What do you do when you go to Hawaii?   

Well, I went for coffee. I wanted to find something besides the same old chains though I did end up stopping in at several Starbucks simply because there was always one nearby.

One was across from the Trump Tower. Another in the Kalia Tower of the Hawaiian Hilton Village. One in the Hale Koa hotel that we learned to our dismay closed at 1 p.m. (What is with that???)

But I did manage to find a few unique coffee shops.

1. Island Vintage Coffee at the Royal Hawaiian Center. Very busy. They offered a temptation I couldn’t turn down—Macadamia, Coconut coffee. Although I don’t care for sweetened coffee, this was a delightful drink.

2. Lappert’s ice cream and coffee. I expect ice cream was the big draw in the afternoon but at sunrise, it was coffee and something from the baked goods. Right across from the lobby of the Hawaiian Hilton I could see myself going there often if there hadn’t been other places to visit.

3. Gorilla in the Cafe. The name was enough to draw me in. A cute little shop off a busy thoroughfare. Very quiet first thing in the morning.

4. Coffee Gallery on the North Shore. Very busy by the time we got there. They had a lovely looking outdoor area but after seeing a dead animal, a rat trap and hoards of flies, we gave it a miss. Good coffee with interesting decor.

5. The Beachwalk was appealing. I wanted coffee there but they only served a coffee sweetened with condensed milk. It did not appeal to me even though the place had a certain amount of ambience.

Yup. Good memories of good coffee.