"TheNewsGuy(Mike)" wrote:
>Caveat wrote:
>> ...People who don't mind artificiality love Waikiki.
>
>Well, in January, compared to Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, Winnipeg, etc.
>I will take "artificial" any day.
That's coming from artificial and then going to artificial, isn't it?
I prefer really natural (not to mention uncrowded, inexpensive, etc.).
But diff'rent strokes... Las Vegas still draws the crowds. Now if you
are only talking about a nice weather spot to go to in mid-winter,
that offers a multitude of tourist offerings, by all means be my
guest. But I can do without that multitude of tourist offerings.
>Last year we spent three days in Waikiki ...
A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there (again). Back
then I used it as a base to work and make money between trips to the
other islands. Worked just fine for that, but I was happy to leave it.
>To be able to walk
>half a block from our hotel and be on the beach and swim lengths at 7 am
>before breakfast, watch a sunset on the beach in the evening and still
>do all the things available on Oahu during the day I think Waikiki is
>pretty damn good.
Yep, but my point is that there are dozens of places in Hawaii that
have the good things, but none of the big city horrors of Honoruru.
>I would not make it my total destination in Hawaii
>but as a stopover for a few days, with many reasonably priced hotels, it
>is a great vacation spot.
The airport serves well as a stopover to other islands, or places
beyond we go to, like Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea, Rarotonga, Bali, etc.
>And how "artificial" are the resorts and condos on Maui and Hawai'i,
>built on landfill over the barren lava fields. Beautiful but still
>"artificial".
Agree. That's why I avoid Kaanapali, Kailua-Kona, and the other new,
big resort centers. It's just my opinion, of course, but I think Joni
Mitchell got it right when she described a growing Waikiki:
"They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot"
But, hey, I encourage everyone to go to Waikiki, and stay there. That
way the better places my wife and I go to don't get too overcrowded.
Enjoy,
Caveat
"Visitors to Hawaii topped 7 million for the first time last year,
and the tourism industry is talking about making the islands a little
more exclusive."
------------ CNN
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