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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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Honolulu is hot for grillin’ and chillin’ outdoors
Honolulu has hopped up to No. 4 on the
Blue Rhino Top 100 Cookout Capitals of the U.S. list.
We were No. 8 on last year's inaugural list, compiled by the North Carolina propane tank company based on a city's number of ideal grilling days.
Blue Rhino reviews weather data for cities with populations of at least 50,000 and defines ideal grilling days as precipitation-free, with temperatures below 90 degrees from May through August.
San Diego kicked us where we sit, moving up to No. 1 from No. 15 last year. San Francisco is No. 2 and Los Angeles is No. 3.
San Diego also bested us for weather in the "America's Favorite Cities" list of Travel + Leisure magazine last year -- even in voting by Hawaii residents! Balloting for this year continues at T+L online.
But your columnist digresses -- back to the barbecue bracket.
"I can tell you that you were only eight ideal grilling days out of first place," said Justin Moore, publicist for Blue Rhino.
We were the only ones to grill him about the grading last year too, and he remembered that.
"I'm showing, for that period, that you guys were actually a little warmer than San Diego ... and had two weeks' more rain than they did as well."
"It doesn't mean you're not more fun," he comforted.
One wonders how San Diego would stack up against Honolulu year-round.
Betcha we'd be doing the kicking. It can get below freezing there in January and the National Weather Service has recorded nine such days -- since 1872.
Moore didn't have the data, "but if it was year-round, who am I to say that Honolulu wouldn't be number one?"
And there you have it. Sort of.
The Tank Exchange button on the Blue Rhino Web site drops a menu of links to the entire Cookout Capital list, a recipes page with links to more recipe sites, as well as "Music to Grill By."
Top Hawaii freebies
Hawaii is home to two of
TripAdvisor LLC's Top 10 Free U.S. Attractions, chosen by travelers and editors.
Visitor destinations are full of puffy prices, but gawking is gratis at Kauai's Waimea Canyon, No. 3, as is reverent reflection at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, No 6.
The Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas and Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia are Nos. 1 and 2. Nos. 4 and 5 are San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge and Angel's Landing in Utah's Zion National Park. The rest, in order, are, California's Pacific Coast Highway Route 1; the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.; Freedom Trail in Boston and Central Park in New York City.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com