HAWAII 2019
The best thing I can say about any place or vacation is that it lives up to the hype and Hawaii absolutely lives up to all praise it gets. This wasn’t one of our long-planned trips because as I said, I thought Hawaii would be the finale to my 50 state travels. However, when my mom, who doesn’t love to travel long distances, said she would like to see Hawaii and James’ dad offered us time in the condo he had rented in Honolulu for a work trip, things just quickly fell in place. So, at the end of August off we went. My mom, Donna, James and I first went to Honolulu on Oahu where we met up with Larry, James’ dad, and his friend Gwen.
OAHU
Larry rents a lovely 2-bedroom condo at the Kahala Condos (4999 Kahala Avenue Unit #350) in Honolulu when he goes over for work. He graciously gave us two weeks at the condo, which we used as our home base. This was our first trip to Hawaii and like a lot of folks, we were surprised by the size and congestion in Honolulu. It has to be some of the worst traffic I have ever been in, but the drivers are polite which really drops down the stress. (Are you listening Cincinnati drivers??)
One of my favorite things about traveling is discovering new foods from around the world. Well, I think Hawaii may be the best US food state. Right after we arrived, Larry introduced us to his favorite breakfast spot, Koko Head Cafe by Lee Anne Wong of Top Chef, though he had no idea who she was. We went back 3 times it was that good. I still dream of Chicky and Eggs and the dumplings of the day. Also from this trip, I have a new favorite chef, Roy Yamaguchi. We went to his original Hawaii Kai on Oahu and Eating House 1849 on Kauai. I may have a new bucket list of hitting all of Roy’s restaurants. Asian fusion, heavy on local seafood….what could be better??? For James, it is the burgers at Nalu's South Shore Grill on Maui, which was his favorite spot of the trip.
Being in Honolulu, we wanted to go to the Pearl Harbor Memorial, so we booked a day tour with Keawe Adventures. They made it very easy by picking us up at the condo and doing all handling logistics. Sandy, our guide, knew everyone so things went smoothly. Due to threats and the repair work they are doing on the Arizona, you could not go onto the memorial, so we took at boat tour around the memorial, the USS Bowfin and the current ships in the harbor. We saw the memorial movie and visited the museum centers. Then we drove over to Ford Island, a restricted active military installation, where we did a tour of the USS Missouri. It is an active training ship and while we were on the lower decks, a group of Marines was moving in for training. On thing that surprised me was how many Japanese tourist were there. I know that Hawaii is a fairly easy tourist destinations for Asia, but for some reason I didn’t think Pearl Harbor would be a draw.
After leaving Pearl Harbor, Sandy took us on a city tour. We drove up to Puu Ualakaa State Park with views Diamond Head and the city. We visited the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in the Punchbowl Crater. The cemetery has huge canopies of banyan and monkeypod trees. We then did a cruise through town hitting some of the sites of like Iolani Palace, Hawaii’s State Capitol, the Kamehameha Statue, Waikiki, and the Baskin Robins where Obama worked. Later in the week we went back and did the tour of the Iolani Palace, which was the official residence of the Hawaiian monarchs in the late 1800s. The royal family was really ahead of the time and the palace was outfitted with the most up-to-date amenities, including electric lights, indoor plumbing and the telephone.
On Monday, we spent the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center on the Super Ambassador tour with ou private guide, Christine from Malaysia. We saw cultural experiences, like cooking demonstrations and leaning dances and songs, in the island villages that represent the Polynesian cultures of Hawaii, Tonga, Tahiti, Samoa, Fiji and Aotearoa (New Zealand). We had great seats for the amazing show Huki: A Canoe Celebration, where dancers and singers tell Polynesian stories and depict adventure of ocean life through ancient myths and customs, all while on double-hulled canoes. After a luau dinner, we then saw the evening show Ha: Breath of Life, which was like a broadway level show with awesome dancing.
My mom and I got up early one morning and went back to the north shore to go to the Laie Hawaii Temple. These must be the most beautiful temple grounds I have seen. The building is surrounded by lush Hawaiian gardens on a gently rising hill that features cascading pools and a large fountain. After the visiting the temple, we went back and picked up James for a driving tour of the north shore. We hit parks, beaches and a macadamia nut farm. For some reason the little park beach across from the Ahupua’a ‘O Kahana State Park just touched my soul. I thought the north shore of Oahu was a great blend of the beauty of Kauai, with the surfer vibe of Maui, while still being close to the big city amenities. I could happily live on the north shore.
MAUI
Maui was James’ favorite island. We stayed at the Residence Inn Maui Wailea, in a two-bedroom condo in a large hotel complex. We were fortunate to be at the end of the property with a bit of a view over the water and wind farms.
