Iolani Palace revisited

I've had people ask me about what to do when they are in Hawaii. I last wrote about Iolani Palace in January of 2011. For me there was no question in my mind that this building in downtown Honolulu should be the first item that I would recommend to people. 

Iolani Palace was constructed starting on December 31, 1879 when the cornerstone was laid and had residents, King Kalakaua and Queen Kapiolani move into the palace in December 1882.  For a few short years, the palace was the heart of the Hawaiian monarchy until on January 17, 1893, Kalakaua's successor, Queen Liliuokalani, while at the end of a bayonet was pointed at her, was forced to sign over the powers of her constitutional monarchy rather than risk the lives of her people.

While being built, King Kalakaua had many technical marvels of the day incorporated into the structure.  Indoor plumbing, gas lights which were later replaced with electric bulbs and the recently invented telephone were amenities available to the King, Queen and their guests.  Many parties and celebrations were held on the palace grounds often lasting until the wee hours of the morning.

After the overthrow, the contents of the palace were thrown out, given away or sold.  The palace served many functions with the main function of acting as the government capital building until 1969 when the government moved into the new state capital building built just mauka  (towards the mountain) of the palace.  The Friends of Iolani Palace took over as care takers of the palace and palace grounds and have worked hard and diligently to restore the palace to its former glory.

Tours are available daily and throughout the year special events take place at the palace or own palace grounds.  As part of the guided tours the docents will lead you through the rooms of the first and second floor of the palace and then after you remove the protective booties you had put on before the tour began, you will be led to the basement galleries.  As of this writing, some of the crown jewels for the Kingdom of Hawaii are on display in the first floor throne room.  In the basement galleries are other royal jewelry pieces including the pin that Queen Liliuokalani wore to Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee made of diamonds studding a butterfly design whose wings would actually move and flap gently.  Royal Orders from King Kalakaua’s trip around the globe, the first royal monarch to ever do so, are displayed for visitors to examine.  The orders giving recognition that the Kingdom of Hawaii was truly something, signifying that the political leaders around the world were friends and friendly with the King and Queen of Hawaii.

 

For tour and special event information check out www.iolanipalace.org for specifics of hours and costs.  If you have a chance to visit the palace at the end of December in the evening, it is highly recommended by myself  The tour is set up to commemorate the birthday of Queen Kapiolani who was born on December 31, 1834. It’s very rare to be able to visit the palace at night with the interior lighting being used as well as people dressed in period costumes. With the environment set, you can really picture yourself and feel like you’ve been invited to a soiree given by Hawaiian Royalty.

Kamaaina Iolani Palace Tour

Hawaii has one of the most unique structures anywhere in the United States.  It resides at 364 South King Street in Downtown Honolulu.  It is Iolani Palace, the residence of the last ruling Kings and Queens of the Kingdom of Hawaii.  Thanks to The Friends of Iolani Palace, today you and me, a common person, can walk where royalty used to live. As a service to the community, usually the first Sunday of the month is considered Kamaaina Sunday when local residents and active military are offered tours of the residence at no charge.

I've taken advantage of Kamaaina Sunday on numerous occasions over the years that I have lived here.  People say to me, "You going on that thing again?"  I respond "Yeah!"  Each time I have taken the tour, it's a new experience.  I never come away from the tour empty handed.  I learn something, I notice something that I hadn't noticed before, I get to appreciate what gets passed by every day by thousands of people driving down King Street.

The first tours of the day start at 9am and I head down to arrive on the grounds about 8:30ish.  This usually gets me on one of, if not the first tour of the day.  I show my drivers license and am given a ticket that has a detailed and intricate design on it.  This is done at the Iolani Barracks which are to the left of the palace as you look at it from King Street.  As part of the barracks structure there is a room with a short film explaining some of the history of the palace, a restroom and locker location and the main gift shop.

The tour starts at the mauka or mountain side of the palace where we are greeted by the docents.  We are given special booties to place over our footwear which is necessary to help protect the floors which on the tour we find out is made of soft woods.  Most of the docents are women who are adorned in long flowing muu muus, the gentlemen in aloha shirts.  We are given the ground rules which include no cell phones, no gum, no candy, no liquids and no video or still photography.

To set the mood for the tour we're asked to step back in time to the late 1800's, 1882 to be exact, when the palace first opened and we've been invited to the palace for a royal dinner.  We're brought into the Grand Hall and shown the portraits of the Kings of Hawaii from Kamehameha the Great to Kamehameha V who reigned through blood lineage and then to Lunalilo who was elected.

