My parents picked us up to start our journey to Hawaii.
We had a “Your bags may have shifted in flight” moment when getting out of the car at the airport.
Kelli and I found a good place to wait for our flight…
And I worked on some beerporn.
The over-priced food on the flight.
Kelli got some reading done.
11 hours on the plane and we needed to eat a second time.
We finally arrived in Oahu, Hawaii!!!
There was a rainbow right as we left the airport.
We rented a convertable and headed to our first place, Tee’s at Kailua, a bed and breakfast.
The room was really nice…
With a good sized bathroom.
Very clean.
A really large closet.
Later that night we headed out to dinner.
Bring on the Hawaiian beers!!!!
We had an outside table…
And the food was really good.
The next morning the table was set for breakfast.
While waiting for breakfast, I walked to the back of the property to view the water and mountain.
Tee is a really good cook…
And breakfast every morning was great.
After eating we headed out for our first day on the island.
Our first stop was Pearl Harbor.
We quickly procured our tickets to the Arizona…
And then rented the audio tour.
Hawaiian Islands, just above where it says Pacific Ocean.
I forgot to bring a hat on the trip, and the sun was really hot, so I made a purchase at the gift shop.
DC, 4833 miles away.
An image showing where the USS Maryland (my hat) was in relation to the other ships on battleship row.
A model of the USS Arizona as it sits today.
The bell from the USS Arizona.
The USS Maryland took damage in the battle, and like the vast majority of the ships in harbor that day, returned to service after repairs.
Red means it sank, orange is heavy damage, and yellow is moderate damage.
Recovered from the USS Arizona.
A memorial to all the submarines lost during WWII. I believe I counted 52 in all.
Our time arrived and we headed out to the Arizona.
All that can be seen above water.
Those who died on the ship, and the box in the front are those who survived, but who had their remains interred with their shipmates.
The ship is still leaking oil to this day. (USS Missouri in the background).
Our time was up, so we headed back to land.
Our next stop for the day was the Dole Plantation.
We got our tickets for the Pineapple Express, not the movie…
But actually a train.
They take you on a small tour around the plantation…
Where you get to see all the pineapple bushes. Pineapples take about 18 months to grow.
You know I love these things.
We stopped for some frozen pineapple treats.
We were only a few minutes away from the 4pm show, so why not.
I won’t bore you with the demonstration, but this is the end result.
Kelli was in pineapple heaven.
We took a tour along the north shore of Oahu and stopped to see the green sea turtles.
They were sleeping on the beach (our first beach of the trip).
On our way home we stopped for a drink.
The place was actually more of a tourist trap, but the beer was good.
When we got home, we went out for dinner.
Again, we decided to sit outside.
“Round for the kitchen”, nice.
The food was really good!!!
And we would have gone back if we had the time!!
Kelli took a bath when we got home and didn’t want a picture taken.
Breakfast, again, at the bed and breakfast.
Afterwards Kelli relaxed and read the paper.
This place was featured on the food network…
So we gave it a try.
We had some time to kill, so we headed to a park to relax.
The water was beautiful!!
We just walked along the beach (beach number 2 for the trip) for a while.
Hubba-hubba!!!
Surfers heading out to surf.
These little crabs were everywhere.
We posed for a quick picture….
And then headed to the Polynesian Cultural Center for the day.
You get laid everywhere in Hawaii.
The day was long and included things like a coconut opening and use demonstration…
Some sort of ceremony…
Dancing…
Featuring Kelli’s favorite, Tahiti.
and ukulele lessons.
After all that, there was dinner and a show.
Dinner was a buffet, and it was so-so.
After dinner there was a big show.
No photography allowed, but I took this one at intermission.
The next day, it was our last breakfast at Tee’s.
Those pancakes were soooo good.
We found out about the B&B because my parents had stayed there in 2004.
We said goodbye to Tee’s wife…
And the wonderful area of Kailua…
And headed to the Aulani Disney Resort.
Our room wasn’t ready, so we dropped off our bags…
And headed to downtown Honolulu.
We walked from the car to the beach…
Where I found this really cool tree.
Kelli loves beaches, and this is her third one for the trip, Waikiki.
The water was a wonderful color blue.
Of course, she went right to laying out.
While she did that, I walked around the downtown area.
Some history reading for you: the Beaches of Waikiki.
No tourist area is complete without gifts and national chain restaurants.
