The Beauty of Hawaii

OK...I'm focusing on the mommy part of the Blog today and going to share some of our favorite places in Hawaii. We had such an amazing time. The beaches and water were the most beautiful I've ever laid eyes on. I could float in the ocean and see the sand under my feet. And the landscape is just amazing - especially Maui. So here's my Hawaii Top Ten Best list.

Best Beach: South Maui. Big Beach by far. Not really good snorkeling, but crystal clear water and soft, soft sand. The day we were there the surf was a little rough but I could easily get out past the breakers and just float. Perfectly amazing.

Best Dinner: Our Anniversary Dinner. We sat outside only 50 feet from the beach. The view was amazing. Best crab cakes I've ever had. Also the most amazing lobster....mmmm just melted in my mouth. Pineapple Creme Brulee for dessert. Oooooh yeah.

Best Time for Rain: Right at the start of our Luau. Although I didn't see it this way at the time. We had reservations for our luau on Friday night - our last night in Maui. We were there for about 30 minutes before the rain started. Since the resort had not planned well for rain (it rarely happens) they moved the luau inside and refunded anyone's money who didn't want to watch the show inside. When I realized that the show inside would be very dummed down and the food only eh, we got out money back and went out to a really nice place and had an awesome meal.

Best Hike: The hike from Waikiki to Diamondhead. Although I threatened to kill Tom several times along the hike (it ended up being about 8 miles round trip) it really was awesome. The views were totally worth it.

Best Snorkeling: Molikini Crater in Maui. We took a boat trip out and had 2 hours to snorkel. Visibility in the water was about 80-100 feet. Saw some of the most gorgeous fish I've only seen in tanks before. If you've ever seen Finding Nemo we saw several Moorish Idols - Gil the Fish in the fish tank and they are striking. People say it's overrated but it's totally worth it.

Best Hidden Find: Nakalele Blowhole. Oh my, this thing was amazing. It shoots like 100 feet in the air. Tom and I sat and watched it for 45 minutes at least. And then we climbed and hiked all around the area. The guide book we had described it as an acid war zone. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. We spent another hour scrambling around there. At the last peak we climbed out to, we stopped and took a break to just watch the ocean. We were treated at the end of the day with 3 sea turtles swimming just off the shore. If we hadn't had the guide book we never would have found this place.



Best Bit of History: We spent the morning at the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. It was just one of those things I couldn't go to Hawaii and NOT do. Although there are thousands of people milling around the area waiting for their turn to go out to the memorial Tom and I were able to take it at our own pace. When we were out at the memorial a very brief rain shower blew in off the mountain and made the whole thing quite surreal. It went from gorgeous blue to blustery and back to gorgeous blue in the span of about 5 minutes. The feeling at the memorial was somewhat haunting - appropriate I expect. I'm very glad we took the time to visit.

Best Sunset: Our best Hawaii sunset was on the evening of our Anniversary. We got to watch the whole thing out over the ocean. It really was amazing. The way everything just glowed at the end of the day. This is something you certainly don't get to see in Virginia.




Best View: This is a toughie. It could be from the top of Haeleakala, being above the clouds and looking into the amazing colors of the crater. Or the view from looking back over Maui's rocky northern coast. Or the view from the top of Diamondhead looking back at Waikiki. Each one was glorious in it's own way.

Best Drink: By far the tropical martini. Certainly NOT the $9 watery colada from the resort or the Mai Tais at the luau before it rained. This martini had vanilla vodka, coconut rum and pineapple juice. Top with a slice of Hawaiian pineapple (not anything like what we get on the mainland) at it was pure heaven.

All in all we had an amazing time. Got our fill of amazing food, atmosphere, views, hikes....you name it. We promised each other we'd go back again in 10 years and bring the kids. Hawaii certainly filled my expectations of a magical place. The company I had certainly helped "wink wink sweetie".

Edit - I completely forgot about this picture. As we were exploring the area around the blowhole we found a smaller blowhole. It was just the right time of day that when it spouted a rainbow would appear in the mist. Really really cool. I spent about 5 minutes trying to catch it with the camera and I finally got one. Here it is...