I was in Waikiki in late January, sent you an e-mail... either you didn't want to meet a curmudgeon or a spam filter knocked out the e-mail along the way. ;) FWIW I hadn't been back since the Ilikai was the Hawaii-50 hotel and *the* place to stay. Thing are a bit different now! The Pink Palace is still there though it has a monstrous Sheraton looming over it and there are tourist hotels and apartments extending blocks back from the beach.

>>That's one of the things I sure miss over here...real BBQ

We thought the food was great- I take your point about BBQ but the fish is as good as you'll see anywhere. Also we noticed that there seems to be an ABC store on every corner but not so many supermarkets- though we did locate the big Food Pantry and Safeway. We also spent time across the other side at Kailua which is less crowded and really very nice.

Interesting part of the world you choose to live in! Next week I expect to be in another interesting location that will be overrun with tens of thousands of healthcare executives- almost as many as there are grockles on Waikiki beach. ;-)