We are then welcomed into the Blue Room which is where guests were received upon arriving at the palace.  Inside this room is the portrait of King Kalakaua who is responsible for ordering the construction of the building.  As the name implies, the room is done in a deep blue color contained in the curtains, furniture and the rug.  There are chairs and a couch for us to observe as well as a piano in the corner.

From the Blue Room we cross a threshold and are now in the State Dining Room.  Laid out in front of us is a table set up for a formal dinner.  This room takes up two thirds of the ewa wing of the palace.  The docent tells us of how they may have had forty five different items to choose from over the multiple courses of the meal.  The King's chair wasn't at the end of the table, but in the middle as he loved to talk with his visitors to invite conversation and hear news both locally and internationally.  Today the room is set up to seat eight guests joining with the King.

From there we are put on an elevator installed during the refurbishment of the palace in the 1960's to go up to the second floor where under normal circumstances, a guest of the King or Queen would not go.  There are dumb waiters to bring items from the kitchen on the ground floor to the State Dining Room and up to the private residences on the second floor.  We tour the rooms above where we were on the first floor.  This would include the King's bedroom, his office and the music room.

On the other side of the building we are bought into a room that has special significance with its darkened windows.  It was the room where Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned after the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy.  On display is the quilt that the Queen made during that time.  The docents give a brief overview of what happened.  I've been on tours where some of the people in the group want to go into more detail but the docents that I've had have managed to keep it to the high level overview and not get caught up in the passion that surrounds those events.

After being shown the other two large rooms we once again head back down the elevator to be brought into the final room of the formal tour, the Throne Room.  In here the docents give a descriptive story of what it would have been like to attend a party at the palace.  Outside on the lanai the Royal Hawaiian Band would be playing songs that would be on our dance card of which our ticket is a partial replica of what that dance card would have looked like.  The docent describes what the ladies and gentlemen attending would have been wearing.  A special note to the ladies: the King made an effort to dance with all the ladies in attendance.  As the tale of the evening is brought to a close, so is the tour as we are lead back the the doors we entered.  We take off the booties, but the tour isn't quite over.  We, as a group, are lead to the ground floor of the building and the galleries there.

For me, these galleries are amazing.  In this area are the main functional areas that were used for the day to day running of the palace.  If didn't get to the main gift shop, there is a small, and I do mean small gift shop located here.  Today, the crown jewels for the Kingdom of Hawaii are on display in a secured area.  To see the crown and royal orders that were both given and received put a new light on the monarchy for me.  Kalakaua was very progressive from his circumnavigating the globe to the installation and use of a telephone system to having hot and cold running water and having electricity installed in the palace.  Many firsts can be attributed to him personally.

After exploring the galleries, you can explore the grounds around the palace.  Take in the detail of the architecture from the outside or even imagine what it would have been like in the late 19th century when the ocean came up to approximately a block away where Queen Street currently is located.  On one side is located the sacred mound where past Hawaiian chiefs may be buried and on the other is the Coronation Pavilion.  Around a number of the trees near the pavilion are benches where if you brought or bought something to snack on you can sit here and enjoy the view and the sounds.

Iolani Palace is a place that should be visited by both tourist and residents alike.  For residents, there is no reason not to go especially since you can visit for free.  Click here to see the Kamaaina Sunday schedule. To find out more information about Iolani Palace, visit the Iolani Palace web site.  Don't be afraid to have repeat visits.  Changes do occur.  This last trip the crown was in the Throne Room instead of the gallery, a display of the past and present restoration was installed and we were told that in the next year, the Music Room up on the second floor will take on a new look as many items have been found, are being restored and will be put out on display.  I know I'll be making a trip back to see the additions.

Discovering Waikiki...still

I'm starting my 20th year of living in Hawaii, live 1/4 of a mile away as the crow flies and I still am discovering new things about Waikiki and haven't "done it all."

I had some time this afternoon and decided to go down to Waikiki to get inspiration for my Trapped in Paradise podcast. I got on the number 2 bus at the Kapiolani and Kalakaua intersection and took it all the way to the Kapahulu and Kalakaua stop. I usually don't take the bus that far down when I'm heading into Waikiki. Most of the time I walk into Waikiki.

After getting off the bus I was right in front of the Park Shore Hotel. I moved forward to walk into the lobby but then realized I passed two other hotels, the Queen Kapiolani and the Waikiki Grand. For both of those hotels, I don't remember being in either one since I moved to Hawaii. In the Queen Kapiolani I walked up to the 3rd floor where they have their pool.

