I left several things out of my original trip report, I did some editing.
so
4/4: Up at 1:30 AM (9:30 PM the previous night Honolulu time) to get ready for our ride to the aiport. 6:00 AM flight out of Denver connecting in San Francisco. Arrived in Honolulu at 11:00 AM. Picked up rental from Budget (no problems at all with our Hotwire rental). Grocery shopping at Pearl Harbor and off to our VRBO rental in Haleiwa. This is our tenth trip to Oahu, so we are doing a lot of loafing this trip. The house we rented was nicer than the pictures on the web site (http://www.vrbo.com/24273). As usual, dinner was a rotisserie chicken and a salad on the lanai. Perfect end to a long travel day.

4/5: Hit the local farmers market for some fruit and veggies. Drove to Honolulu to visit a craft fair, but it was a bust. Lunch at La Mariana Sailing Club - very good mai-tai's and good food. Dinner was left over rotisserie chicken and salad.

4/6: Cloudy weather. Lunch was a terrific New York style pizza from Spaghettini's in Haleiwa. Our host invited us to a ccokout on the beach where we watched the surfers.

4/7: Cloudy weather again. Breakfast was a huge meal at Haliewa Eats. Then we cruised the shops in Haleiwa and had lunch at Jameson's by the Sea. My wife a grilled crab and ship sandwich and I had a great shrimp and crab Louis salad with terrific house thousand island dressing. After the big lunch, only had a salad for dinner.

4/8: Cruised the North Shore to Laie. At Laie, we went out to the point to enjoy the scenery and saw several pods of whales. On the way to Laie, stopped at several of the surfing beaches to enjoy watching the waves. Stopped at Turtle Bay Resort for lunch, but nothing interested, so we ate at Haleiwa Joe's in Haleiwa. Less expensive than Jameson's but not as good.

4/9: Rain...rain...rain. Drove to Honolulu for the Stadium swap meet, but too much rain. Had lunch at Willows. Popular, old buffet restaurant. Food was good, but the shrimp curry and fried haupia were outstanding.

4/10: Another cloudy, rainy day. Just loafed around the house. Went to Ted's Bakery and picked two huge pieces of pineapple macadamia nut cheesecake. Very good and big enough for after dinner snack for two nights. Dinner at Breakers in Haleiwa. I had aterrif sesame seed coated piece of ahi. My wife had a puu-puu platter with two crab cakes, four prawns and four spring rolls. Once again, too much good food.

4/11: Cloudy and rainy again. Haven't seen this much bad weather in Hawaii since out trip to Kau'ai a few years ago. Drove to Honolulu to have lunch with a firend. Ate at a terrific little Korean restaurant in Aiea called Young's Kalbee.

4/12: Checked out of the rental and moved into the Hilton Hawaiian Village (HHV) in Waikiki. While waiting for room, had lunch CJ's Deli. Alaways a good choice. Dinner was a pizza from Round Table Pizza.

4/13: The sun has finally returned. Back to the Stadium Swap Meet. Great place to pick up souveniers and gifts. Lunch at La Mariana. Dinner at Duke's. Great salad bar and terrific mahi-mahi at Duke's.

4/14: Did something different for lunch. Went to the afternoon tea on the Banyan Terrace at the Moana Surfrider. Pricey but very good. After the late lunch, we just had sandwiches at the Taba Bar at HHV.

4/15: Started the day with the Hummer Tours of movie and TV locations. Great guide who concentrated on "Lost" filming locations in and around Honolulu. The tour was a lot of fun and I would recommend it to "Lost" fans. Lunch at Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch and Crabb. So-so Shrimp and Crab Louis Salad, but terrific microbrews. Dinner at The Chef's Table. It's the last remaining German restaurant in the islands. Terrific schnitzels.

4/16: Breakfast was malasadas from Leonard's then some light shopping. Lunch was sandwiches at Big Kahuna Pizza near the airport. Great kahlua pork and barbecued brisket. Got in some pool time and then dinner at Matteo's. Very good New York style Italian restaurant. Fabulous Ceasar's salad prepared at the table.

4/17: Breakfast at Koko's in the Hale Koa. Cloudy, but dry weather. Drove to Waimanalo. Enjoyed the scenery at Makapu'u, and the beaches along the way. Dinner was our splurge night at John Dominis. Great views and terrific food. My wife had the baked prawns (six split prawns eachthe size of her palm) and I had the special which was a filet mignon, a piece of mahi-mahi and two crab-stuffed prawns.

