I Love Hawaii

When you are going to Hawaii, what is usually the first thing that you think about?  For me, it is all about the food – I absolutely love Hawaiian food and you can never find really, really good Hawaiian food anywhere but in Hawaii.  In the next couple blogs, we are going to talk about some of the best restaurants for you to visit while you are in Hawaii.

For example, the David Paul’s Lahaina Grill is definitely one of the best places in the world to go if you are looking for something awesome and good.  This little place is located in Maui and it is actually one of the only restaurants out there that uses a lot of the land for it’s food – local farms, dairies as well as surrounding waters are all used.

Among the signature favorites are the Warm Pecan Crusted Goat Cheese & Baby Arugula Salad, and The Cake Walk – a sampler of Kona Lobster Crab Cake, Seared Ahi Cake, and Sweet Louisiana Rock Shrimp Cake.  These are all my favorites I know!

Hawaii is a place that is jam-packed with all sorts of sights for you to see – however did you know that there is one specific sight that everyone should see on their vacation?  That is the spouting horn – you have to watch it blow!  It is actually one of the coolest sights in the world and it is actually right by the Allerton Garden Visitor Center. 

This spout is actually a dual-lava tube that actually breathes air and makes an eerie dragon type sound while the other tube actually shoots a powerful spray of salt water up into.  The tubes are set about 10 feet from the shoreline and on large south swell days – the spray can actually get up to about 30 feet.

This is a beautiful sight that everyone should take in whenever they are in Hawaii!

When you think about it – what is the first thing that you think about when you think about Hawaii?  For me – it is all about the hula dancing and honestly, I think that it is one of the most graceful dances out there as well as one of the most beautiful.  Hollywood has honestly barely skimmed the surface on hula dancing, for it is by far one of the best dances out there.

These dances are extremely traditional and they have honestly been around forever … however most people do not really know how to hula dance or even where to see the professionals.  There are a ton of free shows all over Hawaii; you just have to look for them!

For example, the Coconut Market has one every Wednesday and every Saturday – you just have to look for them!

Now that we have talked about biking in Hawaii, let’s go ahead and talk about shopping!  By far, my favorite part of the vacation is spending money and shopping in Waikiki is certainly one of the highlights whenever I go on vacation.  In Waikiki, there are a ton of different and quaint little shops as well as some beautiful and unique artists’ studios. 

As shown here, there are also a ton of different and large shopping areas that you can visit if you want to spend the entire day shopping.  Shopping in Waikiki is something that is not only fun and cool, but you can bring back all sorts of gifts for any family members that didn’t go!

You can buy music CDs by local bands, coffee, designer clothing, custom jewelry, glass, fabric – everything and anything you want!

When you think about it – what is the first thing that you want to do whenever you are in Hawaii?  I know that I want to lie on the beach.  However – did you know that there are truly a ton of different biking trails that you can go on.  The great thing about biking in Hawaii is that you can truly get a feel for Hawaii in and of itself. 

Hawaii is a beautiful place – there are so many different beautiful places to visit and certainly a lot of different experiences that you can go through whenever you are biking.  Whether you are looking to bike around the main island or you want to bike around some of the smaller ones, everywhere in Hawaii contains all sorts of trails!

So make sure that you bring or rent your very own bike and I can promise that you are going to have a heck of a lot of fun!

Hawaii, as you probably already know is known for their beaches and just how beautiful everything about their landscape it – however, did you know that actually going into the water is something that you should be doing too?  Hawaii has some of the best swimming, surfing and WINDsurfing places in the world!  Windsurfing is something that is so different and unique, you should try it!

Basically, you are on a surfboard and you have a sail attached to it.  You basically ride the waves like that and it is so much fun!  There are all sorts of different places that offer up windsurfing lessons and it really is something different and unique that you can do with anyone really!

Next time you go to Hawaii, make sure that you take a trip down to the beach and get yourself some awesome windsurfing lessons!

In Hawaii – by far one of my favorite past times is looking for Green Sea Turtles.  Did you know that Hawaii is actually one of the few places for you to see these giant turtles?  Not only are they beautiful but the turtles themselves are extremely rare and when you are close and looking at something that is rare and beautiful – it is a once in a lifetime experience.

Right now – it seems that the Green Sea Turtle as well as the Hawksbill Sea Turtle are both on the endangered species list and while it might be rare to catch a look at either of these, Hawaii would be the place to do it.  What you might not know is that a Green Sea Turtle can weight upwards of 400 pounds and a Hawksbill about 270.

Both of these turtles are absolutely breathtakingly beautiful an they are certainly a sight that should be seen in your lifetime!

So the very, very first time that I went to Hawaii – it was terrible.  Not because of the fact that Hawaii actually DID something to me – but it was the fact that I did not bring the right shoes.  Have you ever been in that situation?  Well, I have and honestly, it sucks!  Your feet are something that can truly make you uncomfortable and ruin your entire trip and that is what happened to me.

Do not make the same mistake that I did!  One thing that you need to remember about Hawaii is that you want to seriously be comfortable.  That is why bringing two or three pairs of shoes is going to be the smartest thing to do.  You want to bring in one pair of REALLY broke in walking shoes – for the shopping days.

Next, bring some flip-flops that are super broken in for the beach and that’s it!  The important thing is that you do not want to bring new shoes to Hawaii because it is not the best place to have to break them in.  I promise!

Finding something that is not only fun and educational in Hawaii is hard.  There are so many things to do in Hawaii and to be honest, no one really things about going to a museum when they could be lying on the beach.

However – the Honolulu Academy of Arts is definitely one place that you should check out.  This beautiful yet small museum is one that has a very impressive collection of paintings, sculpture and fabric along with some photos and furniture.

Tours are given for free every single day, however if you are a wanderer like I am, you might just want to wander around this place.  The great thing about The Honolulu Academy of Arts, is that it is small and the rooms are small – which makes it all the better for viewing.  This place is certainly a gem and definitely something you should visit!

One the subject of airports, the one from which you depart can help you save money as well. If you live just a couple of hours away from a longer airport, you can actually save about three hundred dollars or so. If you are able to make the drive before departing, this is definitely something to consider.

Making your reservations can save money as well. Choosing to book with an airline online may be able to save you a lot of money. This is because individual airlines are in direct competition with travel sites on the internet — and you can try one or more of those as well, in an effort to find cheap tickets.

For that matter, you may also be able to find a site which specializes in vacations to Hawaii. You never know what kind of deals you can get.