncle's was about to close. Ended up at Murphy's Bar & Grill for Irish grub. This downtown pub is located in an historic 19th-century saloon where King Kalakaua himself was known to bend an elbow.
After dinner we drove up King Street past the Honolulu City Lights holiday display. Just looked from the car as it was raining.

Saturday, December 24, 2011
Started with breakfast at Keoni by Keo's with a coupon for the breakfast special.

The restaurant was open to the street, and these little birds that looked like baby mourning doves were pecking all around our feet. Turns out they are full-sized Zebra Doves.

We walked over to Kalakaua Avenue to catch the Waikiki Trolley to the Honolulu Zoo. We were at Waikiki Beach:

There was a fenced-off area with a sign "The Stones of Life:"

Legend says the stones are the living legacy of four Tahitian healers who resided here for many years, administering their miraculous cures. When it was time for them to return to Tahiti, they asked that four stones be brought. The healers gave their names and powers to the stones before leaving. Two of the stones are here, plus an altar:

Also near the trolley stop was the statue of Duke Kahanamoku:

Duke Kahanamoku (1890-1968) was a multi-talented man who is best known for spreading the sport of surfing. He was a 5-time Olympic medalist in swimming. Although from prominent Hawaiian families, his name is a given name, and not a royal title.
The Waikiki Trolley took us the short distance to the zoo, and at this stop was a statue of a short board surfer:

Behind the statue were banyan trees (Ficus microcarpus?) with "aerial roots:"

We first went behind the zoo on Montsarrat Avenue, to see the weekend display of "Art on the Zoo Fence:"

Local artists set up their wares on the very uninteresting fence.

The Honolulu Zoo, located in Queen Kapi'olani Park, is the only zoo in the U.S. to be established by grants from a sovereign monarch. In 1916, the zoo became official with the purchase of an elephant.
Eeek! A snake!