“Hawaiian Eye” was a television series that ran from 1959 – 1963, and starred Robert Conrad and Anthony Eisley as crime fighting detectives in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The detectives hung out at the Shell Bar, where at least once an episode that ran into “Cricket,” a singer and photographer at the bar played by Connie Stevens. The bar was located at the Hawaiian Village Hotel, where the guys were house detectives and also had an office. Some viewers would swear that the guys spent more time with the sassy Cricket than they did with any crooks.

While most of the television show was shot on the Warner Brothers lot in Los Angeles, the Shell Bar was a real place — then, and now.

The Hilton Hawaiian Village, on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, is home to the real Shell Bar, and provided the basis for the show’s bar. You can still have a drink or two and listen to some music, but Cricket is nowhere to be seen.

Photo credit: personal collection

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Post from: 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 on a more serious side of island life.

Overlooking the city of Honolulu, is the extinct volcano Punchbowl Crater, home to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, frequently referred to as Punchbowl Cemetery, or simply the Punchbowl.

In addition to its tremendous views of the city, Waikiki, Diamond Head, and Pearl Harbor, the Punchbowl is the final resting place for veterans of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. During holidays, the individual graves are decorated with small flags, making a sobering view.

Marble slabs called the Courts of the Missing list the names of military personnel who are missing in action or who were lost or buried at sea (in photo above). At the base of the staircase leading up to the Courts of the Missing reads the following inscription:

In these gardens are recorded

the names of Americans

who gave their lives

in the service of their country

and whose earthly resting place

is known only to God

The Punchbowl was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

The Punchbowl is located at 2177 Puowaina Drive, Honolulu (map it), and is open daily. Visiting hours are 8 am – 5:30 pm, September 30th – March 1st, and until 6:30 pm, March 2nd – September 29th. On Memorial Day, visiting hours are 7 am – 7 pm. There is no charge to visit.

There is no charge to visit.

The Punchbowl is accessible by car, and a number of tour companies make it a scheduled stop on their itineraries. I much prefer the solitude of a personal visit, rather than visiting with a gaggle of others, who are sometimes unappreciative of the reverence that should be demonstrated while visiting. There is an e-tour available for those unable to visit in person.

Photo credit

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Post from: The Hawaii Traveler

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, with two peaks at each end, with a sag in the middle of the structure. The sag is deliberate, and Alfred Preis, the memorial designer, sums it up like this:

“Wherein the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expresses initial defeat and ultimate victory… The overall effect is one of serenity. Overtones of sadness have been omitted to permit the individual to contemplate his own personal responses… his innermost feelings.”

The ship’s HUGE anchor is displayed at the entrance to the visitor center, and it is here that you begin your journey through the exhibits and memorial. At the visitor center are a variety of historical exhibits and artifacts, and a documentary film about the Pearl Harbor attack is shown. As I looked around the theater area, I saw visitors representative of countries around the world, including many elderly Japanese tourists. I couldn’t help but wonder how they felt after viewing the documentary. What stories had they been told, or experiences that they lived through, about the attack. I wondered how their view of history compared and contrasted with mine.

Following the film, visitors are transported by boat to the memorial. At the entry to the memorial, you pass by two bells that were on the USS Arizona, and the enter the central assembly room. This area features seven open windows on walls and ceiling to commemorate the date of the attack. An opening in the floor overlooks the sunken decks of the Arizona, and it is from this location that visitors can pay their respects by tossing flowers and leis into the water. The oil that still seeps from the wreckage is sometimes referred to as “black tears” or “the tears of the Arizona.”

At the far end of the memorial is a marble wall shrine, behind velvet ropes, that lists the names of all those killed on the Arizona. It stands as a reminder to the very human cost of the attack, and that the beauty of the memorial is overshadowed by the solemnity and respect due to those buried in the water below.

The USS Arizona Memorial is open daily, from 7:30 am – 5 pm. Tickets are free, and issued on a first come, first served basis. During peak tourist times it can get quite crowded, as it is a stop on many organized tours. My recommendation is to visit during off-peak travel periods, or first thing in the morning before the tour buses arrive. Allow about an hour and a half to see everything.

Post 9/11 security regulations are in effect, and no purses, backpacks, camera bags, diaper bags, etc., are allowed in the visitor center or on the Memorial tour. Personal cameras are allowed. There is no baggage storage available, so leave them at home, in your hotel room, or in your car trunk.

The memorial is about a 45-minute drive outside of Waikiki, and is also accessible by Honolulu bus system. The #20 and #42 bus will take you to the Visitor Center.

Post from: The Hawaii Traveler

Arguably none of them stayed and savored the islands like Mark Twain, however,  who has been touted as penning some of the best travel writing about Hawaii that’s ever been written. Not to ignore the greats, however, Jack London wrote a glorious piece on his island experiences in the late 1800s.  And then James Michener wrote the novel Hawaii in the late ’50s.  Wow.

