Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Last Week

I'm leaving Hawaii next week. Next week!

I can't believe how fast these six months have flown by!

Oh wait, it's only been five.

Well, my little brother got into town last night, and I'm feeling a lot better, so we're going to see if we can't show him around town this week.

Or at least show him our favorite things around town.

And my goal is to take a picture/pictures of everything we do.
Since this is probably the last time I will do most of these things. And while I've been sick, I haven't really taken my camera with me anywhere.

First stop: THE North Shore.

We decided to stop at the Dole Plantation for pineapple ice cream (you must try this) and a pineapple float (my favorite!) on the way north, so we could save room for other treats later.
The kids also convinced me to run through the "world's largest maze". They've been begging to go all summer, and I kept telling them, "Maybe when Uncle Andrew comes..." Well, he's he-ere!

I love taking people to the Dole Plantation, because most of our guests have no idea how a pineapple grows. It's a secret! You have to go to the Dole Plantation to find out (or just look closely at the pictures above).

Next stop: "Turtle Beach"
For the life of me, I can not figure out what the real name of this beach is. But there are always people standing around on it. In clothes, not swimsuits. There is always traffic passing by - slowing for the people or the turtles, I'm not sure. Probably both. And there are almost always basking turtles soaking up the sun or playing in the waves. Turtles love to play in the waves.

*update: thanks to a shark spotting report on the news, I just figured out the name for turtle beach! It's Laniakea! Thanks sharky!

Destination: "Three Tables"
I don't know the official name for this beach either, if it even has one, but it's between shark's cove and Waimea Bay Beach. It's called "three tables" for the - get ready - three table-like reefs. Crazy, I know. If you have kids, this is a great place for snorkeling! That is why we always end up here. Small beach, small/medium crowds, manageable waves, great, accessable snorkeling! (p.s. the spell check says accessable is not a word, but I disagree, so I apologize)

*I should mention - the waves are really only manageable here in the summer. In the winter... go somewhere else.

Time for lunch: Haliewa Eats!
It's about time this place received some face time. The definition of hole-in-the-wall, I don't know how I ever ended up here, but we love this place. And as if that wasn't enough, so do all of our guests! In their words, "This is the best Thai food I've ever had!" But don't get the pumpkin curry. We love the Mussaman and Panang Curries.

Of course, you can't go to Haliewa without getting some Matsumoto's Shave Ice (that's right, shave, not shaved). I know the sign doesn't look too appetizing, and I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the ice! Our favorite? The classic Rainbow flavor with ice cream. Get the ice cream!


And we had to go a little out of our way for Ted's, but it's Ted's!
Another picture I forgot - the giant ocean mural on the wall at Ted's!
The Chocolate Haupia Pie from Ted's is to die for! (and I'm not a big fan of haupia) Dave suggested that we should fill a cooler with ice and put a Ted's pie in it for over 10 hours while we are at the Polynesian Cultural Center. And I considered it. It's that good.
The Pineapple Macadamia Nut Cheesecake is excellent too, and while we were there today, I picked up a Pineapple Upside Down Cake for Dave's birthday tomorrow. I'm sure it will be delicious!

Goal for tomorrow: try to focus just a little on the quality of the photos. :)

5 comments:

Lyndsie said...

You are going to have to e-mail me copies of some of those pictures!!! I was terribly while we were there and didn't take pictures of anything!!! I miss it already and want to come back!!!

Heatherlyn said...

What a fun fun place to live for several months! I wish we could, or could have at least visited!!!! So many fun things to do and see!

Accessible. That's why the spell check didn't like it. But it IS a word. I'm a pretty bad speller myself.

I want to go to turtle beach (I like your name for it; it's easier to spell)! I want to snorkel and try local food! And go in a giant maze! How fun is that?!!

Hizzeather said...

"But don't get the pumpkin curry."

ha HA! Why didn't you know that BEFORE I ordered it? :)

Cal said...

I love panang curry! It's my fav. Also the Tom kha gai, that coconut soup. We just had some monday night from our fav thai place. Grant makes fun of me when I order it and say it. I'm sure you'll be back to Hawaii to do all the fun stuff again. Good luck finding a place to live!!

Sjauna said...

Yeah, I thought it was "accessible", but spell check spotted it, so then I got all insecure, and ended up spelling it wrong. I'm glad to know it is a word. Just for some reason not in the blogger dictionary, spelled correctly or incorrectly.

And sorry you didn't like the pumpkin curry, Heather. You're just one of our more adventurous guests.