The Hawaii Traveler

Today’s guest post is from Mary Jo Manzanares, Travel & Culture Channel Editor, and travel blogger at Flyaway Cafe. 
If you watched the NFL Pro Bowl over this past weekend, you got a glimpse of Oahu, Honolulu, and the Waikiki area. It’s very tempting to think of the island as one of sun, sand, surf, sunbathing, and adult beverages. All that would be true, of course, but there is another side to Hawaii, a side full of history, culture, and reverence.
On my recent trip to Honolulu, I had the opportunity to enjoy both aspects of island life, and today’s post touches …read more

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Today’s guest post is from Mary Jo Manzanares, Travel & Culture Channel Editor and travel blogger at Flyaway Cafe.
 
Honolulu’s Bishop Museum offers the natural and cultural history of Hawaii’s indigenous people.   Founded in 1889 by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last heir to Kamehameha I, you’ll find artifacts and exhibits representative of all the Pacific Islands.
A couple of my favorite highlights are the Science on a Sphere exhibit and the Science Adventure Center.

Science on a Sphere is a 68 inch, 200 pound fiberglass sphere suspended from the ceiling.  It serves as a sort of 3-D movie, displaying full color, …read more

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This is a guest post from Mary Jo Manzanares, b5media’s Travel & Culture Channel Editor and travel blogger at Flyaway Cafe.
One of the higlights of a trip to Honolulu is a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial.
Located at Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona Memorial honors the site where World War II began for the United States. The memorial was dedicated in 1962, and is the water gravesite for 1,102 crew members who were killed in the December 7th, 1941 bombing.
The memorial was designed to span the hull of the battleship, without ever touching it. The structure is 184 feet long, …read more

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Looking for an “Authentic Hawaiian Voyage Through Time and Space?” Who isn’t? If you haven’t visited the Big Island’s ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center to take in a show at the planetarium or view its exhibits, you’re missing out on some of the most interesting resources Hilo has to offer.
Located on a nine-acre campus above the University of Hawaii-Hilo, with spectacular views, the center, formerly known as Maunakea Astronomy Education Center, is where families and students from all walks of life explore the connections between Hawaiian cultural traditions and the science of astronomy.
Visit BigIsland.org for maps and driving directions to the Hilo …read more

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Cleopatra, or Cleo as she was known, was the Honolulu Zoo’s resident old timer, and in fact was the second oldest hippopotamus in captivity in the U.S.  During her tenure there, she became fast friends with just about everyone, including a young hippo that she adopted as her own.  But Cleo was suffering under the burdens of old age, and at 3,500 pounds, she was unable to stand on her own.  A zoo veterinarian put her to sleep last Saturday at the age of 52.
Cleo’s body will be sent to a university lab for research and study. Thanks, Cleo, for …read more

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I’ll never forget the year we visited Kaua’i during one of its rainier times.  Usually, there is a little moisture to be had each day on the island that is home to the wettest place on the earth, but this trip was especially “dewy,” as my dad called it.   My aunt who was with us was fussy about her hair–still is, and so after hunting for the perfect umbrella, continued her sightseeing and shopping as well as she could–much to the delight and confusion of the locals, who went so far as to take pictures of her umbrella.  That’s because …read more

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 If you think Kona’s just about the coffee, consider also its grapes.  For one, The Volcano Winery at the 30 mile marker in Volcanoes makes award winning wines that can’t be had anywhere but in the great state of Hawaii.  (For a list of states to which you can have wine shipped, check out the rates and availability here.)
Attend a tasting, or just take a tour. And when your friends ask you how it tastes, tell them, “Like chicken.” Gets ‘em every time.
Photo by Flickr–Creative Commons, by jesiehart

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When the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson visited the islands, he was at the top of his game. He’d published Treasure Island and Doctor Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde.  It was 1889, about fifty years after Herman Melville visited while making his way back from Tahiti. In 1873, Isabella Bird got off her boat on the way to New Zealand to assist a friend whose son had taken ill. Two years later, her letters about her stay were collected and published as a bestselling book titled Six Months in the Sandwich Islands.
Arguably none of them stayed and savored the islands like …read more

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Do you love Hawai’i, rainbows, drive in restaurants, and good red chili? Me too.  That’s why whenever I’m in Honolulu, I set up camp at the Rainbow Drive In.  The Rainbow’s been around since 1961, when a former Army cook and restranteur joined forces to provide working folks and the Waikiki crowd with good food at good prices. (And did I mention the chili?) If you’re the no-frills type, you’ll love it, too.  Try the mixed plate!
Rainbow Drive In
Address: 3308 Kanaina Ave
Honolulu
Phone: 808-737-0177
Photo by Flickr–Creative Commons, by bobster1985

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The path to the falls

If you grew up near water, you might consider the rope swing de rigeur for summertime frolicking and fun.  And rightly so; nothing says “rite of passage” and “finding your inner Tarzan” like a good rope over a cool, natural body of water. (Hope it’s deep, too.)  That’s why if you’re a traveler who’s rope swing literate, you’ll love Kipu Falls on Kaua’i.  If you’re lucky, some locals will be there to give you the best high diving show on the island.  Disappointment alert:  The swing isn’t always there. Authorities periodically cut it down, only to …read more

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