Diamond Head from Queen Kapiolani hotel
Originally uploaded by coconut wireless

There were only two people in the water and they were talking. I went over to the edge facing the road and looked out to see the famous Hawaiian landmark Diamond Head as I had never seen it before. It wasn't blocked by trees, I was looking over the trees at about tree level to view it.

The day was hot and humid with a capital H. On the pool deck was a soda machine. I was able to get a 20oz diet pepsi for a buck thirty five. Ho! That is quiet the deal, so I plunked in exact change and got my drink and headed out of the building.

Walking through the Waikiki Grand there was nothing special there. No special stores, art work, decor or furniture were to be found. The one big positive was that they had a door that entered Teddy's Bigger Burgers from the lobby. There I have eaten a number of times. They have good burgers!!

The original location, the Park Shore was next. I didn't go up to any other floors. The last time I was in there I was visiting a friend who worked the front desk. Outside there was an event going on and this person came in asking for the restroom. My friend Buddy said they were reserved for hotel guests. After the person left we both looked at each other and questioned who the person was. We realized that Buddy had told Michael Nakamura the Chief of the Honolulu Police Department that he couldn't use the Park Shore restroom. Not sure if he ever got scoldings for that one. I exited the lobby through the ABC Store. There used to be a long hall way that lead out to Kalakaua Ave but it has been long gone.

I walked along Kalakaua Ave past the Waikiki Beach Hotel, headed past the Marriott and then over to Saint Augustine's Catholic Church. At one time there was a Father Damien museum inside. In just a few days as I write this Father Damien will become a Saint within the Catholic Church. I couldn't get inside to see if that museum still existed as it was locked up with signs posting hours as they are doing renovations to the facility so access was restricted.

I headed over to the Pacific Beach Hotel. I used to go to that hotel every Sunday evening as my gym is located on the second floor and has a great view overlooking Kalakaua Ave and the beach. I'm still paying my monthly gym dues, I should probably start getting back there and enjoying the views! Anyway, in the back of the hotel they have a restaurant with a special fish presentation. Not cooked fish, but live fish. I was happy to see that it still exits.

From there I entered the lobby for the Waikiki Resort Hotel. This hotel caters more towards the Korean traveler. It's been over a decade since I've been in this hotel. The last time was before Ron, one of the bellmen that I knew, passed away from bladder cancer. I followed a set of stairs and found myself looking at meeting rooms and the pool. They had restrooms that weren't locked so I decided to use them. With all the humidity, I was really sweaty so I splashed myself with water. When I exited the door, what was right in front of me? A Coke machine. This was $1.25 for a 20oz bottle. Note to self, stop buying soda inside of the ABC Stores and use the vending machines. It's about a buck cheaper per bottle!

I passed through Waikiki Beach Tower, my first time in there, and headed to the Waikiki Circle Hotel. Walking up a ramp towards the registration desk on the wall next to the elevators was the story of the hotel. It was the first hotel on Waikiki owned by an Asian who was a female! The story told of how she came over from China, was in an arranged marriage, overcame a number of obstacles to own the hotel and how it is now owned by generational family members.

I cut through the Hyatt Regency before heading over to Kings Village.

Tiki mug collection pic 1
Originally uploaded by coconut wireless

I haven't been there in years. In many ways the place looks the same, but it was different as they have had turn over in the shops. One hidden gem was a small museum that had memorabilia from old Hawaii. Two display cases had mugs from a number of old Waikiki hotels and restaurants as well at other locations in the US that were part of the Tiki pop that was part of the culture of the 50's and 60's. For me seeing an original mug from the Bali Hai in San Diego was exciting. In case you can't tell by the name of the blog, I like tikis.

The Princess Kaiulani was next. I had been in there last Christmas. Their chefs do an awesome Christmas Village made out of chocolate and having animated pieces including a train and chair lift that bring the village to life during the holidays. I exited the building out the side and took a short path back up to Kalakaua Ave in front of the International Market Place or IMP.

The IMP over the past number of years has been changing. It's full of carts that you used to haggle prices with the owners. Most of the owners are immigrants with their carts of trinkets, treasures, and some trashy tourist items. Today, the wares have a price tag...most of the time. In front of the IMP there was one guy handing out flyers for shave ice. Not a big deal but this one was different. He had a rig he was wearing around his chest. From the back side were two rods sticking up. Attached to the rods were a balloon that had a picture of shave ice. It had wires running between the balloon and the back pack so I'm sure at night it could have lit up to advertise the cold tasty treats.

At this point I decided to leave Waikiki. I was hot and very sweaty by this time plus I had another errand to run. Waikiki even when you think you know it, you don't and that's part of the fun of it.