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OAHU
Two months later, I was back to New York, this time with Guida and Di. We stayed one night at the Marriot, Newark Airport, and early next morning we're flying to Honolulu, via Los Angeles. The first stop was at Waikiki, and we stayed at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider, a very nice hotel that is said to have introduced the world to Hawaiian hospitality in 1901. We practically have no photos, since we were using the video camera to capture the beach, the Dole plantations, Iolani Palace and the rest... The only survival was this one taken to greet us at the arrival...
"ALOHA"
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BIG ISLAND
Then, we flew to the Big Island. As the video camera was operating, no photos were taken. Unfortunately, after the visit to the Kilauea Volcano the camera broke down until today, and everything was lost... Well, there is one exception:
"KING KAMEHAMEHA'S HOTEL at Kona Beach is on one of the most historic sites in all of Hawaii, as King Kamehameha the Great had his royal residence adjacent to the current site of the hotel. When we arrived the Hotel was extremely busy with the Big Fish Contest, but anyhow we managed to survive... and saw everything that was to be seen: Kailua-Kona, Kohala Coast Resorts, Waimea, Hilo, Lava Tree State Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (one video camera out of order for ever...), and back to Kailua-Kona!"
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MAUI
The third Island to be visited was Maui, and for us it was the best of all three. Furthermore, the Four Seasons at Wailea is superb!
"IAO VALLEY is a beautiful site. Furthermore, it is also the place where occurred in 1790 one of the most famous battles that changed Hawaii history forever. By then, King Kamehameha the First destroyed the Maui army in an effort to unite the Hawaiian Islands. It's better to bring mosquito repellent...
"IAO NEEDLE is a natural rock pinnacle presiding over the Iao stream and surrounded by the walls of the Pu'u Kukui Crater"
"WAIHEE-HONOKAHUA. The road from Waihee to Lahaina via Honokahua and Kaanapali was impressive. You should pray not to get a car coming in the opposite direction, at least in some of the sections of the road. Some years ago there were recommendations not to bring rented cars to this road, but the views by the sea were superb..."
"LAHAINA - After the thrilling experience of the Honokahua road, we got to Lahaina, the so called «jewel in the crown of Maui». Lahaina town seems to be the second most visited spot on Maui after the beaches, and has an excellent restaurant: David Paul's Lahaina Grill. We managed to get three seats at the bar - tables were completely full - and had a superb meal cooked by David Paul Johnson. It was a remarkable experience"
"SHOPPING - After dinner we went shopping, which is one of the top sports in Lahaina. Crazy Shirt T-shirts and Aloha shirts were some of the buys. We also saved the Planet with Di's Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt, and then we returned home, to sleep at the Four Seasons in Wailea"
6 comments:
Hi Gil,
My wife and I spend our honeymoon in Hawaii. We spent one week on Maui and one week on Oahu. While on Maui, we also stayed at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider. Did you know that Robert Louis Stevenson stayed there while writing Treasure Island?
Well, anyway that for sharing the photos, it was nice seeing Hawaii again.
John
Hi John,
We also enjoyed very much our stay in Hawaii, and we actually returned there two years later.
I knew not about Stevenson and the «First Lady of Waikiki» (1901), but heard about some celebrities there (including the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII of Britain - 1920 - and Jane Stanford, co-founder of Stanford University, mysteriously dead from strychnine poisoning in 1905)... We saw the incredible Indian Banyan Tree planted in 1904 by the Director of the Department of Agriculture Experiment Station Jared Smith. Furthermore, we had a beautiful room with a tremendous view towards Waikiki beach and the Diamond Head.
It was superb!
Gil
Hi Gil,
I remember the banyan tree. We had dinner a couple of times on the porch surrounding the tree. We told them we were on our honeymoon and asked for a special room. If you remember the hotel is sort of shaped like a "U", with the banyan tree in the middle and the top of the “U” facing Waiki beach. If you were standing next to the tree and looking at Waikiki beach, we were on the left-hand wing of the hotel on the second floor. When I went swimming my wife could talk to me from the room by just looking out the window.
It was a beautiful view from the room and a beautiful hotel. If I ever go back, I would like to stay there again. At some point in the future, I would like to go back to Hawaii, but I would like to go to the Big Island and Kauai because I haven't been there before.
My in-laws are coming over for dinner today and I have to go to the office some this weekend, but I also plan on trying to post some new pictures on my blog at some point this weekend.
It is nice to have a friend to share travel stories with.
Best regards,
John
Hi John,
The Moana is an exciting experience. The Big Island is quite interesting and the Volcano Park is fantastic. On Kauai, I'll post when I get there - 1998 - but I don't have a single photo. Only video...
Thanks for sharing your travel tales.
All the best
Gil
The worst thing about reading your site is that I am ready to go on a vacation again... was in on the Big Island in January 2007 - oh my... we stayed at Mauna Lani and even got to go to the summit of Mauna Kea... a dream come true... one day we did fly over to Pearl Harbour... something my husband had always wanted to do... we flew around the BI in a helicopter, over the volcanoes etc ahhh... bliss...
Aloha and Mahalo
Fliss & Mike,
I'm glad that my posts bring up good memories to you!
The Big Island was an amazing experience; the problem is that by that time I was a video camera addict and almost have no pictures... ;( Only when the vulcano and humidity broke my camera I bought some disposable cameras and got some pictures... ;))
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