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the avra valley dispatch: October 15 2004 -- May's Second Four-Letter Destination: Oahu
Let's go to fucking Hawaii and get drunk in the sun; I wanna lie on Waikiki, and get a terrible burn." ~The Young Canadians. In May, two weeks after I visited Taos, I went to Hawai'i for the first time. It was a busy month. I have no interest in resorts or extravagant, first class travel. I don't do clubs, and I'm not into sitting in bars and getting plastered. I like low key, budget trips, with lots of walking and exploring involved, so when I was planning my vacation I google'd "alternative accomodation Oahu cabin" and I found the Surfhouse hostel in Haleiwa. A private one-room cabin with bath was $55 a night for two people, and it was possible to take The Bus from the airport in Honolulu. In fact, The Bus went all the way around the island -- I didn't have to rent a car to go to Pipeline or Waimea Bay. Haleiwa hosts a number of major international surfing competitions, but in the off season, there's not a lot going on. It's a little sleepy and you can walk from one end of town to the other in 30 minutes. There were a number of good locally owned restaurants, a fine homemade ice cream shop, and a stellar coffeehouse. My kind of place. Click here to see more photos. ::: Restaurant Review: Jimmy's Diner LatelyI have been having breakfast at Jimmy's Diner on Valencia near Park across from the Air National Guard in South Tucson. I stop in before work and have my decaf (which is usually enroute to the table as soon as I enter the door) and pancakes, and work on my book. (Yes! For those of you who are interested, there is a new Molly Kiely graphic novel in the works.) Jimmy's isa great little breakfast and lunch place that also happens to be a an old Pulllman train car, but that's not why I like it. Certainly I'm smitten by novel surroundings, but it takes more than that to keep me coming back. (The Welcome Diner in Phoenix is novel -- it's a Valentine trailer, like the wonderful Dot's in Bisbee -- but not second-meal worthy, for example.) At Jimmy's the breakfast is top-notch. You can get Boxcar Chet's special toast n' eggs n' hashbrowns or the Hobo Breakfast Burrito. My number one choice is always the pancakes -- the pancakes are killer. I adore pancakes almost as much as ice cream, and I have eaten plenty of pancakes in my time. Jimmy's has great pancakes. Look at this:
That's a vanillla-y fluffy pancake topped with strawberries and whipped cream, with secret blueberries inside. This is the special Molly pancake that has evolved (I think) just for me. Maybe Jimmy whips this up for half a dozen other girls, but he leads me to believe this is all for me. We're in negotiations right now to fulfill my request for my all-time favourite pancake: banana pancake. Lunch is good, too. The Thursday lunch special BBQ ribs made me abandon the veggiefishatarian bandwagon. Mmmm, pork! There's a great laidback feel to the place and the majority of the customers are longtime regulars, so there's the camaraderie and jokeyness you find only at little greasy spoons. (Jimmy's spoons are spotless, though, of course.) So if you're in the Tucson International Airport area between 6am and 2pm, stop in for a bite and support a worthwhile little eatery. :: Don't take my word for it: here's a review from
the Tucson
Citizen. :: |
Everything © 2005 by Molly Kiely. Yay!