One of my favorite brands.
The area was nice, but very much geared to tourists.
The area of interest isn’t really that big, and can easily be walked in a short period of time.
Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku, the man credited with spreading the sport of surfing.
We left Waikiki and headed back to the resort.
Our room was so big, I couldn’t capture it in pictures….
We headed down to the bar for a drink.
Mmmm, beer.
Because we had a kitchen, we went shopping and picked up some supplies.
My parents sent us an anniversary present!!!
The Disney resort was full of hidden mickey symbols.
I found a total of three in the room (I found the third later and forgot to take a picture).
Not to mention the obvious items.
We headed out for our anniversary dinner that night.
The food was good…
Both of us opting for the fish.
Yummy dessert.
The next morning we checked out the resort property and they had some rays in a tank.
Information about the stingrays.
There was a snorkeling pool you could pay to use.
But we opted for the lazy river.
There was a slide that we headed to the top of to check out.
After all the running around we were doing it was nice to take a day and do nothing.
There was a beach (beach number 4) on the resort, too, so we went snorkeling.
There was a turtle in the water…
That night we did a beer and food pairing at Aloha Beer Company.
There were lots of good beers from which to choose.
I met with the owner, Stacey Santos, and set up an interview for later use on Indy Beers.
The beer is brewed onsite.
This is brewmaster Dave Campbell.
Nice spelling of my last name.
The menu for the evening.
Dave posed with me for a picture.
I won’t bore you with all the pictures I took, but they’ll be on IndyBeers.com in a few weeks.
I will say, that the food pairing was great…
And it was only $45 per person.
Did I mention it was all you could drink?
The next day we headed to Diamond Head State Monument.
The hike is supposed to take about an hour or two round trip.
There is plenty to see from this old volcano crater.
Almost to the top and you can see the elevation is quite high.
It was also used as a military outpost during World War II.
Here is a 180 degree panoramic image I made from 5 images.
Honolulu in the background. We were on the beach just between our shoulders.
You can see the spiral staircase we climbed in this diagram. The previous picture was taken standing on top.
Heading back down through the tunnel.
Had I had known we were going to be so fast (about 50 minutes round trip), I would have taken a before picture.
After leaving Diamond Head Crater, we were ready for lunch and beers.
I’ve had Kona before, but figured I’d try the sampler.
Raw tuna, honestly one of the best dishes the entire three weeks were were in Hawaii. We bought a second one after finishing the first.
We enjoyed a hummus platter as well.
We met two new friends at the bar…
And they invited us back to their house.
We relaxed poolside with some beer.
I picked a flower from the tree to put in Kelli’s hair…
And Lauren didn’t think it was pretty enough so she climbed into the tree and got better flowers.
So much nicer!!
We had a good time for sure.
We left there to head home…
And I drew a bath for Kelli using the flowers.
With the bath done, we decided to go for a walk…
We made it a point to try all the hot tubs…
Because, well, why not.
Kelli doing laundry means we have reached the end of the first part of our trip. It was time to pack and get ready for the cruise ship.
Part 2 of our trip started with heading to the cruise ship.
It wasn’t long before we were laid (again) and on board the ship.
That sounds like a reason to enjoy the drink of the day!!!
Our bathroom was a little tight…
But the room was OK.
And having a balcony is key.
This is where our room was, but on the other side of the ship.
The beers they had to offer on board (at least those worth being consumed).
I was going to be drinking all week, so why not buy the deal.
I ended up drinking these most of the time as they were the highest ABV at 6.8%.
We did a bar crawl on the ship before leaving port.
I thought we were going to be drinking beer.
But only in the first bar.
We were all given silly names…
And made to play silly games.
This was pass the tennis ball without using your hands.
As the “Booze Director” I did very well.
At one point they split off the men and women. Find Kelli.
By the time we were leaving port, I was well intoxicated.
I had tried to smuggle beer on board, and they found them and took them from me (I got them back at the end of the trip).
I took a lot of photos of food on the cruise, but I’ll try to limit those I share to the better ones…
As I’m sure you see enough food on Instagram (I was doing it first).
It always amazes me how long the halls are on cruise ships.
Our first of two days in Maui, and we had breakfast delivered to the room…
And then we headed out onto the road to Hana in our rented car.
The road to Hana isn’t so much about getting to the small town of Hana…
As it is everything you see and do on the way to Hana.
