Hawaii

[jducoeur]

[Kate has given me permission to repost her diary notes from our recent vacation here, since she is good about taking detailed notes and I am... not. The following is mostly hers, plus a bit of formatting and relevant links; my additions are in italicized square brackets, like this. Also, note that I am linking to photos, as appropriate.]

So we're back from vacation, which was lovely. The short version is Hawaii is gorgeous, but Waikiki is now just a shopping mall and we like the Big Island much better, especially the Volcano Nat'l Park. And American is a terrible airline.

For the long version, including all 3 locations we stayed in Hawaii plus Disneyland and all of my reading/watching,

Oahu

Day 1 (travel) - Up at a very early hour to get to Logan for our 8am flight to LA. The flight was pretty empty, being early in the day on Saturday, which is probably why I was able to get a pretty good price on first class (which on American is more like business). The extra room and service were well worth it on our 2 5+ hour flights, although domestic flights do not get use of the lounge at LAX. Altogether it made for a long day of traveling but not terrible.

It was raining in Honolulu when we arrived, but taxi to the outrigger Waikiki was smooth. When I was last here, Waikiki was very touristy, but still had Hawaiian flavor. Now it's a big luxury mall with a bunch of hotels. Which means almost all of the hotels have shops on the first two floors and don't feel very comfortable. We checked in and then wandered off to explore, but the rain, dark and tired (midnight Boston time) meant we didn't see much. Found a mall with a restaurant floor and settled in there for some sushi. Then back to the hotel via a convenience store for food/drinks in the room with a little tablet time and then early bed.

Day 2 - Got up at a reasonable 8am after some serious cuddles. Finished unpacking and then headed downstairs to ask about visiting Diamondhead. That done, realized we had an hour before the trolley and hit Starbucks for breakfast. Trolley to Diamondhead was amusing, but we didn't get there until 11:30, and it was already pretty hot. We started up the trail, and luckily there was more breeze as we got higher. My asthma didn't deal with thinner humid air too well, so I stopped just shy of the top, but J went all the way up. [The view from the top.] Going down was easier, but when we hit the bottom we realized we had just missed our trolley, so we got smoothie/shaved ice (J/me) and sat and looked at wildlife (lots of birds, a weasel of some sort, and some cats) and then finally got the trolley back to the hotel. There we went to the room briefly before settling in at the bar (dukes) for appetizers for lunch.

After our very late lunch, we rested a bit more in the room and then went for a sunset stroll on the beach, which was nice but j should have worn his swimsuit. After showering and changing, we wandered to the western part of Waikiki with Roy's as our destination. We'd been told it was one of the best restaurants on Waikiki, and it was unlikely but not impossible that we would get in for dinner. Luck was with us, and we got seated immediately and we're glad we went. After a large dinner, we headed back to the room for a little mellow time and then bed.

Day 3 - On Monday we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center, which is a "cultural theme park" run by the Mormons. Generally, this was worth a visit if it sounds at all interesting to you, as it was generally well done. We bought the Alii Luau package, and it was not clear (and I'm not sure we would have been able to find the information without calling) that that meant dinner was at 4pm. Other things I wish I had known when purchasing tickets is that the site is really set up for tour groups (get a guide through PCC as a different package), and doing it on your own is fine but you probably need to be more extroverted than I was feeling. You also won't find a unified schedule anywhere, but have to work it out from various sources. Most of the workers are students from the islands there to attend BYU's satellite campus (they pay for their bachelors through their work), and they were very friendly and enthusiastic.

Our day started with another attempt to figure out volcano tours (unsuccessfully, apparently the girl we spoke to Sunday is an anomaly in knowing what she's doing with volcano tours). We then grabbed Starbucks and headed to the bus pickup point. The bus was late, and then waited for people who were even later, but we got on our way to the park around 11. There was a 3rd company running the escort on the bus (not the bus/driver, just the guides) who were both from Fiji. One of them kept up a patter about the islands and some of the things we could see from the bus, which was generally amusing. The other was helping upgrade tickets and get us set up. We arrived around noon, and got our tickets, thus figuring out our 4pm dinner time. Regardless, we were pretty hungry by that point, and visited one of the lunch trucks set up in the marketplace outside the gate. We got the spicy creamy poke (less creamy more spicy which was awesome), and the pan fried fish with rice, macaroni salad, and a salsa that was very tasty (lunch truck meals in Hawaii apparently normally come with white rice and macaroni salad). The meal was quite good (the best casual meal we had in HI), and then we headed into the park.

