“You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” – Peter Drucker

Many have visited popular islands in the Bahamas such as Nassau, Grand Bahama, Paradise Island, Castaway Cay, and others. Each one has their own unique character. I recently visited a quaint little place called Spanish Wells. It is actually located on a small island called St. George’s Cay.

According to Wikipedia it is: “2,000 ft wide by 9,380 ft long, located approximately 500 m (1,600 ft) off the northern tip of Eleuthera island. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 1,551 residents. Spanish Wells is extended, however, by a bridge that links it to neighboring Russell Island, which is 5.8 km (3.6 mi) long and has become an integral part of the community.^[3]Spanish Wells is so small that many residents get around the island using golf carts instead of full-sized cars. The first colonists were the Eleutheran adventurers from Bermuda (intending to be some of the first settlers of Eleuthera), who suffered shipwreck on a reef, known as the “Devil’s Backbone” off Eleuthera in 1647. After living in a cave known as “Preacher’s Cave” on Eleuthera, they ended up at Spanish Wells. Among other, later, groups of settlers were Crown loyalists, who left the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Historically, the island was used as a last stop for Spanish ships returning to Europe, where these ships refilled their water supply from wells created for this purpose – thus the English name of the settlement: Spanish Wells.”

My husband, Donnie, and I celebrated our 19th anniversary in December 2017. We like to go on an Anniversary/Planning trip each year right after the New Year. We make our goals and plans for 2018 while on this trip. We also do fun stuff and just take time to connect.

My husband, the pilot and entrepreneur, had been wanting to fly his TBM 700 (six seater, turbo prop) to the Bahamas for a while so we decided to give it a go. There was only one requirement: he had to do a trial run first. Being that it was going to be his first time flying his own plane (he’s flown international before as an Air Force Reserve pilot on KC-135’s) to the Bahamas and over open water, I didn’t want to be the guinea pig. Since he had to do his annual recurrent training anyway, he took his instructor, Brett, along to North Eleuthera which is next to Spanish Wells to kill two birds with one stone.

For an open water trip, there are a few essentials that he had to secure before taking the flight. To be prepared, he purchased a Garmin In Reach Explorer beacon. It has satellite coverage for 2 way texting from anywhere, tracks your location every 10 minutes, and has an SOS trigger that has a direct link to the search and rescue center. We also had to get an inflatable water-activated life raft, as well as life vests. He also had to familiarize himself with customs procedures for entering the countries, getting a customs decal for the aircraft as well as filing the flight plan as usual. We also made sure to bring extra cash to tip the airport employees for their services. It is always a good thing to show appreciation to the people taking care of your aircraft. In addition, a lot of foreign countries don’t use credit cards in many areas, especially on smaller islands, and getting to an ATM can sometimes be a challenge.

Fortunately, Donnie’s training flight went well without any issues so I felt more confident flying with him over the ocean. I am not a fan of flying and I’m always a bit anxious, especially when we fly our plane because I am not a pilot. If something happens to my husband, Donnie, while in flight, I have to know what to do. I try to learn as much as I can each time I get in the cockpit. I do have plans to get some training in case of an emergency. I won’t get my license per se, as that would require me to fly a solo flight which I do not want to do.

My husband has the best training in the world from his time in the Air Force and he has kept up with his training on his airplane, way above the minimum required by the FAA so I know he is a great pilot but I still get anxious, regardless.

There were many storm clouds we had to fly around so our decent into North Eleuthera airport was a bit bumpy. Of course the view was beautiful. A few airlines such as United, Delta, and Jet Blue have flights that go into North Eleuthera, the closest airport to Spanish Wells.

The owner and caretakers of the cottage arranged for a taxi to take us to the ferry where we then took a 5-10 minute ferry ride to St. George’s Island where Spanish Wells is located.

Once we arrived at the dock in Spanish Wells, the caretaker picked us up and drove us a short ways to the cottage. The location was amazing…the beach is protected by a reef and the depth of the ocean floor is only about 4 feet max for a long ways out, making it ideal for kids and families. I knew the water would be cold in January but the air temps were also chilly, in the low to mid 60’s, cloudy, rainy and gusty for much of the time so even sitting out on the beach wasn’t really an option. We just had back luck with the weather.

