The Explore All 50 States Project
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You cannot visit Hawaii without indulging in a shave ice and our favorite place hands down was Ululani's on Maui in Lahaina. Don’t even think of comparing this to a snow cone. The ice is fine and feathery like snow that gets shaved literally off a huge block in a a special machine and lands right into a nifty plastic cup/cone. From there, add the flavor combination of your choice and there are tons to choose … [Read more...]
Do you know what role sugar has played in Hawaiian history? It's amazing that something so sweet has left such a bitter taste for the last few remaining true Hawaiians and what's left of their culture. At the Alexander Baldwin Sugar Museum we learned about the science and history of sugar production in Hawaii. Even though this was a small and unglamorous museum, I truly felt it was one of the most educational and … [Read more...]
There are so many wonderfully unique sea creatures that inhabit the waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands so after a leisurely morning at the beach, we headed to the The Maui Ocean Center to get a close up view and learn more about them. Unlike some of those big overdone Aquariums in major cities that all seem to try and wow and outdo each other, we loved that this place because it was so low key and … [Read more...]
All the Hawaiian islands are lovely, but Oahu is the most commercially developed and metropolitan of them all. Of course this comes as no surprise as Honolulu is the state capitol and Pearl Harbor has been an important military base for a very long time. Our first impression of Oahu, which in Hawaiian means "The gathering place", was the the crowds on Waikiki beach and in the surrounding shopping district along … [Read more...]
As you cruise around the historic town of Haleiwa, make sure you check out legendary Matsumoto's shave ice. Every guidebook I bought about Hawaii said we just HAD to get a shave ice here. Walking in we could tell this place had gotten a lot of press and getting a souvenir T-shirt seemed as important as trying the shave ice to say you were there. In fact about three quarters of the store was devoted to Matsumoto … [Read more...]
Can I tell you—Honolulu has some horrific rush hour traffic. I could not believe it, I thought I was back home in Los Angeles! Once we got out of the main part of town heading toward the North Shore it was smooth sailing and back to the low key Hawaii that I love. We headed up to the North Shore and Sunset Beach made famous for all the surfing competitions that happen there in the wintertime when the huge waves … [Read more...]
After getting sticker shock at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki it was time to do a little research and find a breakfast place/coffee shop where we could find a reasonable morning meal. Walking around we stumbled upon Eggs and Things. We checked out the menu and they had an amazing selections of waffles, pancakes, eggs and every kind of elaborate breakfast favorite you can imagine at a reasonable price so … [Read more...]
A road trip would not be complete without a visit to the Hawaii State Capitol Building so we headed over not knowing what to expect. It definitely did not even remotely resemble any statehouse we'd seen on the mainland, and it didn't connect in any way to the last royal Hawaiian residence at the Iolani Palace. Sadly, this state capitol was our absolute least favorite of them all. My heart broke a little as we stared … [Read more...]
The Iolani Palace was the was the last home of the Hawaiian monarchy and while it is quite beautiful it has a sad and painful history. This is where Hawaii’s last remaining monarch, Queen Liliokalani was held captive under house arrest while her kingdom was seized and eventually annexed by the United States. As wealthy American businessmen gained more power and wealth in the islands (think pineapple and … [Read more...]
The reason I chose Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville for dinner for the gang, was a) it had family friendly cuisine and b) it had a cool surfing museum on site. We took a pleasant walk over from our hotel to the main shopping drag on Kalakaua Ave. where the restaurant is located in the Holiday Inn Waikiki Beachcomber resort. This was such a touristy place, right in the heart of the Honolulu mix but it had a lot of … [Read more...]