We started with a canoe ride to the other end of the park, and then worked our way through Hawaii, Tahiti, and Fiji, viewing a couple of performances but mostly looking at buildings and reading note signs. We then settled in for the Canoe Pageant, which was quite entertaining (see J's instagram for pics [Here, although I have more I might upload]). Afterwards, we looked at Tonga, Aotearoa (NZ), and Samoa, before heading to our Luau. As befits the Mormons, the luau was incredibly Americanized food, but the performance was fine. Afterwards, we looked at Samoa a bit more before catching the drum class in Tonga and then the Hawaii Adventure movie. Then it was show time for Ha: The Breath of Life, which is the main dance show at the park. Overall, the park and show featured drumming, dancing, and music much more than other arts or talk about culture or lifestyle. If you're interested in music/dance, the park is probably more worth it than if not.

After the show, we hopped back on a bus for the 1hr trip back to Waikiki, and then to our hotel room to mellow and then sleep.

Day 4 - Tuesday we needed to take things a little easier, so we slept in, did some computer stuff, got lunch, and then headed into Honolulu. The computer stuff was mostly to see if we could figure out a tour at the volcano park where the hotel desk could not. We did, I hope, figure it out (see day 10), and we wandered to one of the malls on Waikiki for Asian food court.

We then took the trolley to Iolani Palace, which was a 19th century small palace with a Hawaiian flair. But given it was built in the 1870s and the royals were overthrown in the 1890s, it wasn't super interesting (although the dresses were fabulous- see Js pictures)

We returned to the hotel and sat on the lanai, something we hadn't done enough. When we got hungry we headed out, and realized that Halloween is a big deal on Waikiki. We pushed our way through the crowds to get across the street to Baku from night 1. ["Pushed through crowds" is an understatment. By the time we got out of dinner, the street outside was a literal solid mass of costumed humanity: it took a couple of minutes just to cross a 15-foot sidewalk to the street. Downright unpleasantly claustrophobic.]

Reviews

Outrigger Waikiki - this is the Outrigger right next to the Moana Surfrider on the beach. We had an ocean view room, which is on the side of the tower but with full visibility to the beach. From our lanai (just big enough for 2 chairs and a small table), we had a great view of the surfers and some of the activity on the beach, but not the sunset. The room itself was quite large, with a king bed, and then a sofa and desk on opposite walls closer to the lanai. The bathroom was pretty good (but could use more lighting and shelving in the shower).

Baku (dinner day 1 & 4) - we stumbled across this place (which according to the bartender had only opened a few weeks prior) and sat at the bar for dinner. We tried the kampachi appetizer (excellent preparation), scallop sashimi, ahi nigiri, and a spicy tuna roll that was excellent and different than the spicy tuna preparations we see on the east coast. For our last dinner in Waikiki, we had shishito peppers (which were super spicy [as in, I had to pause in the middle of the app because I was in major pain]), the mushroom rice pot (good but not exciting enough to finish with just 2 of us [note that Kate doesn't really do mushrooms; I ate more than half, but it's big]), the seared scallops with foie grass and miso bacon (had a lot of foie, which needed a bit more sear), the pork belly and chicken thigh skewers, and the tuna roll again. It was too much food but tasty.

Dukes - we sat in the bar, which anytime we were there or near was jammed and noisy. We ordered nachos to start figuring we were ravenous and the nachos were large and tasty, although not uncommonly so. J got a local beer flight [Kona Brewing Co -- solidly good local lineup] and I had a virgin pina colada with strawberry which was sweet. We weren't as hungry as expected after the nachos so just ordered the poke appetizer to finish, which was very good. If the bar is uncrowded at a convenient time we might go again for apps and drinks , but not otherwise.

