Blogs from Hawaii, United States, North America - page 228

Uncle Billy’s Thursday, March 31, 2005. This is our last day on the Big Island of Hawaii and things are happening here in Hilo. It is the festival of Merrie Monarch. This is the international hula competition. Folks from every island in the Pacific including Japan come to compete to do the best hula. Each hotel hosts a hula demo open to the public. It was fascinating. The Merrie Monarch Festival includes a huge arts and craft market. So that combined with a trip to Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory filled our am/pm before flying back to Oahu. Cherie and Rick found a wonderful restaurant for dinner, the Tiki Village at the Aston Hotel. We all enjoyed a fabulous meal. ... read more

Quote Like all great travelers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen. Benjamin Disraeli Web sites Maui Mountain Cruisers Haleakala National Park Monday, March 28, 2005. Bob and I left Honolulu and flew to Maui, the “valley isle”. My initial impression of Maui is, less traffic, no high-rise hotels, and more rustic. As we arrived the clouds were hanging over the mountains, the trade winds blowing and a light rain was falling. The purpose of our traveling to Maui is to bike down the volcano at Mt. Haleakala! The afternoon we just walked around a huge mall in Maui and killed some time. We need an “early to bed” evening since the outfitter will pick us up at 2:45 AM and transport us to the top of the volcano, ... read more

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." -- Jawaharal Nehru Web sites Run your mouse over the name and click O’ahu Hanauma Bay, Oahu, HI - National Winner of best Beach OR Hanauma Bay, Oahu, HI - National Winner of best Beach March 24. Hawaii -here we come! Up at 4am, we headed out to the airport. We left Pittsburgh at 7:40 am and had a lay over in Chicago, then onto Honolulu. It was a long stretch almost ten hours. We claimed our luggage, found the shuttle bus and onto our hotel. We stayed at the O’Hana Waikiki West, it was OK, lots o... read more

A little about the places we have stayed these last few weeks. We were very fortunate to experience the REAL Kauai by staying outside of the tourist area in a cottage near Kapaa. The cottage was close to the beach and surrounded by swaying palm trees. It was a great time to relax and try to be more of a local. Of course we did the usual daytrips to all the beautiful scenic spots but we also shopped for groceries and even went to see a movie in nearby Lihue. After flying from Kauai to the Big Island we first stayed at the Kilauea Lodge. The mountain lodge in Volcano Village is set among tall pines, large ferns and tropical plants. It is a peaceful, cozy place where even the girls enjoyed the fact that we ... read more

Aloha from Kauai! We are spending the next few weeks in Hawaii on three Islands- Oahu, Kauai and the Big Island. The first three days were at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki, Oahu. We spent a beautiful morning at Hanama Bay snorkeling and enjoying the amazing scenery. Our visit to the Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor was both moving and interesting. There were many Japanese visitors at the memorial… which made us wonder what it will be like when we visit Nagasaki, Japan’s ground zero memorial. Sunday we visited the very friendly Living Waters Baptist Church in Kapaa. We were blessed to able to worship with fellow Christians here in Hawaii New entry: Yesterday we went Whale watching off of Napli Coast, Kauai. Today we went hiking on some trails on Wiamea Canyon the views ... read more