WAIKIKI, Hawaii -- A new open-air trolley service operated by the
city here started taking passengers from Waikiki to two nearby
neighborhoods with many restaurants and shops for $1 each.
The "community circulator" trolley starts at Seaside and Kuhio
streets in the heart of Waikiki and goes four miles east into
Honolulu every 30 minutes.
The trolley runs from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week and is
funded by the city to run through Aug. 1 of next year.
There are 11 stops on the out-and-back route.
"Visitors get to see how the local folks live out in the
neighborhoods," said Ginny Meade, a former Honolulu travel agent
and a representative on the Greater East Honolulu Community
Alliance, which helped get the trolley going.
"We want to show visitors the real lifestyle of Oahu," she
added.
The Kapahulu neighborhood, the first one the trolley travels
through, "features more antique stores per mile than anywhere else
in Hawaii," said Meade.
Kapahulu Avenue has all kinds of restaurants and shops including
local take-out food places, diners, upscale restaurants and ice
cream stores.
For example, there is a diner called Ono Hawaiian Foods at 726
Kapahulu and a Hawaiian feather store that offers feather products
and classes in feather lei making, called Aunty Mary Lou's Na Lima
Mili Hulu No'eau or Skilled Hands Touch the Feathers, at 762
Kapahulu.
The second neighborhood to be passed through on the trolley
route -- an area called Kaimuki -- has "all kinds of eclectic
places to stop," according to Meade.
Visitors to this neighborhood will find places of interest more
spread out than in the Kapahulu area, however.
Near the end of the trolley route there is Kwilts 'N Koa at 1126
12th Ave., a store that features Hawaiian quilts and items made out
of Hawaiian Koa wood and a Vietnamese-Hawaiian restaurant called
Hale Vietnam at 1140 12th Ave.
Also, there is a place called JJ French Pastry at 3447 Waialae
that serves coffee and pastries.
In addition, there is a very good garlic restaurant at 3196
Waialae called Ninniku-Ya Garlic Restaurant.
Both the Kapahulu and the Kaimuki neighborhoods give the
impression of being strips of dirty, densely packed houses and
stores that are falling apart at the seams.
But if the visitor slows down and goes inside some of these
places he or she will find the falling-down feel of the area is
only a facade.
Trolley organizers hope the idea will catch on so visitors will
see more of the city without having to search for parking while
driving around in their rental cars.