Roy's - this place is much bigger than it looks, and is a weird mix of patrons, and the menu reflects that. My speculation is that everyone is told that this is the best restaurant, but that means different things to different people. So while we had some lovely innovative fish dishes, there were also takes on standard American Chinese fare, and price fixed menus that weren't too challenging.

We started with the ahi lox and black garlic cream cheese (J) and the Caesar salad with tuna tartar. J liked his starter and called it innovative, I really enjoyed my salad (although it was whole romaine leaves which made it more difficult to eat) and the tuna was good, although somewhat separate. J had been smart and ordered his blackened ahi with 2 sauces (wasabi and mustard) as a half portion, and the dish was solid and not tiny. I ordered my butterfish as a full portion, which was bad in that I was too full, but good in that the dish was a winner. The butterfish was glazed in what seemed to be a sweet soy, but was great on its own. Add the wasabi sauce, spiced puréed carrots or black rice, and it was divine.

Kona

Day 5 - we got up a little early to catch the shuttle to the airport for our flight to Kona. Everything went smoothly, so we had time to kill before check in at our condo. So we hit the shops (Costco for wine/beer [My lesson -- when you say, "hey, the local brewery is good, and this is a great price for a case", think first about how many more days you are going to be there. I wound up giving most of the case to our Volcano tour guide as a tip.], a few grocery stores finally buying breakfast foods at Safeway) and lunch out of the way before check in. The condo is very large, so much so that we shut the door of the 2nd bedroom to save on AC. However the kitchen is small, showing that this is intended to be rental.

After exploring the complex a bit and finally figuring out the wifi password, we wandered out to see what we could find for dinner. While we saw many contenders, we ended up at Fosters bistro, for a lovely dinner of cocktails/wine, pizza and pasta.

Day 6 (Thurs) - this was set out to be a relax day, and that was mostly what we got. We lazed around for the early morning, and then headed to the pool around 10 for a "frolic" before heading back inside to shower and dress for the day. J wanted cold brew coffee, so we then wandered into Kona to see it in daylight. We spent longer than we planned, mostly because we got caught up shopping (Xmas presents for family mostly). By the time we got back to the condo, it was nearly 2, so we ate a late lunch on the lanai (sandwich for me, bagel for J, macadamia pesto pasta salad for both). J wandered out to buy a few things we'd realized we needed, so I settled into stitch a bit. At 5, we wandered back to Kona and settled into Daylight Mind (cafe) for a drink and appetizer while we watched the sun set over the Pacific and the waves breaking on the rocks. Neither of us really wanted to eat a full dinner that early, so we wandered a bit more, and ended up picking up sushi at Shimaichi Sushi (note: sushi is the only food cheaper on Hawaii than home) to bring back to the condo where we watched Nightmare Before Xmas and ate sushi :)

Day 7 (Fri) - this was our exploration day for Big Island, which isn't nearly enough so we decided to focus on the Northwest quadrant. However, when we headed to the car at 11, we determined that the battery in our keyfob was dying (a serious problem in new cars), and we had to head back to the rental agency at the airport for a fix or replacement. Not the way we intended to start the day, but oh well. From there we drove to Waimea, which is up in the highlands of Kohala mountain and is cattle country. We stopped for lunch at Village Burger, which served local beef patties with assorted toppings, good fries with excellent sauces, and decent shakes. We then headed north to Hawi, following a fascinating highway down the mountain with views of the clouds from up close (we hit 3500ft), the ocean, and cattle/horse ranches. In Hawi, we wandered through arts and antique shops before continuing back southwest along the coast, stopping at a few national parks. We made our last scenic stop at the Kohala resorts, wandering around an old fishing pond (as in old Hawaiian from the 18th/19th century) which is in front of the Outrigger resort, and behind the beach. From there back to the condo by way of Costco for more gas.

