Our Thoughts
I’d always protested when Patti hinted at a Hawaii vacation. “Too far!” “Too expensive!” “How’s it different than the Carribean?”
Wrong, wrong, and more wrong! I couldn’t have had a more misguided impression of Hawaii.
Paradise! – “A place or state of extreme beauty, delight, and happiness” – Dictionary.com.
If these guys have got that definition right, then Hawaii is quite simply … Paradise! Beauty, delight, and happiness rushed me before I could claim our luggage at the open air baggage carousel, Kahului Airport Maui. Two weeks of the most unbridled escape from mainland care and worry. I didn’t turn on a tv, didn’t give a thought to what issues were pressing back home.
Intoxicating ocean breezes, every view, every turn of the head a new beautiful feast. I know that dated old show tune from South Pacific meant to describe some other place, perhaps some other time, but ….
Any night, any dayIn your heart you’ll hear it call youCome away, come awayBali Ha’i will whisper on the wind of the seaHere am I, your special islandCome to me, come to me
Don’t come, don’t save and scrape for this special island ecape and you’ll be sorry. Hawaii … Not to be missed!
Below You Can Look At Our Visit
Don’t forget YouTube and internet resources and searches to plan your own trip. The links listed below are generalized. We of course, reviewed many resources before our travel.
La’ielohelohe – Oahu
Ka’a’awa – Oahu
Paeahu, Wailea – Maui
Our Trip (click the links below to learn more)
Where We Stayed: Wailea – 7 Days Ho’olei Villas At Grand Wailea, Oahu – 7 Days Ala Moana Hotel
Places We Visited: Wailea – The Road to Hanna, Sunrise at Haleakala’ – Papa’Anui Volcano (National Park), A Molokini Crater Snorkel Trip, A beach day – Cliff Diving and Napaili Beach LaHaina, The grandsons took a surfing lesson at Laihaina
Oahu – Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head Pickleball Club, Waikiki Beach, Oahu North Beach, Haunamma Bay
Where We Ate: Wailea – 2 dinners in, Tommy Bahama, Manoli’s Pizza Company, Breakfast Grand Wailea Waldorf Astoria, Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop (Amazing banana bread – sells out early!), Leilani’s On The Beach (fabulous lunch), Oahu – Lite dinners at Alamoana Center Food Court (Food in Honolulu is pricey. This saved us some serious money and easily paid for our rental car and HOLO passes), Assaggio, Food Truck BBQ North Shore,
Pickleball: Diamond Head Tennis and Pickleball, Oahu PIckleball Association
How We Got Around: Wailea – Rental Car, Oahu – Senior HOLO pass public transit and 1 Day Rental Car to loop the island. Patti and I try to use public transit options when we visit. It beats the cost of a rental car, and avoids high parking fees at city hotels and atractions. It’s a fun way to really see the city. Patience helps, but being curious about the real life of people who live where you visit makes a public transit journey worthwhile.
The HOLO system paired with Apple Maps – Type in your destination, pick the public transit option, and it will identify closest stops, any transfers required and keep you updated on time of arrival. It was amazingly accurate. We rode the bus to Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, pickleball courts around the city, visits to Waikiki Beach and dinners out. $20 for the week was a real travel bargain. I’d do it again without hesitation.
