A-Z Challenge - H is for Honolulu, Hawaii

 

If this is Wednesday then this must be Honolulu, Hawaii for my alphabet travel post.  I should get double points since both the city and the state start with H.  When my friend Mary turned 50 I received a free trip to Hawaii for two.  She had always wanted to go so I cleared the trip with my precious hubby and with her precious hubby and we flew off into the wild blue yonder in time to be in Honolulu for her actual 50th birthday.    My trip covered flight and hotel so we were on our own for the massive food frenzy we went on.  Bill, Mary's husband made sure we had an amazing time and booked a tour for us, a luau for us, AND flew us over to see Kilauea and have a tour of the island.  It was a remarkable week and I would take nothing for it.  If you ever get a chance to go you must. 

Dole Pineapple Plantation....a must see.  Word of warning, when you get to Hawaii you will want to eat pineapple all the time.  Don't.  It messes with your stomach and in my case gave me a terrible case of rash mouth. 

 

Shopping was great.  The top picture is the World's largest shirt from Hilo Hatties.  The bottom was my favorite place to shop and it was just around the corner from our hotel.  They had some beautiful teak wood pieces.  I bought a gorgeous pineapple shaped salad bowl for a wedding gift and for my mom.  I bought my dad a teak wood pineapple puzzle.

One of the saddest parts of my involved the memorial at Pearl Harbor and the memorial at the Punch Bowl.  I cried like a baby as I stood about the ship in Pearl Harbor and listened to the speaker who had been there when it happened.  He was well into his 80's and reminded me of my father.  If you go to Hawaii for nothing else....this is a must see!

This was the view from our room at the Ohanu Hotel.  Yep, that was Diamond Head.  We hiked up it one day and took pictures of the amazing lighthouse there.

The laua was at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  The food was amazing.  The classes were fun.  The show was out of this world.  On our trip to the big island we saw many marvelous wonders of the world. 

The Volcano House, a macademia nut farm, and Kilauea in a semi state of eruption.  The big island had a lot of interesting things to do.  I did learn a couple of things while there....don't eat to much pineapple....and poi is nasty.