Day 8 (Sat) - this day was unscheduled, and that proved fortuitous as J wasn't doing all that well. [In retrospect, this was probably a combination of the loud A/C in the condo, and too much coffee; I was exhausted and nauseous.] We had a lazy morning, I went for a swim, and then we had lunch. After lunch we went to the Kona Coffee Festival, viewing art and sampling coffee and other Hawaiian goods. We ran into a mother/daughter pair who asked about J's Pennsic shirt, and turned out to be Edward's family. It was raining fairly steadily and everyone was packing up, so we headed back. J hadn't been able to sample much cold brew, so we headed out for a walk and wandered more than a mile down the waterfront. Then my feet hurt, so we wandered back, making reservations for dinner later. J was now out of cope, so settled on the lanai with his computer while I packed and then read. For dinner we went to Huggos, where j could only face the sashimi, while I tried a pair of apps.

Day 9 (Sun) - this was our day to move ourselves from Kona to Volcano. We packed out of the condo (with a small delay due to a bottle of wine getting overturned and spilling on the fridge and floor), and then had the brainwave that we could probably leave our car and walk into Kona for lunch. So we had a lovely hike in the sun along the waterfront, bought a few more things (mostly consumables as we'd been warned to buy most things before we got to Volcano which had few shops), and then had lunch at Fosters.

Reviews

Condo (VRBO) in Kona Pacific condo complex - this was definitely set up as a rental, and felt like it, being somewhat impersonal with a lot of bathrooms (2 bed, 3 full bath) and not much kitchen. The lanai was spacious, but we ended up not using much of it as the in wall A/C left puddles on the lanai that could get pretty large. Basically, it was fine. The complex was OK, with a small-ish pool and decent landscaping and parking. [I particularly noticed that the complex didn't seem very family-friendly. The pool was loaded with rules that boiled down to "no loud fun", and there was a distinct absence of kids visible.]

Foster's Kitchen - this place was generally laid back, with a great view of the crashing surf from the tables at the edge (see my instagram from Sunday lunch). [My version of that shot.] The wine list was mediocre and pricey, but J loved his cocktails, and the limeade was excellent. The food was also uniformly excellent examples of what was being produced, with some items being more innovative than others. The first night we had the chicken and pasta with pesto cream sauce and "meat lovers" pizza (a classic combo of sausage, pepperoni, peppers, onion, garlic and mushroom). The second lunch we had the grilled calamari app (J) and the chicken caesar salad stackers (me) which were tasty but messy. Then we split the same pizza from before. [The pizza is thick-crust, almost a thin foccacia, but fabulous -- and mind, I don't like thick-crust pizza.]

Daylight Mind Cafe & Restaurant - The drinks here were pretty good, but not astounding, and we tried the charcuterie plate which had the coffee rubbed short ribs (very coffee flavored), cheeses, and a bit of fruit. It was fine but didn't blow me away. The bakery sold us some excellent mac nut coffee cake, a decent but dry carrot cake, a pretty tasty cheese & herb scone, a good espresso cinnamon roll, and a tuxedo cake that J enjoyed a lot.

Shimaichi Sushi - the sushi was all classics, but often very cheap and the fish was very tasty. For example, I got the sashimi sampler, which was 2 slices each of ahi, salmon, hamachi, and kampachi for $15 and all the fish was excellent.

Village Burger - we tried the classic burger made with local beef (which was less fatty than normal) with different toppings, both of which were quite good (and mine was almost rare enough which made it quite messy). We also got the fries with both wasabi and sweet & spicy aioli (which were also good with the fries), and split a chocolate chocolate shake which was quite chocolaty.

Habaneros - this Mexican was the closest restaurant to us, and proved pretty tasty. We got the queso with poblanos, which was large, hot, and full of peppers, and excellent with the salsa; as well as the ceviche combo, with verde (with olives and tomatillos) and standard, which was an excellent healthier accompaniment. The margaritas were fine accompaniments, but nothing special.

Huggos - we never got to Huggos on the Rocks, which is also well reviewed, but did eat in the main restaurant. J tried the sashimi, which was good as usual in HI, and I had the nice bread with basil butter, local tomatoes and onions with mozzarella salad (which was perfectly balanced) and an appetizer portion of their baby back ribs which came with a creamy coconutty slaw that complemented the ribs well. The wine menu was fine, and J enjoyed his cocktail.

