I just had the absolute pleasure of getting back from Hawai’i. Visiting the aloha state was always high on my bucket list, and I was so excited to visit the Paradise of the Pacific with my family for winter break. Where should we begin?
Our first full day there was Christmas, and it was actually the first Christmas we spent as a family outside of our home in New York. During the morning, we were all a little jet-lagged, and walked along the beautiful beach to celebrate Christmas. That night, we went to an incredible luau at Germaine’s Luau and enjoyed some delicious Hawaiian food. (Check out some of the footage from the luau in the linked video below).
Speaking of food, the food I had was some of the best I have ever had in my entire life. The dumplings from 7-11 were great, the Asian food was fantastic, and the poke (Hawaiian sushi) was even better. We even had incredible shaved ice from Matsumoto’s, a banana creme pie from Leoda’s, and a Hula Pie from Duke’s. My favorite dish? Without question, it had to have been the garlic shrimp platter from the Famous Kahuku Shrimp truck. I will let this Yelp review do all of the talking for one of the best five meals I have ever had in my life!
I was also exited to go scuba diving in Hawaii, too, which absolutely lived up the hype. In fact, the diving was some of the best I have ever done in my life; visibility was great, there was an abundance of marine life, and I even had a chance to swim with wild dolphins! I was glad that I was able to meet up with Tim (whom I met first on my Turks and Caicos dive trip), who started working as a scuba diving instructor.
No trip to Hawaii would be complete without visiting Pearl Harbor. Being able to visit the hallowed memorial grounds was a surreal experience, but perhaps nothing could possibly pale in comparison to watching the oil rise to the top of the water from the sunken U.S.S. Arizona (Legend has it that the last oil bubble will stop when the last survivor from Pearl Harbor survivor passes away).
Through it all, I really enjoyed learning about Hawaiian culture, too (and yes, aloha means love). Throughout the trip, I often found myself gazing upon the magnificent landscape, beaches, and mountains that ran throughout Oahu and Maui. Even though we were privileged to visit paradise for ten days, I honestly cannot wait to get back at some point in the near future. Until then, mahalo for reading!
(Here is a link to a video slideshow from Hawai’i: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bxg0dP9_zRi6dTVTcFM5UnQ5TGs)
Andrew Paulsen 