The Explore All 50 States Project
Let's Go!
Just thinking about Hawaii—one of my favorite places on the planet—brings back memories of gentle waves crashing on the shore, the perfume of fresh flowers in the air, and soft music. I love Hawaii for its peacefulness and tranquility, but it's tragic history always leaves me with a twinge of sadness. In my humble opinion, Hawaii should never have been a state. This beautiful land belongs to the Hawaiian … [Read more...]
Every one of the Hawaiian islands is so unique and different but where the other islands are mostly lush and green with sandy beaches, the big island is rocky, volcanic hosting a landscape that is harsher and much more varied than we'd seen. The beaches for the most part were rocky and not conducive to water sports so we took this opportunity to explore the rugged terrain, learning about the geology of how the … [Read more...]
Very close to the Eco Adventures Zip line, is the tiny town of Hawi. Do not miss one of the four original statues of King Kamehameha, the most famous and revered Hawaiian King who united the Hawaiian islands under his leadership. The statue stands not too far from where he was born, here on the Big Island of Hawaii. There are four of these statues, three of which are in Hawaii and one is in our nation’s Capitol … [Read more...]
King Kamehameha is the great Hawaiian king who was born and raised on the big island of Hawaii and under whose great leadership the Hawaiian islands were united. He is the most revered historical figure in Hawaiian culture and memorialized by four life size statues three of which are still in the Islands. The fourth one is in the US Capitol building. The second statue is the second on the big Island and is based … [Read more...]
So one adventure my kids and I have been dying to try is zip lining. The Hawaiian Islands have a ton of places to do this somewhat new and trendy activity so if your dead set on doing it (and you should because it's a ton of fun), see where it best fits into your schedule. For us, that happened to be on the Big Island and we opted for and outfit called Big Island Eco Adventures who were just fantastic! If … [Read more...]
This magical crescent bay of Hanalei is a great place to take surf or paddle board lessons. We opted for paddle boards as there wasn’t that much surf in the afternoon and because it looked easy enough for everyone to be able to do right away. None of us had any experience paddle boarding but we were all eager to try. We went with an outfit called Kauai North Shore Surfing School and ended up with a terrific … [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...]
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...]
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...]