There were waterfalls every mile or so.
And I managed to get Kelli into one of them.
The road (just behind us) is very narrow, so when we had a chance to stop, we did.
After going off the beaten path we found this small beach (beach number 5).
A four wheel drive vehicle can go most places, but a rental car can go anywhere!!!
We stopped at the Keanae Arboretum to check out the trees.
Some reading on the place.
I really liked the bark on these trees.
Lush and beautiful.
A famous road-side stand on the way to Hana…
With thier claim to fame being their banana bread.
1 for $15, 2 for $20. I bought two. They’re on display in my basement.
It was wild how quickly the elevation dropped to the ocean.
Just outside of Hana is Waianapanapa State Park…
We walked past this cave…
On our way to the beach (beach 6).
We made the bad decision to go all the way around the Island, instead of heading back the same way we came.
This side of the island is much drier.
I got stuck behind that mini-van for 45 minutes. I don’t think he went over 25 MPH.
I finally managed to get around him and we went to Tedeschi Winery. With no really good wines, we moved onto…
Haleakala National Park.
We didn’t stay for the sunset, but they are supposed to be really good from the top.
Some reading from the top.
The drive up took about 30 minutes from the ranger station. That doesn’t include the 20 minutes from the main road to the ranger station.
All so we could see the Haleakala Observatory…
And a big hole in the ground. I’m still not sure if I’m glad I made the trip to the top.
But hey, at least I had good company.
Life above the clouds.
Back for the night at the ship. About 9 hours round trip, with most of it spent behind the wheel. Needless to say I was done for the day.
Kelli challenged me to a game of ping pong and lost.
Heading out for dinner that night.
Overall, we hated the food on the ship. Since when is a burrito a good main course. Salmon was the only fish.
The next morning we had a big breakfast before heading back onto Maui.
I was constantly in awe of the volcanos.
Our first stop of the day, and our second brewery for the trip, Maui Brewing Co.
This was a great place with…
Lots of great beers.
Small batches only brewed here. Bigger batches were brewed offsite.
One of the brewers, Kim Lutz, stopped by to say hello.
I’ll have more pictures of this visit and an Interview with Kim on IndyBeers.com.
After the stop at Maui Brewing Co. we headed to the tourist town of Lahaina.
We were short on time, so we just drove through and took in the sights.
We wanted to make sure that Kelli had plenty of time for beach number 7 for the trip.
We had an adult good time in the water at Launiupoko Beach Park.
After our beach trip, we dropped off the car and headed back to the cruise ship.
As members of the Norwegian Cruise Line rewards program, we were invited to a private party.
Music…
Drinks, and Hors d’oeuvres were on tap.
Leaving port that night.
Our before dinner photo for the night.
The raviolis were really good, but they were only offered one night.
Our first day on the Big Island (Hawaii) started with a quick breakfast onboard the ship…
…before heading out into Hilo.
We really only went to Hilo Hatties and then…
Headed back to the ship. Find Kelli.
When you’re on a three week vacation, it’s good to do nothing on some days.
The sushi restaurant on the ship cost extra, but it was worth it.
A nightmare for Kelli.
Our next day was in Kona and we were doing our only dive of the trip.
There were lots of little fish.
But not too many big ones, like the Kelli fish.
This conch decided it was going to make a meal of a small sea urchin.
It took about 2 minutes for it to get over to the sea urchin, climb on top of it, and start sucking out the inside.
Waiting in-between the first and second dive.
Time for dive #2.
Again, there were lots of little fish…
And a few eels…
But it was this turtle at the end of the dive that was really cool.
He swam right by me.
Afterwards we had a quick snack, and Kelli went swimming on the beach in the background (beach number 8). Incidently, that beach is the start for the IronMan competition.
The Indian food was really good!!
Back on the ship, and I needed a hair cut.
Much shorter!!!
Dinner that night…
And another beach (number 9) the next day.
After laying on the beach on the island of Kauai in the city of Lihue it was time for some food and beer.
We drank a lot of beer on this trip.
We tried to watch the Ravens preseason game, but it was blacked out for some reason. (I suspect the Direct TV dealer is licensed out of Baltimore).
Sporting a week and a half worth of tan.
The tacos were so good we ordered another round after finishing these.
Look at the tan Kelli has from all the time on the beaches.
Heading to dinner for the night.