Volcano

After lunch we returned to the car and drove the highway to its southernmost point and then turned east. Shortly after the point is a turn-off to visit one of the larger black sand beaches on the island, so we went and looked. We didn't see any turtles, but the sand was definitely dark gray/black. We then continued onto Volcano Village, arriving in light rain which made visibility poor. For dinner we headed back into the village to Thai Thai, which is the most recommended restaurant in the area. Then back to the cottage where we mostly just hung out for the evening.

Day 10 (Mon) - this day was mostly dedicated to a 6 hour tour we had booked of the Volcano park. J needed to work in the morning, so we mostly just hung out until after lunch. We were picked up by Wild Orchid tours and taken to the park. There, we explored the visitor center and main crater(s), the Kilauea Iki crater (including a hike through the rainforest to the crater floor), looked at various types of lava, went to see the sea cliffs where lava last poured over 20 years ago, walked through a lava tube, and then visited the crater again in the dark to see it glowing as a hole into the hot center of the earth. It was an informative and very busy tour, but we didn't return to our cottage until after 8, and most of the village shuts down around 9. So we quickly drove back into the village to Cafe Ohelo for dinner, and felt lucky to be seated, but possibly that wasn't lucky. Our appetizer took over 30 minutes (and we were starving), then J's dinner was ok but mine was not very good (and the waitress never brought me back the menu to choose a glass of wine). After eating we spent another 10 mins trying to get a box and the check (we were now the only table left and were trying to clear it for them). Back to the cottage and then didn't get to bed until late as we hadn't finished dinner until 9:30.

Day 11 (Tues) - this was a quiet hang out day at the cottage that we much enjoyed. We did head back to the park for a set of hikes in the afternoon (enjoying excellent weather for a second day), parking at the foot of destruction trail and then doing three round trips to overlooks. First was destruction trail through a forest that had burned down when Kilauea Iki exploded and sent cinders into it, to a view of the Kilauea iki cone. Then we did a bit of crater road closed to cars to an overlook of another crater and a fissure that had erupted in 1974, spewing lava into the main caldera. Last we did Byron overlook trail, which didn't end in too great a view. So we went back to the main overlooks, and declared ourselves done. Back to the cottage to pack and then j picked up dinner from Thai Thai for dinner on the couch with a movie

Reviews

Cottage (VRBO) - Our cottage was gorgeous. A big 1 story square with lanai on the front and left sides, it has 2 bedrooms and a bathroom on the right side and back, and then a large living area and kitchen on the left (part of the lanai is glassed in to become a dining room). The place is appointed with art I would totally steal if I could, and feels like the type of place we like. It's a little chilly (being on a mountain), but a stove and dehumidifier plus some warm blankets on the beds kept us warm. [Until this point, it had never occurred to me that rainforest could be chilly, but yeah. Here's the view from our window -- nothing but rainforest -- but highs averaged only about 70.]

Wild Orchid tours - while talking to the desk in Waikiki about Volcano tours, most of them were coming up as costing ~$500 for the two of us. When I did my own research, I found this small company (mostly just the husband who does the tours and the wife who does the office), where for about $500, J and I could get a 6 hour private tour from our house of the park. This did not include seeing the lava, but we saw just about everything else. Lee (the husband) was garrulous and knowledgable, while Renata was competent and both were concerned we get the tour we wanted, even if it wasn't them. Not a cheap option compared to just planning your own itinerary, but we found it worth it.

Thai Thai - this was the most consistently recommended restaurant, and while casual and in a huge somewhat impersonal space, it is quite tasty. The first night we split drunken noodles with chicken and a slightly spicy red curry with fish over rice which was quite tasty (and warm for a rainy evening). The final night we picked up the poke (which was large), and another round of red curry, this time with pork.

