Locke loved all things Hawaiian and we just celebrated his 50th birthday in October. So, I planned a two-week trip for us to visit the 5 biggest islands and immerse ourselves with an in-depth experience with the Hawaiian people, culture, food, environment and fun activities of this tropical paradise.
6am ~ We depart from SFO/San Francisco International Airport and land just past noon at HNL/Honolulu International Airport. First thing everyone experiences is the climate change – warm & muggy weather in mid-November! After collecting our baggage and rental car, we head to our first destination, the Bishop Museum near downtown Honolulu.
Bishop Museum
The Bishop Museum possesses the largest collection of Polynesian artifacts in the world. We get here just in time for the hula demonstration, and I learn that there are two types of hulas:
Hula 'Auana (below) – the modern/contemporary version of hula performed in a relaxed style and accompanied by ukelele and/or other modern musical instruments; performers are dressed in contemporary dancewear
We then stroll the museum grounds and note the extensive Polynesian cultural artifacts – not just Hawaiian, but from all around Polynesia. If you've never been to Hawaii or to the rest of Polynesia, this museum is a great starting point.
Rainbow Sighting #1 - on the Bishop Museum campus!
Traffic
We head onto the H1 interstate and hit crawling, rush hour traffic – ugh! Unfortunately, with the ton of brand-new high rise hotels & rooms comes the never-ending traffic into Waikiki. After a stressful push through the crowd to get to our hotel, we unload and set about to look around Waikiki before the sun sets.
Waikiki BeachAhhhhhh...as we walk on to this world-renowned white sand beach, smiles come upon our faces. Even with the hoards of tourists, this beach still looks remarkable! With Diamond Head on our left anchoring the east, hotel skyscrapers to our backs, tiki torches amongst us, and a serene Pacific Ocean in front of us, we soak in the scenery and setting sun. After a long stroll on the beach, we head back to the streets for a quick dinner.
L&L BBQ
This food stop initially looked decent as it said "Hawaiian BBQ". However, after placing our order, the service was substandard and the food only halfway decent – Locke was not fond of it. Further, we find out that this joint is part of a chain – after our glowing walk, it was a bit of a downer for the night. Lesson learned – stay away from L&L!
Photo credit: "Hawaii Five-O" photo courtesy of CBS Productions
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