Not as in, “Wow, that’s a great book,” but as in, “Wow, James Michener’s blue pencil must be broken.”  Just as a hint, he covers about 4 bazillion years of Hawaii’s history, starting with the first volcanic eruption that mothered the islands themselves, and ending with a discussion of what Tom Selleck’s favorite hair care products were while filming Magnum P.I. episodes. I joke.

And now you can sleep where they slept and hang out where they hung out. (The famous authors, not Tom Selleck.)

Volcano House hotel  Back when Twain stayed here, it was a primitive hostel, not the grand structure it is today. Crater-view rooms start at about $200/night. Call ahead, however, and ask about the vog before you go. The volcanoes area on the Big Island has been evacuated this year due to active lava flow reducing air quality to dangerous levels.

The Namakani Paio campground is three miles away in a grove of towering koa, ohia and eucalyptus trees. The Volcano House runs cabins there that you can get for about $50 a night. (Bathrooms and hot showers are separate there.)

See the monkeypod tree in Waiohinu (look for the sign), planted by Twain himself.  You’ll find the Shirakawa Motel (808-929-7462) just down Highway 11.

He’s not a best-selling author, but he was the king. (Long before Elvis came.) And he slept on the grounds of the King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel (800-367-6060)  It was, after all, his capital.

Elvis really did sleep at The Cocoa Palms Hotel on Kaua’i, along with lots of other celebs from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s.  (And I’ve slept there too. Tell your friends!)  Unfortunately, you can’t sleep there anymore.  Hurricane Iniki wiped the place out in the ’90s, and it was never restored to its previous splendor.  Ask your resort concierge or ask around about taking a walking tour through the property.

Post from: The Hawaii Traveler

The Hawaiian alphabet uses only 12 Roman letters ( a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, w). And those apostrophes are not really apostrophes; they’re what’s called an ‘okina, a diacritical mark that indicates a shortening, or sudden stopping of sound. (Called a glottal stop.) An ‘okina is a special character that Internet browsers don’t recognize, so an apostrophe is used in its place. Between the ‘okina and its cousin, the kahakô (a diacritical mark represented as a horizontal line over a vowel to signify elongation of its sound) those 12 letters become a beautiful language that flows like lava.

How?
Read longer words slowly, and you’ll notice that syllables are often repeated, sometimes with the glottal stop between them. Try sounding things out, and you’ll learn to lose yourself in the scenery instead of the print. Things are pronounced just as they look; there are no silent letters in Hawaiian. Try the state fish, for example:

humuhumunukunukuapua’a

Because we’ve practiced it, and broke down the word for her, my three year old can say it like a pro. So can you. Here’s how it goes:
Humu
humu
nuku
nuku
apu
a
a
And although English and Hawaiian are the official languages of Hawai’i, the only place where Hawaiian is spoken as an everyday language is on Ni’ihau, a private island that is inaccessible to just about everyone. So as long as you’re traveling with a healthy dose of aloha,  all those “apostrophes” will pose no threat. (Confidentially, it’s the dipthongs you have to watch out for, but that’s another post.)

Post from: The Hawaii Traveler

For yesterday’s test, we turned our attention to the history and geography of Hawai’i. Here are the answers, and if you answered them all correctly, write in or comment to receive an extra-special something.

Q: What’s a former name for the Hawaiian Islands?

A: Unlike Prince, Hawaii’s former name was not a symbol. It was once called The Sandwich Islands.

Q: How Many Hawaiian Islands are there? (Hint: It’s more than eight.)

A: The entire collection of Hawaiian Islands comes to a sum of around 137 islands, islets, atolls, and shoals.

Q: True or False: the Hawaiian Island archipelago is the most isolated grouping of islands on Earth.

A: True, according to Macdonald, Abbott, and Peterson, 1984.

Q: How did the landmark known as Diamond Head get its name?

A: From the deceiving, fool’s diamond-like calcite crystals found in the crater by western explorers during the 18th century. (Despite the absence of diamonds, however, Diamond Head is still a gem.)

Image by Jody Reale

Post from: The Hawaii Traveler

Aloha, and say “welcome back” to the Tuesday Test. This week, we turn our attention to the history and geography of Hawai’i. Even if you don’t know the answers–especially if you don’t know the answers–take heart: Answers are revealed tomorrow, at which time you’ll be able to impress your friends with your knowledge and insights.

1. What’s a former name for the Hawaiian Islands?
2. How Many Hawaiian Islands are there? (Hint: It’s more than eight.)
3. True or False: the Hawaiian Island archipelago is the most isolated grouping of islands on Earth.
4. How did the landmark known as Diamond Head get its name?
5. True or False: Even though the Big Island is the baby of the family, it’s almost as big as the state of Connecticut.