Cafe Ohelo - this review is highly mixed. We got here as the last seated table (and less than an hour before closing), and our service was terrible. There was a mix-up with our appetizer, which took >30 minutes and held up the whole dinner (the app was comped), but that wasn't the only service problem. Otherwise, the menu is pretty interesting and the wine list is decent. We had an excellent cauliflower, parmesan, and mac nuts in a rich cream/butter sauce appetizer. Then J's dinner was ok (mac nut basil pesto pizza) that I then had the rest of the next day and enjoyed, but mine was not very good (the burger special of the day, where the burger was salted and not very good beef, the bbq sauce was fruity, and the cheese didn't blend with any of it). [My general sense is that we caught them at a bad time, with a bad waitress. But yeah -- the experience wasn't good.]

LA

Day 12 (Weds) - this was a travel day, starting with saying goodbye to the cottage and driving close to 3 hours back to the airport, making it there a little closer to flight time than we like. We grabbed a quick lunch, and then waited to board our plane which was slightly delayed. Then we flew to LAX, found our luggage and the super shuttle station and pretty quickly were in a van to Anaheim. We're in the Hilton at the convention center. By the time we were checked in it was 11 local time, so we headed to the bar for a light dinner of salad and an excellent short rib grilled cheese. And then bed

Day 13 (Thurs) - this was Disneyland! and DCA. [Disney California Adventure -- the other park in the complex.] We got up a little later than we wanted, but not too bad given the time change, and then headed to the lobby for tickets. We then took the relatively short (~4 blocks) walk to the entrance, did the security dance, and headed into Disneyland. From there, we headed to the Jolly Holiday bakery (decent but not exceptional) for breakfast, which we ate while walking to Pirates. J hadn't remembered how much better the CA version was, but was impressed. We then waited in line (~40 mins) for Haunted Mansion for the Nightmare before Xmas overlay, which was quite impressive. You could see the bones of the ride, but they had done a pretty good job retheming. We then stopped at the French Market for lunch (salad with potato, cheese and bacon in a mustard dressing for me, ok but not great, and jambalaya for J, fine). Then headed to DCA, where we checked on our dinner reservations, and then went to get fastpass for Midway Mania. From there, we mostly did a wander of the park, since J had never been there. We did ride Soarin (I preferred CA, esp in CA, but the new one was pretty good), Monsters Inc (should have been a doors ride, not a standard Disney story ride), and J did California Screaming. Then we did Midway Mania, which was excellent as usual, but my hands were not in good shape, so possibly a bad idea for me.

At that point, we were kinda done with DCA, but we still had 2 hours until our reservations. We checked out some of the other areas of DCA (Pacific Wharf, mainly), and did some shopping. Then we headed to Downtown Disney and did more shopping, and got bored of that and hit Jungle Cruise (which is a different ride in the dark). (We should have headed to Fantasyland and done some of those rides, given it was relatively uncrowded and getting late enough the stroller patrol was headed out of the park, ah well.) Eventually, we headed to Carthay Circle for our dinner. The restaurant was clearing out (7:40 reservation, 9pm park close and World of Color), and we were seated pretty quickly. [We wound up sitting next to this adorable pair of local 60-somethings, who apparently always do their Thursday date night at Disney, and who had finally lucked into an open table at Carthay Circle for the first time. He was a techie, about ten years ahead of me, so we managed to reminisce about 80s hardware and bore the ladies for a few minutes.] Instead of heading into the crowds to see the last bit of World of Color, we just headed out to our hotel.

