Hello Lovely,
To say that I miss Hawaii is an understatement. I was there for the first time in 2016 and I am itching to go back. Luckily, I had my friend Jackie be my tour guide. I got to visit some pretty incredible places thanks to her. I was there only for a week which meant I had a short time to see the island. If you are currently making plans to Hawaii or if you plan to do so in the future here are my recommendation of places to see and why. Enjoy.
01. HIKING – PILLBOX
I had never gone hiking before this and was really excited. We woke up really early so that we could catch the sun rise. It’s not a hard hike, and if this girl who has never hiked in her life can do it so can anyone. I mean, I even saw a little ol’ grandma (uhm #goals) hiking. We made it to the top and saw the sun rise which was pretty darn spectacular. After, we were starting and headed down to a local place to eat some ube pancakes. Which I highly recommend. I mean who new something so purple taste so goo?! Apparently the person who invented those pancakes.
02. Food Trucks – GEOVANNIES & LEMONADE
Food is one of those things that you don’t have to spend so much money when traveling. A great place to get a feel for a place and also try some really great food in my opinion are food trucks. We drove up to go to Giovanni’s and I ordered white rice and garlic and lime shrimp. It was so good that we wanted to go for seconds. We also went to a local place where a bunch of food trucks gather around and we were able to get some Lemonade, my friend loved it and I was able to keep the mason jar and bring it back as a suvanueur. So every time I drink from it it beings me back to memories of Hawaii.
03. WAKIKI STRIP
I felt like we were fortunate enough to get a hotel towards the end of Wiki Strip so we had a place to enjoy the beach without being too crowed and we were able to walk to WAIKIKI and all of its shops. Sometimes we didn’t want to do anything but lay down and enjoy the sun so we would just sit out where it wasn’t too crowded.
04. HAUNAMA BAY
This was a trip we took that was really fun because there was so much life underfur feet when we got inside the water. I had just gotten my tattoo so I was being careful not to wet my arm, but I still got to enjoy it and got in to the water. It was really fun seeing how fishes would brush up near me and so close to shore.
05. LUAU
I don’t remember the specific name of our Luau. Honestly, there are so many and they are all great. They are great because you get to try some really good food and you have some fun entertainment. My friend and I dressed up and the performers were so nice, they even commented how I how gotten a tattoo and how they liked it. (Hello, brownie points for being so sweet!) We waited for a bus to pick us up and we had a really great time, we meet another family and we jus enjoyed a meal and overall had a blast.
06. RAINBOW DRIVE IN
Possibly my favorite thing about this pace was that they had CHILI on the menu. I love chili, it is such a comfort food for me, but didn’t realize that it was a common food they ate year round in Hawaii. They also have moco loco, along with so many other choices. But if you love chili as much as I do I highly recommend.
07. DOLE PLANTATION
The Dole Plantation is a great place to stroll around. They have so many treats, my favorite was pineapple ice cream and we were able to tour the plantation for a few hours and just enjoy the beautiful weather and seeing everyone walking around. It is a great place to relax and if you would like they have a souvenir shop and they also have a train where you can tour the plantation.
08. NU’UANU PALI LOOKOUT
One of the first things we right after checking in to our hotel room was go to Nu’uanu Pali. This place gives you the best lookout of the island. It feels like you are looking at a computer screen and like everything in front of you is not really. That is how great the view is here. If you want your breath to be taken away from the beauty that is Hawaii I recommend to check this lookout.
Those where the top 8 things I would highly recommend anyone who is visiting Hawaii for the first time.
Of course there are so many other things that I want to do whenever I go back like tour parts of the island in a bike, I think that would be really fun. I also really wanted to take an ATV Tour, but we weren’t able to fit it in our schedule and in our budget. And try to rent an airbnb and live like locals and also enjoy some shave ice, which I don’t know why I didn’t get any, but those are things for another trip.
BTW: If you didn’t notice in my first picture where I am taking a picture in front of the serf boards Im holding a real-estate magazine because I am convince I am going to move to Hawaii one day! Just keeping my options and dreams open ya know 😉
Have you ever been to Hawaii? Which Island? What was your favorite memory? Let me know in the comments below!
