Hulihe‘e Palace expands hours

Hulihe‘e Palace, the grand dame of Alii Drive, is expanding hours for museum tours to include weekend evenings during the holiday season. Beginning Oct. 18, Hulihe‘e Palace will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Jan. 31.

“We want to open our doors to the dinner crowd and kama‘aina families who are looking to do something different on the weekends,“ says docent coordinator Casey Ballao. “The only exception to the evening hours is if we have a private function, then we will be closed.“

Hulihe‘e Palace will offer docent-guided and self-guided tours during the new hours. The palace is also open for these tours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, with the exception of the Monday following the monthly Kokua Kailua Village stroll. On that Monday, the palace is open from 1 to 4 p.m. to accommodate the palace’s new monthly Wilhelmina’s Tea at 10 a.m. Dates for the tea in 2013 are Oct. 21, Nov. 18 and Dec. 16. Wilhelmina’s Tea is limited to 20 guests and non-refundable reservations are required; phone 329-9555.

Palace admission for a self-guided tour is $8 for adults, $6 for kamaaina, military and seniors, and $1 for keiki 18 years and under. Docent-guided tours are available upon request. For details, contact the palace at 329-1877, the palace office at 329-9555 or visit www.daughtersofhawaii.org. The gift shop, open 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, can be reached by phoning 329-6558. Caretakers of Hulihe‘e Palace are the Daughters of Hawai‘i and the Calabash Cousins. The Daughters was founded in 1903 and opens membership to any woman who is directly descended from a person who lived in Hawaii prior to 1880. Helping the Daughters in its efforts since 1986 are the Calabash Cousins, in which membership is available to all.