Image by Jody Reale

Post from: The Hawaii Traveler

Honolulu Harbor in 1881

The Hawaiian Islands, as you know from previous posts, are comprised of about 137 islands, islets, and shoals that were once known as the Sandwich Islands, named by Captain James Cook, whose trip there was sponsored by the fourth Earl of Sandwich.Now called the Hawaiian Islands, this archipelago of nineteen islands and atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts crawl northwest by southeast in the North Pacific Ocean at the top of the Polynesian Triangle. Thus endeth the history lesson.

Now on to the more interesting question: What’s with those other, tiny little hunks of lava out in the middle of the Pacific?  The short answer is: Water, as most of these chunks of coral and sand and lava are so small that there’s no room for people, animals, or vegetation.  They are still fascinating, however, for exactly the same reason, in my opinion.

First off, those smaller islands, atolls, and reefs beyond Niʻihau are called the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, or Hawaiian Leeward Islands, and are all uninhabited, which the exception of historic Midway, which may or may not have people on it at any given time. (The very inhabited, main islands in the chain that everybody knows about are called the Southeastern (Windward) Islands.

Here’s a list of those Leeward Islands, which, like little planets, are accompanied by a host of other, littler rocks caught in their metaphorical orbit, bringing the number to a hundred and thirty-something…

• Nihoa (Mokumana)
• Necker (Mokumanamana)
• French Frigate Shoals (Mokupāpapa)
• Gardner Pinnacles (Pūhāhonu)
• Maro Reef (Nalukākala)
• Laysan (Kauō)
• Lisianski Island (Papaʻāpoho)
• Pearl and Hermes Atoll (Holoikauaua)
• Midway Atoll (Pihemanu) (features temporary residential facilities)
• Kure Atoll (Kānemilohaʻi)

• Ford Island (Mokuʻumeʻume)
• Lehua
• Kaʻula
• Kaohikaipu
• Manana
• Mōkōlea Rock
• Nā Mokulua
• Molokini
• Mokoliʻi
• Moku Manu

Post from: The Hawaii Traveler

Hawai’i is actually comprised of a chain of 137 islands, islets, and shoals. Only seven of these islands are inhabited year round and four are the main attractions: The Big Island, O’ahu, Maui, and Kaua’i.

At first glance, Hawai’i is a lot like a little piece of Americana wrapped in ti leaves and served with poi. The atmosphere is unlike what most of us travelers experience at home, but it seems not so far away. But at over eighteen hundred miles from the nearest continent, the Hawaiian Island archipelago is the most isolated grouping of islands on Earth (Macdonald, Abbott, and Peterson, 1984).

Polynesia, which means “many islands,” covers a gigantic, 16 million square mile triangular geographical area of the Pacific, with Hawai’i at the northern apex, New Zealand at the southwest corner, and Easter Island at the southeast corner. Within that triangle lie thousands of islands, which have all been explored, colonized, and/or inhabited at one time or another. According to the Polynesian Cultural Center on O’ahu, there are over 30 different groups of Polynesian people living within or near the Polynesian Triangle. In addition, the Polynesian Cultural Center also provides information on several other Polynesian island groups, including the Cook Islands (the site of a season of Survivor, of all things), Niue, the Tuamotu archipelago, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna.

Stay tuned for more posts on the entire chain of Hawaiian Islands, which were once referred to as The Sandwich Islands.  Kind of makes you hungry, doesn’t it?

Photo by Flickr–Creative Commons, by Justin Brockie

Post from: The Hawaii Traveler

During the 1800s, during the rule of King Kamehameha I, Kaho’olawe was the site of the Hawaiian kingdom’s penal colony. Men were banished there, for such crimes as stealing, breaking marriage vows, and promoting Catholicism.

King Kamehameha II reserved the island for government operations, a radical new concept to the old Hawaiian regime. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Kaho’olawe was leased to ranchers, who populated the island with grazing animals that eroded the landscape by summarily reducing the island’s vegetation down to nothing.

Once the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, that was the end of Kaho’olawe as a viable habitat for residents or tourists. For the next fifty years, the island endured virtually irreversible damage from the US government in the form of constant munitions testing.

Today, Kaho’olawe is strictly off limits to visitors, including the waters approaching the shoreline, mostly because sections of the islands are riddled with unexploded ordnance from Kaho’olawe’s days as a practice target for the US Navy.

But Kaho’olawe has sustained some other, indirect climate and environmental changes as the result of farming and ranching. The great bridging cloud that once spanned the forest of Maui to the island of Kohoolawe, has disappeared as cutting and cattle destroyed the upper forests on Maui. With the cloud forest gone, and the rivers dry, Kaho’olawe is a true desert island.

In 1998, the United States Navy began a federally funded 10 year cleanup program which fell far short of its restorative objectives. Now Kaho’olawe preservationists are working diligently to remove the remaining unexploded ordnance, and to resoil & re-vitalize the land, and rejuvenate its cultural and historical value.

Post from: The Hawaii Traveler