Review of Hawaii

Highlights and Observations

1. Amazing Beaches and Beautiful Landscapes
2. Excellent Food in Waikiki most with an Asian Influence
3. Definitely would like to visit again during off season and explore the mountain and forested areas, possibly even camp.
4. Really enjoyed the Waikiki Aquarium and Honolulu State Art Museum. The aquarium had an audio guide that was very educational. And the art museum was at the level of a small national museum, not a state museum.
 5. The state seemed to unique blend of money and liberal culture with traditional pacific island culture.

 Challenges and Improvements 

1. Never visit during the peak season. Everything is over priced and super crowded.
2. Fairly average scuba diving, if I visited again, I probably would not scuba dive.
3. Very cold at night on the "big island" due to the hight altitude. I was not expecting it.

 If ever returned to Hawaii, I get tickets ahead of time to visit: 
1. Pearl Harbor Memorial
2. Doris Duke's Shangri-la

Kona Coffee Living History Farm

Their tagline "the Kona Coffee Living History Farm is a “must see” Hawaii attraction and the only living history coffee farm in the nation". What surprised me most was learning about the history of the Japanese immigrant and their association with growing coffee in Hawaii. I didn't learn much about coffee production per se, but I'm glad I visited this living history farm, it piqued my interest in coffee. I've starting researching the history of coffee books. I'd like to add one to my future reading list.

Road Trip - Southern Loop of the "Big Island" Hawaii

Having rented a convertible while on the "Big Island" and purchasing a download audioguide, I set out for this afternoon road trip. However, the route I chose was a lot longer than I expected. The audio guide was somewhat informative, but full of "dad" joke that weren't that funny. The audio uide was linked to a GPS, so when the car arrived in a certain area the audioguide would automatically play. In between locations the narrator would provide history lessons or tell folklore stories about about Hawaii.

Painted Church

"Ka Lae"or South Point - the southern most location in the USA 

Convertible Lyf

Amazing coastline 

Tree Molds

Driving over Mauna Kea returning to Kona

My ride.  It rented for the same price as an economy car so why not. 

Hawaii's (especially Wakiki's ) Amazing Food Scene

Vietnamese Phó

Spicy Chicken w/ a side a macaroni  and green salad.

Make your own Poke Bowl 

Spicy Tuna Poke Bowl 

Korean 

Fresh Fruit from AirBnB Farm

Hawaiian Fast Food

Scuba Diving

I signed up for 2 days of scuba, but the 2nd day was canceled due to the lack of participants. But overall the saline was fairly generic, so it didn't bother me that the 2nd day was canceled. If the scuba diving was more spectacular there'd be more divers and the perhaps decreased cancellations.

Honolulu Museum of Art - Contemporary Landscapes: Li Huayi

Difficult to see the magic of these painting from the pictures, but they were captivating in the pictures, especially the painting's vastness and use of space.

Honolulu Museum of Art - World Art

Presenting art from all around the globe. Better than most national museums.

Honolulu Museum of Art - Masterpieces

Provide it's only a "state" museum, the museum contained a number of masterpieces. It appeared the museum has a number of very wealth art collecting patrons that donated these masterpieces upon their death.

 Georgia O’Keeffe "Waterfall—No. III ‘Iao Valley, 1939

Paul Gauguin - "Two Nudes on a Tahitian Beach" 1891

Vicent van Gogh - "Wheat Field" 1988

Pierre-Auguste Renior - "The Washerwoman" 1916

Sundance Short Films

Sundance was exhibiting their award winning short films at a local art theater. I decided to take a break and check out the films. After viewing the films, my believe that films are an antiquated art form was confirmed.

Waikiki Aquarium

I was super impressed by this aquarium. The Waikiki Aquarium is an aquarium was founded in 1904. The aquarium is the second-oldest still-operating public aquarium in the United States, after the New York Aquarium. And while the aquarium is relatively small compared to many of the national aquariums around the world, what it did well was educate.  There's an online audio guide that's very informative.  I learned a lot about the waters around Hawaii from the audio guide.