4/18: Last minute shopping then lunch at Asia Manoa. Best Chinese food we have ever had. Dinner at La Mariana. My wife had the prime rib and I had the seafood brochettes (two skewers with shrimp, mahi-mahi, scallops, and vegetablee). Delicious food and good prices. For those who saw Anthony Bourdains visit to La Mariana on the Travel Channel, a lot of the show was phony. Our waitress told that business picked up a lot, but everyone is asking for drinks in the Tiki mugs. She said La Mariana doesn't have Tiki mugs. The show provided the mugs for the filming.

4/19: Early flight out of Honolulu, connecting in san Fran and back to Denver that night.

Best Thingz:

Best Mai-Tai: Toss-up between HHV and Hale Koa beach bar. Duke's and La Mariana close second.

Best Seafood: Duke's

Best Value: Shopping at the stadium swap meet.

Best Chinese food: Asia Manoa

Best Tour: "Lost" Hummer Tour

Best high-priced restaurant: John Dominis

Best pizza: Spaghettini's in Haleiwa

Best shaved ice: Aoki's in Haleiwa; better than Matsumoto's and no waiting in line.

Best salad bar: Duke's

Best Tacky Tourist spot: La Mariana Sailing Club

Best Malasadas: Leonard's

Best Dessert: Ted's Bakery

Thanks for posting the trip report. I'm filing away certain parts of it for my first trip to Honolulu later this year. I have two questions for you. What is the Stadium Swap Meet? And what are the malasadas that you had for breakfast? I'm afraid I'm not familiar with them.

Thanks!

ejcrowe: The Stadium Swap Meet is a huge flea market at the Aloha Stadium. It is open on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Admission is $1 per person. There are hundreds of vendors selling everything from jewelery to clothing to crafts to luggage. Prices are usually 1/4 of what you will pay in regular stores (including ABC and Hilo Hatties), and prices can be haggled.

Malasadas are a doughnut brought to the islands by the Portuguese. Kind of like a Bismarck. They are a warm doughnut rolled in sugar and either served plain or filled. They are best when eaten while still warm. Leonard's makes them after you order and they cost about $5 a dozen. Many bakeries make them, but I think Leonard's is the best.

Enjoyed your trip report very much.
My sister and I stayed in Punaluu in March and really enjoyed the North Shore. We were luckier than you with the weather. Your Haleiwa rental is lovely! Were there any safe swimming beaches nearby?

Thanks for the answers, elkhound. Malasadas sound just yummy, so I'll have to be sure to sample them when I'm there.

Thanks for the great trip report. My husband and I are planning ongoing in March 2009. I am concerned about the weather. It seems like it rains a lot in Hawaii. We don't want to go when it is rainy. This will be our 25th wedding anniversary. Do you have any suggestions for an area that's not very rainy that time of the year? Thanks

Does the "Lost" tour mean the old T.V. shoe, "Land of the Lost?"

Barbara5353: There were two nice beach parks in Haleiwa and quite a few more heading east toward Turtle Bay.

Haney20: This was our tenth trip to Hawaii since 2002. All have been in either March, April, or October. The only trip that had heavy rain every day was an April trip to Kau'ai in 2004, but you expect that since Kau'ai is one of the rainiest places in the world. The rain this trip was not bothersome. I just didn't appreciate all of the cloudy days. In any case, I'd rather spend a rainy day in paradise, than a cold, snowy day back home in Denver.

meta90paul: No, the tour was for the current "Lost" TV series.

I love Young's Kalbi - we get take out from them every couple of weeks or so.

Liked your trip report, glad to see some reviews of some not so well known restaurants.

Hi Chepar,
Where is Young's Kalbi? Thanks.

I just looked up the address, because I know where it is, but not the name of the strip mall it's in.

Apparently, they do spell it "Kalbee", rather than "Kalbi". That's a bit unusual.

Anyway, the address in the phone book for Young's is Aiea Town Square, Unit A2.

Since that's not very helpful if you don't live here, it's in the strip mall across from the Aiea Shopping Center (99-115 Aiea Heights Drive).

Thanks elkhound. I will keep that in mind. I didn't know it was one of the rainiest paces in the world. Is there an island that is not so rainy? Oahu (Waikiki)???

Haney20: I wouldn't restrict travel plans to the islands based on rainy weather. You can't plan on Mother Nature. Generally the windward side of each island is wetter than the leeward side, but almost all of the islands get some rain every day. You just don't know what the weather will be when you make your travel plans. A good example was our trip in 2006. That year, all of the islands got pounded with heavy rain almost every day in February and March. We were very worried about our April trip to the Big Island and Waikiki that year, but decided we weren't cancelling. The rains stopped two days before we left Denver, and I don't think there was any rain at all during our entire trip.

Thanks,elkhound,you're right the weather is hard to predict. I guess I just want to try to pick the place that is most likely to be fairly dry.