Finally Found the Beach

When we were married, we said we wanted to go to Hawaii on our tenth anniversary. We thought by then we might have saved enough to go. Our tenth anniversary came and went, but life was busy and kids were young. Well, almost 23 years later, we finally found the beaches of Hawaii! Brett was excited to go back to where he went to school for a semester: BYU-Hawaii, and I wanted to go do the one thing I didn't do when I went briefly to Hawaii as a teenager: see Pearl Harbor. It was everything we hoped it would be: warm, relaxing, inspiring and fun! We found beaches to relax on, Luaus to marvel at, whales entertaining us off the shore, and time together.

We stayed in Waikiki for 5 days. We didn't really spend much time in the busy area, but enjoyed walking around at night when everyone seems to be doing the same thing. We learned quickly the highways and roads around the Island. Even after accidentally getting stuck in China Town, we found neat things to see. The statue of King Hamehameha and the ground of the state capitol were fun to walk around. There was a "Year of the Tiger" Cub day camp going on and we saw a pack from an LDS stake there as well as a Chinese Dragon leading a parade. Then we headed for the famous Waikiki beach to people watch. There were guys riding a thin body board along the surf and catamarans coming and going as the sun went down.
On our first full day, we went to Pearl Harbor in the morning. There are so many stories told there! It has a quiet peace about it. What an amazing history Pearl Harbor has. After looking at displays, se watched a short film about the history of Pearl Harbor and the December 7, 1941 attack. We rode a boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial where the ship and it 1100+ soldiers lie at the bottom of the harbor. As we got to the Memorial, my camera unfortunately decided to quit working. I had to stop taking photos and just enjoy the peace and spirit of the surroundings. It was very peaceful, and sad at the same time. There is a place over the sunken ship that oil still (60+ years later) surfaces. They call it "tears". People threw flowers in the water and left leis at the names of those lost there.
We left Pearl Harbor and drove up above Honolulu to look over the city and ocean, all the way to Diamond Head. It was a stunning view. From there we could see the Punchbowl. It is a war memorial to all those who have fought in wars but whose remains are known only to God. It is surrounded by a cemetary for veterans. There were panels and diagrams of each of the major conflicts: WW1, WW2, Korean Conflict, Vietnam War. It was amazing to learn the details of the great battles and events that swung the tide of each war.







Brett wanted to go up to the North Shore of Oahu and watch the surfers. The tide was high and they were out in force. We sat on Sunset beach and watched as they waited and then rode as long as they could the huge waves. Whiloe we were watching, I noticed further out two spouts of water occasionally going into the air: whales! It was really addicting to watch for them, not knowing when they might surface again. Brett saw a fin go up and over and I saw a tail and a complete breach out of the water! We found throughout our trip, if we looked over at the ocean for very long, we could find whales passing through!
We walked around the temple in Laiae, and the school. It hasn't changed too much from when Brett was there as far as he could tell. Of course we had to eat some shrimp from a shrimp truck (all we have at home are taco trucks, but same kind of thing) and the best they say is Giovannis Shrimp truck. It was slathered in garlic and butter. Probably not great for the heart, but really good!

Then it was on to Halaewa and some Matsomoto's shave ice. That hadn't changed much either! Just a little store with a line up of people to get shave ice served on top of beans (yuck) of ice cream. Raspberry, Strawberry, Sour lemonade!
We spent a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center and thoroughly enjoyed the culture, beauty and humor of it all. We ate at the Luau, including trying poi, and really enjoyed the evening show: Ha the Breath of Life. The dancers were so professional and the story was compelling. It included all the different dances of the islands and unique costumes for each.
We also walked around the temple which is under renovation and closed. But the visitors center was open and had recently been remodeled and updated. I really liked Laie and there was a lookout that we walked out to where the waves just pounded in. The sound of the waves hurling themselves against the rocks was awesome.











On Oahu, we found a new development at Ko Olina that was really beautiful. The developers had made 4 lagoons and surrounded them with sand and a grassy area. Right next to the cars, there was grass and palm tree, overlooking a calm swimming area with water sooo clear. We actually went there twice while on Oahu because it was the ideal beach to sit and relax. We saw several wedding parties taking pictures on this area of beach.
The wildlife was abundant on both islands, where we watched not only whales, but huge turtles and seals play.






Kauai is a much slower and relaxed island than Oahu. It is known as the Garden Island and it really is lush. Steep cliffs on one side and beaches on the other, there was a lot to explore on Kauai. Waimea Canyon is the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, complete with red dirt and waterfalls. Our condo overlooked the beach and the garden area swimming pool water fall. We walked down the street about a mile to see Sprouting Horn blow hole, where the water from the ocean comes up from under the rocks and shoots about 25-30 feet consistently. We drove up the island to the North shore and the little area of Waimea. Along the way we saw the gorgeous coastline that included Princeville resort. It was begun by Russians and sits atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. We also saw this amazing lighthouse, Kauelea. From atop of it we watched more whales, turtles and a Hawaiian monk seal on the beach below. We traveled inland and found many one lane bridges where you waited until it was clear to go across! The valleys on Kauai are so green, there seems to be a mist hanging over them all the time. There are valleys we overlooked that were a patchwork of Taro fields.
We found the beach from the TV show Lost on Oahu, and on Kauai we found the beach from the pilot episode from Gilligans Island! Brett recognized it right away! They told us that it was just announced that Pirates of the Caribbean would be filming in Kauai this summer. I can see why movies like that and Jurassic Park are filmed there: it is so green and seems pre-historic. I couldn't stop taking pictures of all the flowers, sunsets and waves!
Our last night on the islands, we ate at a really beautiful restaurant, outside next to a pool of water with torches for light. What a perfect way to end a perfect vacation!