byLeslie Carbone
If you live in Honolulu, where do you go on vacation? Based on a recent study from WalletHub, the answer might be “nowhere”. The personal-finance site rated the Hawaiian capital as America’s best city for a staycation. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, click here. It’s not hard to see why. Honolulu is certainly…
byLeslie Carbone
As the sun rose on our last day on Oahu, my travel companion and I headed down to the beach. Even early on a quiet morning, Waikiki had a very different feel from the beach we’d enjoyed the evening before. We had heard, and still hear, many times, from many people, that Oahu is the…
byLeslie Carbone
On our way back to Waikiki from the Polynesian Cultural Center, my travel companion and I stopped at Kokololio Beach Park, 30 miles and a world away from the most famous beach on the planet. Though we could see a couple of other people on the beach, they were hundreds of feet from us, and…
byLeslie Carbone
The day after our somber visit to Pearl Harbor, my travel companion and I went for the celebratory atmosphere of the Polynesian Cultural Center in La’ie. The 45-acre PCC features recreated villages representing different cultures of Polynesia; it’s like an island version of EPCOT. Each “village” offers shows that introduce some aspect of its culture….
byLeslie Carbone
After spending much of the day at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial and Museum, my travel companion and I sped off for a quick tour of the U.S.S. Missouri, the 45,000-ton battleship on which Japan would surrender. The Mighty Mo fought during the WWII Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and shelled the Japanese islands of…
byLeslie Carbone
Pearl Harbor was one of the main reasons why my travel companion and I chose the island of Oahu for our Hawaiian vacation. About 200 people were lined up ahead of us when we arrived a little after 7 am on a Wednesday morning. Once the ticket booth opened, the line moved fairly quickly, and…
byLeslie Carbone
The Hilton Hawaiian Village is a 22-acre mini-polis featuring five towers, 22 eating establishments, and a menagerie of wildlife, including emus, flamingos, and tropical penguins. It has much to recommend it, but unfortunately its size can contribute to some communications failures. A central depot at the Tapa Tower serves the multitude of sight-seeing and airport shuttles…
byLeslie Carbone
A traditional Hawaiian luau is a big party in someone’s backyard, usually celebrating a significant event. Since my travel companion and I didn’t expect to be invited to one of those, we decided to go for beachfront affair with lots of food and entertainment and drinks with umbrellas. This post contains affiliate links. For more…