We spent a total of 10 days in Hawaii with our friends Joe and Melissa. All four of us went to CWRU, and we've stayed friends since. We ended up visiting three of the islands while we were there and snorkeling off one of the tiny ones. We started in Oahu for a few days then were on Maui for most of a week. We took a day trip to Lanai and went snorkeling around the volcanic crater Molokini. All in all, this was a tremendous trip and one that Erynn and myself will not soon forgot.
I think this is a great picture. We were minding our own business sitting on the beach. We let ourselves get hussled into getting our picture taken by this strange eastern european guy with a couple parrots. We gave him the money and never thought we'd actually see the pic delivered the next day. He did deliver them and the result was fantastic!
Here are my favorite people sitting in the courtyard of the USS Arizona waiting for our turn to take the boat to the memorial. I don't know about these guys, but one of my main motivations for vacationing in Hawaii was to visit this memorial. The experience did not disappoint.
Here is a view of the memorial as you approach it from the little boat that ferries the visitors there. In the sunlight it is so beautiful, but if you look down you can see the hulk of a rusting ship just under the surface of the water.
The memorial itself is quite cramped as you can see from all the people. From the sides you can get a decent perspective on the devistation of the day.
Just a little reminder for us all when we take our liberties for granted. Over 1700 people lost their lives in less than half an hour and are still buried within the hull.
A couple bits of the boat still protrude from the water. I found myself staring at little oil bubbles still making their way to the surface even after all these years.
The Dole Plantation: the best place in the world for Pineapple Whips. As you would expect. Rest assured that we did our best to verify the claim by sampling as much as we could. Joe also learned where pineapples come from! He also developed a taste for the Olde Beef Jerky...
Deterred by his Beef Jerky experience, Joe embarked to discover the best chocolate covered macadamia nuts. I don't know how many he tried, but thank god he has a high metabolism. He finally settled on Hawaiian Host, and you can order your own by going to the site.
Here I am with Joe up to our ankles surveying the scenery on Waimea Beach. It's a rough life.
As tourist traps go, the Polynesian Cultural Center wasn't all that bad. Aside from the pushy staff and poor food we enjoyed ourselves. The place was very manicured but beautiful as you can see from the photo of Joe and Missy by the water feature (note the happy American tourist in the background). Watch out for Joe giving up the doctor business to become a rock drummer.
Joe hijacked us to take a trip around the NW end of the island where no rental car is meant to go. "Think of it as our own 'Road to Hana'!" he said amusingly. Along the way we took this beautiful picture after everyone was car sick on the sheer cliff roads. At the same spot Erynn and myself got into the photo action.
I would have to say the best investment the entire trip was the excursion to Lanai with Captain Craig. For $100 each, we got a day on the beach, the most amazing snorkeling, whale watching, and the best boat ride on the planet. About 95% of the Island of Lanai is owned by a single person. You can see his resort (Manele Bay Hotel) behind Joe above.
Here we are by the same Tidal Pools on Lanai with the incredible 5* resort behind us. We didn't stay there, but admired from a distance.
The snorkeling around Lanai was fantastic. Since the island is owned by one person, access is fairly limited, which keeps the environment pristine. The small heads poking out of the water are Erynn, Joe, and Missy in front of Shark Fin Rock. The rock has a shear face that goes down about 80 feet to the bottom. Visibility is about 150 feet. I am not kidding when I say it was like swimming in an aquarium.
The town next to our resort was Lahaina, which is the major tourist draw on the western side of the island. Joe and Missy were impressed by the quality of the art galleries in the town, and Joe couldn't pull the trigger on a amazing painting of Buzz Aldrin. We ate some incredible, though expensive, food. We had plenty of Ahi, Mahi Mahi, and Opocopoco, which seemed ubiquitous. We even had some fish and chips to remind us of England, but being made from Ahi beat anything I've ever had in the land of David Beckham. Above are some random shots from Lahaina: Erynn below the town's banyan tree, us at Longhi's Restaurant, and Erynn and Missy propositioning a sailor in town.
We stayed at the Sheraton Maui in Kaanapali, which was incredible. This picture is a view of the resort's beach from the expensive rooms (not where we stayed). The resort was expensive, but the beach and amenities made the extra splurge worth it. Unfortunately, I took this picture on the only cloudy day of our trip.
© 2003-2018 Doug Rathburn