I swear the food was getting worse the more time we spent on the ship.
There was some good live music on board.
Kelli complained about the wine we were served the night before, and we were given a free bottle of the bubbles.
We left the last stop on the ship (outside of our home port)…
And got dressed for our last night on the ship.
Dinner was another blah moment.
The next morning we packed and headed off the ship and started Part 3 of our journey.
Part 3 of the trip started in the Honolulu airport with Kelli drinking a lavaflow.
Our workstation at the bar (using our cell phones for internet tethering).
We flew first class from Oahu to Hawaii (the Big Island).
Hawaiian Airlines, great service!!
The open-air airport of Kona, Hawaii.
One of our bags got lost, so we drove our third rental car for the trip to Taco Del Mar and waited for the bag to arrive.
They have great food…
And I recommend stopping in if you have the chance.
Our fourth place of stay during the trip, the resort area of Waikoloa.
Our place was in a gated area.
The place was very large…
We headed to a general store about 20 minutes away to get supplies.
That should hold us over for a few days.
There was a Macaroni Grill at the resort, so we went there for dinner.
Our first full day, and we wasted no time heading to Big Island Brewhaus in Waimea.
We ordered some beer and food…
And I checked out where they brew the beer.
I tried a sampler to get a feel for their beers…
Which were some of the best I had on the trip.
For the record, this is the third brewery we visited.
We met some new friends at the bar and were invited back to their house for some homegrown fruit of the earth.
We went for a walk around the property…
And you know I like to stop and smell the flowers.
A very cool view of the volcano Mauna Loa.
It seemed everyone we met on the trip were really nice, down to earth people.
Solar power…
Is a big thing in Hawaii.
On our way we stopped in to get some more supplies.
Here’s our latest haul from the store. Notice the mochi has already been opened (Kelli).
We just stayed in that night and drank beer.
An Indian mongoose. They were everywhere (an invasive species that eats the eggs of native birds).
The next morning Kelli and I made our way to beach number 10. I really never got over the amount of lava rock everywhere.
This was a very small park that was nice and quiet.
It was about a 4-5 minute walk from the car to the beach.
And it was cool seeing where the lava flow had finally met the ocean.
There was a small cove where we set up shop…
And I went in for a snorkle.
Like many of the other places…
There were lots of little fish.
Afterwards I sat on the beach and read in the shade.
We left the beach and headed to Kona brewing (brewery number 4) for a late lunch.
The atmosphere was very relaxing.
We had a few beers…
Specifically the Pacifier IPA. (As a side note, I HATE the font comic sans)
Even Kona Brewing uses solar.
We were just in time to do the brewery tour.
Keep in mind they are owned by the Craft Beer Alliance…
Which is partially owned by Anheuser-Busch (note the A-B on the palettes).
Current solar panel production.
Best pizza in Kona, claims the book, “Hawaii: The Big Island Revealed”. It was OK.
An incidental chip in the floor that looks like the islands of Hawaii.
A lamp that I want.
See, just like the chips in the floor.
This was our big travel day on the Big Island, and after about 30 minutes of driving, it was malasada time.
It’s kinda like a cross between a doughnut and fried dough.
Kelli was in love with malasadas!!!
Our next stop was Akaka Falls (Kahuna Falls was just a bonus).
Another one of those trees.
This is Kahuna Falls. Cool, but we were too far away.
Now this is a waterfall!!!
Akaka Falls, 442 feet (think of a 37 story building).
Some reading for you.
I need to remember to smile when doing these photos.
We left Akaka Falls….
And headed to Hilo…
The home of the fifth (and final) brewery, Mehana Brewing Company (formally Hawaii Nui Brewing).
Turns out, this is where Bridey and Chris were getting the beer from for their wedding.
They didn’t have a bar, just a small tasting room.
But they had plenty of beers to sample.
And we tried them all.
I met brewer Reed Morelli…
And he gave me a personal tour.
Mano, no!!!
I took like 5 of these pictures, and this was the only one in which I got most of the sign. (Kelli took the camera from me and went back to the car).
I’m pointing to where we are standing, and Kelli is pointing to where we are staying. About 2.5 hours drive coming from the road you see going to the right. On the way home we took the road to the left to make a full circle around the island.
An overview of the active volcano, Kilauea.
There was some activity, but we didn’t hit the lava lotto.
