On our last full day we took a scenic drive to the western side of the island.  We stopped to take pictures of the scenery and at one beach we found a seal lounging.  My husband took a picture and it turns out that he had a fish hook in his mouth.  A person saw it on his facebook page and found the seal to remove it!  Amazing!

The traffic in Oahu is unreal.  There were back ups on the highways always, but also in small towns where there were a lot of lights.  It took a lot longer to get places than we thought it would considering the distance. 

We parked in a parking garage to visit the Iolani Palace.  There are parking spaces in front of it, but there are not many and we didn’t want to chance it.  When we arrived there was a band playing right outside. We found out later that it plays there every Friday.  It cost $52 for the both of us to tour the palace.  We paid online, but picked up our tickets in the building with the gift shop.  They have restrooms, but you have to ask for the code. 

At the palace, we were asked to put booties on our shoes and she made sure we didn’t have any food or drink or backpacks.  She gave us an audioguide and explained how to use it.  We started the tour in the main hall. 

I love listening to the history of different countries.  However, it is difficult for me to keep names straight, especially if they are very similar.  Sadly for me, all the kings pretty much have the same sounding name.  So it was hard to keep straight who did what.  The only thing I didn’t love about the audio guide was the addition of songs.  I understood that one of the kings composed music and it was important to the history, but I didn’t need to hear such long examples of so many songs!  (Although maybe I was just frustrated not knowing who was who!)

The dining room was interesting because the king put his chair in the middle so he could talk to all his guests.  (You always see king’s chair at the end of the table in other palaces.) 

The throne room was impressive.  I loved the cape on display and all around the room were coats of arms of different countries. 

The king’s room was very blue.  In the picture of his actual room there are a ton of personal pictures, but they were scattered and unable to be displayed here.  It seemed a lot more homey with the pictures. 

The sitting room also doubled as a music room for the king that loved to compose.  There is sheet music on the couch that was written by him or his wife, I can’t remember which. 

The queen’s room appeared very comfortable.  I loved the peacock dress on display (especially after reading that birds were not killed to make their feather displays or gowns). 

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for some shave ice at a corner store.  I don’t think she sees too many tourists. The ice was delicious! 

I don’t have any pictures of the Hawaii Military museum that we visited the next morning. We walked there from our hotel on Waikiki Beach.  It only took about 15 minutes.  The museum is housed in the old barracks, so it is very different atmosphere.  It’s free and very well kept.  I learned a lot when I was there.  I highly recommend it. 

I’m not sure if I recommend staying on Waikiki Beach.  The parking garage was not fun and it was very busy.  We only spent time on the beach to watch the sunset, but I did love watching people on the water from my hotel balcony.  It was very easy to walk to shopping and to places to eat.  I guess the parking, traffic, and million people were the only downsides to staying there.  It all depends on what you are looking to do.  The beach was literally across the street, so if that is your goal, definitely stay there!