A Sad Aloha, Then A Happy One

​​                          Books by Patti Liszkay available on Amazon:   
     "Equal And Opposite Reactions"      http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
     "Hail Mary"                                           https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
     "Tropical Depression"                        https://www.amzn.com/B0BTPN7NYY

​A Sad Aloha, Then A Happy One

...Continued from yesterday:
     On our last day in Honolulu, while we were having breakfast at the Hale Koa, 

...one of our regular servers, a friendly guy who had been working at the hotel restaurant for all the years that we'd been coming there and who knew how much we loved Hawaii, gave us a box of cookies so that we could bring a little bit of Hawaii home with us.

       A few days earlier another of our regular servers had given us this bag of coffee.

       Tom had told her that the coffee at the Hale Koa was the best he ever had, so she went out to Costco and bought him a 24-oz. bag of the brand they serve at the hotel. She wouldn't allow us to pay her for the coffee, insisting that it was a gift. 
         As we were leaving the restaurant several of the servers stopped to hug us and told us to come back again next year. Lord willing we will.
       We spent our last day and evening strolling around Waikiki and the Hale Koa grounds while I, as usual, captured more images of all the places and things I wanted to remember.
​                                            The view from our hotel room.

                                                       
​  The Hale Koa courtyard

​The Hale Koa botanical garden

​ A view on the way to downtown Waikiki

​The Bank of Hawaii building

                                                     
​Downtown Waikiki

                                   
​                                      Hula Dancers at the Royal Hawaiian Center (see post from 5/1/2025, https://www.ailanthwww.ailantha.com/blog/in-search-of-hula-part-2a.com/blog/in-search-of-hula-part-2)

The Hale Koa courtyard at night​

       The next morning, Wednesday, April 23, in the wee hours, we were back in the lobby saying our final aloha to the Hale Koa,

...and soon after we were at the Honolulu airport.

       Sadly, we had to say aloha to  Hawaii. 
     But happily, six hours over the ocean after we left Hawaii we were saying aloha to Los Angeles, where we spent several days in the South Bay area, which I like to call "Hawaii Lite."

      There we spent several days trekking up and down the hills,

...enjoying the flora and the architecture along the way.

      A couple of  times we ate at our favorite Hermosa Beach restaurant, Scotty's.

       I also spent considerable time at Ralph's,

...buying provisions to make some dishes for our kind L.A. hosts.

        Wherever you are, it always feels good to share the aloha.