We went for a ranger led hike on an old road that is no longer used (it collapsed into the caldera)
A three image panorama of the caldera. It’s about 2 miles away to where the smoke is coming out.
What it looks like below the earth.
I noticed you could walk across the caldera, so we added that to the list of things to do.
A quick photo in front of the active volcano…
And then we started our hike down.
Now this is an adventure, walking around the caldera of an active volcano.
Just as we got down to the bottom a fog and light rain rolled in.
It’s crazy to think this was hot bubbling lava in the past 100 years.
Walking on the surface of a volcano, check.
It really looked like a desolate wasteland.
We reached the other side and began our trip back to the top.
An indigenous bird, the ?I?iwi.
After our volcano walk, it was time to check out the sulfur banks.
I hate the smell of sulfur…
It smells like rotten eggs.
Sulfur crystals formed where the sulfur comes out of the gound.
Kelli loves the smell of sulfur.
Far down the same path is an area with steam vents all over the place.
We had some time to kill before sunset so we went and checked out the Thurston Lava Tube (Nahuku).
It was really difficult to see from the outside…
But inside it was really neat!!!
Back at the observatory we waited for sunset to see the lava glow.
Hitting the lava lottery.
Molten lava in the background.
We coudn’t see the lava, but you knew it was there.
Beach number 11 the next morning at the resort.
I did some snorkling there, too.
Later we went to downtown Kona…
And Kelli got a new bag.
The cruise ship we were on one week before.
I should put together a set of photos of all these cut-out things.
A turtle necklace I bought for Amber, with a turtle in the background.
The turtle was eating the algae on the rocks.
We headed back to the brewery for a drink before heading home.
A shot of Mauna Loa looking up the lava flow.
The sunsets were always good in Hawaii (Kelli saw the green flash on the last day, I missed it).
Our last night pulling into this resort.
Our before dinner picture for the night.
For dinner we headed to Roys, which was located on the resort.
The sushi was really good…
But I wasn’t too impressed with the tuna.
Kelli walked barefoot on the way home and accidently kicked a lava rock.
Her toenail ended up falling off and is now growing back.
Our fifth and final stop for the trip, Mauna Lani Bay Resort.
We arrived in the morning for Bridey and Chris’ rehearsal brunch.
Nothing like an early morning Mai Tai.
Chris’s father gave a fantastic speach…
And we all ate.
What a great dress!!!!
We left the brunch…
And checked out the three sharks in the pond. Can you find all three?
There were turtles, too. I have never seen so many turtles as on my trip to Hawaii.
This was our last room on the trip.
Not too bad of a view.
Spacious bathroom.
A treat from Bridey and Chris.
Fun treats!!!! Kelli fell in love with the juices.
Some information about the wedding the next day.
We had some time on our hands before dinner, and the Ravens game was about to start, so we headed to a bar.
How about another Mai Tai…
To kill the pain of another Direct TV blackout for the Ravens.
For me, this quesadilla was one of the top five dishes we had on the trip.
I got a little tipsy, so Kelli drove us home.
Some local information on the Hibiscus, the state flower.
Bought this, and then left it in the room. It was the only thing I lost on the trip.
The fish at the entrance of the resort would nibble on your finger.
For the poor little toe.
With night falling…
We headed back up the mountain to the Big Island Brewhaus.
We met up with Chris and some of his buddies on Chris’ last single night.
2764 feet in elevation.
Good luck!!!
For my mother.
We hooked up with a few locals to go see Leeloo’s Assassins at the Parker Ranch Broiler. Check out TalonPhotography.com for those pictures.
While on vacation I ran six times (and still gained weight). Kelli ran a couple times more than me. This was a turkey near the exercise center.
When we got back from our run, Chris and his entourage passed us by on their way to the wedding location.
Wedding time!!!!
See the album “Bridey and Chris’ Wedding” for those pictures.
Our last morning in Hawaii.
We had lots of time to do nothing before our flight.
So I was a bum by the pool.
And had a few drinks to ease the pain of having to go back to work.
It’s funny that a lot of the wedding party was at the start of their vacation, and ours had come to an end.
I prepaid for gas, and I made sure to run the tank dry. I was actually a little worried we wouldn’t make it. I’m never prepaying for gas again, it’s the biggest scam in the rental car business.
We had one last drink at the bar…
Before hopping on our flight and heading home!!!