Day 14 (Fri) - again we failed to get up early enough (this theme has stayed true through today, barring Sat), but we eventually dragged ourselves downstairs for Starbucks (gingerbread latte!). We then headed to the parks, starting with DCA to get a FastPass for Radiator Springs (we were there at 11:20am, and our fastpass was for 7:20pm). We then headed to Disneyland, and tried to get Indiana Jones FP (it was closed Thurs), but couldn't fastpass again until 1:20, so we just waited the 60 mins. The ride is still pretty good, and I really enjoy it (J was good but not great with it). Then we queued for Big Thunder, which is also a fave of mine. This having taken us 2+ hours for 2 rides, we made our way cross park to fastpass Matterhorn (5:20pm FP), and then back cross Fantasyland for Red Rose Tavern, where we had a better than expected poutine on waffle fries and grilled cauliflower sandwich with lime aioli. [My biggest surprise, the entire trip, was finding relatively sophisticated and well-made food in Fantasyland.] We then started working our way through smaller rides, riding Mr Toad (wow, that ride makes little sense even if you have read the books), Finding Nemo submarine (a good reworking of that ride, although you can see where the writers had to shoehorn existing features of the ride), Alice in Wonderland (with an excellent view of the last half of the Holiday parade from the queue), Snow White's Scary Adventures, and the Tiki room (with pre-show, all of which is a little weirder just having come from HI). We then finally were up to our Matterhorn time, which was not as good a ride as Everest in DW, and was a little painful. [They say it's a bobsled ride, but it isn't obvious how realistically they mean that, wedging you into tiny seats. The guy in front of me basically had to fold himself into a cube to fit.] We then needed a break and a snack, so we headed to Alfresco Tasting Terrace in DCA, a wine bar on the second floor over a restaurant that very few people seem to find. We had decent (but overpriced) wine flights and an ok flatbread, but it was in relative quiet, which made the price worth it. While we sat there we decided we were done with crowds and wouldn't stay for the fireworks. We then rode Radiator Springs, which J describes as a combo of the GE ride in Epcot and Mr Toad's Wild Ride with the addition of a story appropriate race at the end which is a lot of fun (I liked it). [As did I, but the comparison to Mr. Toad was inescapable.] We then had dinner at the hotel bar (continuing our theme of first and last meal in a location at the same place) of the short rib grilled cheese, and then headed to our room to chill. We had a 10th floor room with a "view" of the parks (we could see the backside of Tower of Terror and Screamin), but it did mean we could see the fireworks (although without the castle projections or music).

Day 15 (Sat) - J had checked us in for our flight and determined he could upgrade us for not too much money, so we did that. We Super Shuttled to LAX (still a cheap and convenient choice in SoCal), and then checked in for our flight, where I tried to figure out my Advantage problems, which they could not do. We went through security and then had lots of time so wandered around. We decided not to eat lunch since First normally has decent food, but we did buy a tasty looking cookie and brownie. We settled into our seats, and this was a different plane type than we'd seen the rest of the trip, without the individual screens (solved in first by handing out tablets). ["Solved", hmph.] We also learned that we should have been informed at check-in/gate that AA was not serving real food (I believe they lost their health certification or something similar). First did have tasty turkey roll-ups, chips/cookies, and unlimited beverages (I actually drank enough fluids, with 2 cans of seltzer plus 2 glasses of water; and a G&T). We got our luggage and came home to our house being in good shape (albeit with all the clocks wrong).

Reviews

Hilton Anaheim - this is the big Hilton at the convention center, and it was a big Hilton. The room was pretty spacious, although the bathroom was tiny. We were overlooking the pool, which was a decent view of a small pool and larger kid play area, and also gave us a view of the fireworks in Disneyland.

Mix (bar at Hilton Anaheim) - we had really good luck with this bar. The service was consistently good (amazingly so our first night very late), the wine list was pretty good and they made good standard cocktails, and the short rib grilled cheese was excellent (I liked it more than J, really enjoying the balance of cheese and slabs of meat plus caremellized onions); with good accompaniments (we tried caesar and house salads, plus sweet potato and normal fries).

Carthay Circle - this is the signature restaurant in DCA, a slightly less expensive sibling of Napa Rose in the Grand Californian. We found the service excellent and attentive, and the setting luxe but not stuffy. The wine list was pretty good (if heavy on CA chard), and J enjoyed his cocktails. On reviewing the menu, we decided we liked the appetizers better, so we started with the signature biscuits (really balls of cheese and bacon stuffed dough fried, very tasty), and then split sriracha duck wings (buffalo wings but better), roasted brussel sprouts with chorizo nuggets, and pulled pork crepe with pineapple salsa. It was all pretty tasty, and definitely enough food. Then, since it was my birthday, they treated us to an upside down apple cake with pomegranate seeds, which was pretty tasty too, but we were stuffed.