Our first night in town we went to what is ranked as the number 1 luau in all of Hawaii, the Old Lahaina Luau, “a traditional hula and feast”. This was indeed what I envisioned when I thought about a luau. It is held beach side, although you are on a built-up area so no sand in your toes, but you are outdoors and the view is lovely. It starts early with some artists and vendors around the property. My mom and I both got necklaces and James and I got a wooden hand-carved Manaiakalani, the great fish-hook Māui used to pull the island lands from the ocean. You then have a buffet dinner of traditional luau food, which was delicious. Then you have the dance presentation which included the Ote’a, a drum dance from Tahiti, Kahiko, the ancient hula that tells the story of Pele the fire goddess, and then ‘Auana, the modern hula. This was a really fun evening.
When on Maui, you really need to drive The Road to Hana. This two-lane road, from Paia to Hana and then beyond, has 600+ sharp turns and 50+ single lane bridges. For novices, it can be a daunting drive especially when trying to find place to stop and park along the way. So we did it the easy way and hired a private car and driver to do the hard work for us. After all, there is so much to look at, like colorful, lush vegetation, wide sweeping views and so many waterfalls, that you don’t want to miss a thing by doing the driving. We booked with Awapuhi Adventures for their Full Road to Hana Tour. Our guide was Chris, an interesting fellow who moved to Hawaii to live in a commune with a goal of going totally off the grid. Some of my favorite sites along the way were the rainbow eucalyptus trees at Papaea and then the private gardens at The Garden of Eden. We saw Ke’anae Point with it’s black lava rock area and the town which was struck by the 1946 Alaskan tsunami waves. Some of the most beautiful sites along the road are the waterfalls like 3 Bears, which was a low water, West Wailua Ike Falls and Pua’a Ka’a Falls where Chris and I went swimming.
Our time on Maui was short so we spent our last full day discovering Upcountry. This area is a different side of the surf image of Maui. This is the ranching, farming area that looks more high Colorado than Hawaii, with small towns and creative shops/restaurants. If we ever move to Maui, I think Upcountry is for us. For James, we started out at Maui’s Winery, which had “ok wine” but really lovely grounds. Then we went over to the Ulupalakua Ranch Store and had great burgers for lunch. We also stopped at the Ali’I Lavender Farm, which has beautiful gardens/grounds. We got to watch clouds roll down the mountain side and envelop us.
Speaking of classic Maui, we hit up the Maui Pineapple plantation tour. There is really nothing like eating local fresh Maui pineapple in Maui. Later, while back in Oahu, I found a Honey Cream pineapple in the market. They are grown exclusively at Oahu’s Frankie’s Nursery, and are found at farmers’ markets and Whole Foods stores in Hawaii. It was smaller and paler than the Maui, but it was just about the most delicious thing I have ever had. Speaking of delicious, f our last dinner in Maui, we went to the Haliimaile General Store which was one of the best restaurants we visited.
KAUAI
Kauai was the final island visit of the trip. Not getting to Hawaii, the Big Island, and Molokai, just means we have a reason to go back. Kauai may be the closest thing to paradise I have seen. I just fell in love with this island, its beautiful landscapes and the people with their efforts to preserve their island home. We stayed at the Marriott’s Kauai Lagoons Kalanipu’u, which is a beautiful, small condo property in Lihue. Our condo had the most beautiful views from the balcony over the golf course to a small light house and a lovely bay of sailboats.
Our first full day we went on the Kauai Photo Tour. Our guide, Nate, took a group of 6 of us around Kauai, stopping at off the beaten track locations. We went to Moloho Bay, a secluded neighborhood beach where the beach of Gilligan’s Island was filmed. We drove a tunnel road that goes to a public overlook (shame on you Zuckerberg for trying to block others’ views). We went to the Kileau Lighthouse and to Anini Beach, which has a small reef and folks do shore diving. We then went over to Princeville for the overlooks down into Hanalei Bay and then we went down to the pier on the beach. This was a great way to get an overview of much of what the island has to offer.
After our tour, we went to Lightwave Pottery, which was probably one of the things James was most excited about on the trip. A couple years ago, we were introduced to Dean McRaine, a potter who had created his own new way of creating clay designs. We pulled up to this little shack/warehouse in a commercial area and walked into his shop. Out comes Dean and spends the next hour with us, showing us his studio, his new clay designs, and just engaging with us. We were fortunate to bring home several pieces of his work.
The next day, we started early, heading to the airport for a helicopter tour with Island Helicopters Jurassic Tour. My mom was nervous, despite being a lover of flying. The tour was awesome. Our pilot, Brodie, is a Kauai native and was very entertaining. He even brought the dinosaur for our pictures by the Jurassic Park waterfall stop. The Waimea Canyon mountains and valleys, Na Pali coast cliffs and the beaches are the perfect combination to see from the air. In what was my highlight, at the end of the flight my 83-year old mother said, “that was the best experience of my life.”
Our last adventure on Kauai was a boat tour of the Na Pali coast. We booked this with Holo Holo charters. This was a great way to view the coast and cliffs that we saw from the helicopter from the water. We got to see a couple of green turtles and Hawaiian monk seals and were able to spend a bit of time swimming in the beautiful warm water.
After Kauai, we flew back to Oahu for a couple of days before we headed home. If anything tells you how much we enjoyed Hawaii, since we got home, James has started looking for retirement property in Hawaii. I get the feeling we will be back.