This week I reached out for a short stack of Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes, one of three new Hawaiian Pancakes down at IHOP.

Many Americans aren't taking their usual elaborate vacation this summer. You may have heard something about a stinko economy. So they're staying close to home with family and loved ones. It's even in the dictionary: staycation.

So IHOP says it's come up with the next best thing to an unforgettable getaway to the sun-splashed sand of Waikiki Beach — Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes.

It's not even close to the next best thing. But Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes do taste pretty darn delicious.

Here's the blueprint: two sweet, golden pancakes loaded with pineapple pieces, slathered with a rum-butter-flavored sauce, with whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Total calories: 810. Fat grams: 23. Dietary fiber: 4 grams. Carbs: 82 grams. Manufacturer's suggested retail price: $5.99.

IHOP suggests that the family might take this Hawaiian staycation thing even farther: Why not dress up in goofy Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts, and hit your local IHOP for these pancakes? Please don't. These pancakes taste just as good without men in lab coats with butterfly nets chasing you in the parking lot.

Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes start with a sweeter-than-usual pancake. They're not standard-issue IHOP buttermilk pancakes. The pineapple chunks are grilled right into the pancake, so they're extra warm and sweet, too. The rum-butter sauce is sticky and licks like candy. The whipped cream and cherry are completely over the top and totally unnecessary … but why not? You're already well behind enemy lines in diet country.

These pancakes are inspired by, and taste terrifically like, pineapple upside-down cake. They don't have pineapple on the bottom, which becomes the top when you flip the cake upside down. Nor should you stand on your head when you're eating them just because you've taken IHOP's advice and are dressed like a crazy person.

There are two other pancakes in IHOP's new Hawaii designer line. Strawberry Passion Fruit Pancakes have cheesecake and passion fruit syrup between two sweet pancakes, topped with chilled strawberries, whipped cream and more passion fruit syrup. Don't tell Jenny Craig.

Banana Macadamia Nut Pancakes are two sweet pancakes loaded with banana slices and topped with rum-butter sauce, whipped cream and toasted macadamia nuts. Love macadamia nuts. While macadamia nuts are associated with Hawaii, they're originally from Australia. Hawaii didn't get into the macadamia business full time until the 1920s.

Hawaiian Pancakes are fun and they're delicious, but is this breakfast? Yeah, if you're a kid. They're packed with bake-shop flavor, and the pineapple and rum-butter sauce will rattle your sweet tooth.

Grown-ups will find them perfect for splitting and noshing as a breakfast side dish. That's how we did it.

Here's the best way to go: Order the Hawaiian pancakes as part of a bigger breakfast, with sausages and hash browns and toast, then everybody dig in. Hawaiian Pancakes will be available all summer for that vacation you're not taking. There are 1,402 IHOP restaurants in all 50 states, so your vacation won't use much gas. (There is one in Wyomissing.)

If you insist on wearing Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts, please sit on the other side of the restaurant. I'm trying to have a conversation over here, and if you sit near me, we're going to talk about you. And point.

Ken Hoffman's column appears Wednesdays.