The cottage we rented was a 1 bedroom with a loft that slept about 6 people total. It had a kitchen with pretty much had everything you would need. It also had amazing views of the ocean.

We were hungry since we didn’t eat or drink much the whole day. We try not to eat or drink much the morning of our flight since our plane doesn’t have a bathroom and we knew the flight was going to be two and a half to three hours long.

We rented a golf cart since that is the most common form of transportation there although some still drive vehicles. We rode over to Wreckers, an outdoor restaurant on the harbor side of the island. Most of the restaurants are outdoor there with little to no indoor seating. The BBQ nachos were yummy!

We went to the only grocery store on the island, Food Fair, to get a few things. It had limited hours and limited food. It closed at 12p on Wednesdays. Pretty much everything other than fish, conch, or lobster has to be imported so options were limited. The produce looked bleak and the selection was small. There was no milk at all the entire time we were there and we went to the store 2-3 times while there. There was no deli or bakery, although there was a shelf where you could buy home-baked goods from the locals. Darlene & Skeeter made some really good sweet breads.

The next morning, we did our “vacation workout” that included sit-ups, push-ups, squats, bent over row, and a run on the beach.

Later we went to eat at Eagle’s Landing, one of the only indoor restaurants on the island. We tried the conch fritters and the conch chowder. It was so good that we ordered them the other two times we went there to eat.

Since this trip was a planning trip, we spent most of our day making goals for 2018. Due to the poor weather, we stayed indoors most of the time. So when we went out, it was pretty much to eat. Donnie also got me a massage appointment with the local masseuse (probably the only one) in town.

Our cottage came with kayaks and bikes. Since the water was too rough to kayak, the next day we decided to take a bike ride for our workout of the day. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of the bike ride as I didn’t have anywhere to put my camera. We biked over a bridge that lead to another island, Russell Island. This island was similar in size but less developed. It was mostly land for sale and homes, one makeshift store and one restaurant, The Sandbar. It was VERY hilly for a cruiser bike so after an hour, I was exhausted. Workout was done for the day!

We wanted to go on a boat tour but due to the weather and rough water, we had to sideline it for this trip. We want to return when it’s warmer to try to swim with the pigs, snorkel for huge star fish, deep sea fish, spear fish, reef fish, bone fish, tour nearby islands, see turtles, scuba dive.

After our bike ride, it was time to…you guessed it. Eat. For lunch, this time we tried out the Shipyard.

Later for dinner, we went back to Eagle’s Landing to get some conch fritters and conch chowder again. We stopped at the store again and then spent the rest of the day planning. We tried to get ice cream at Eagle’s but they ran out. The other ice cream place, Papa Scoops, was only open from 730-1030p at night and it wasn’t time to open yet. So we stopped at the Generation Gap restaurant and got some chocolate lasagna. It was pretty good.

The next day, we did our vacation work out in the living room of our cottage again. Then we got ready to go…eat. We went back to Wrecker’s, where we ate on the first day since the food was pretty good.

We did some more planning and then packed up for our departure the next day.

The next morning we drove our cart to the dock and then loaded onto the ferry to do the same thing in reverse. We had to go through customs again on the way out. Then we loaded the plane and took off. Weather was much better and smoother this time. We flew to Wilmington where there was only one employee to process customs which took 5 minutes and then flew back to Raleigh.

I would call our first flight to the Bahamas a success. We look forward to coming back and also checking out many of the other islands. Even though the food was really good, I like Spanish Wells because it has a calm, quiet, laid back charm. I feel that it is a very safe oasis in the Bahamas compared to the bigger islands. The beach where our cottage was located would be great for families with children because the water is relatively shallow, clear, and calm. Not to mention riding in a golf cart is a blast, especially for kids! Everything is so close and just a few minutes ride on the golf cart. There are so many things to do.  We plan to go back to experience all the water activities when it gets warmer and to eat some more conch chowder!

What is your favorite island in the Bahamas and why? Comment below.

Kauai is one of my family’s favorite islands in Hawaii because of it’s amazing tropical rainforests.

Days 9 & 10

Day 9: Kauai (1st Day)

View off the ship while in port at Nawiliwili Harbor, Kauai

Kauai welcome sign

Kauai was my favorite island of the four we visited. To me, it was the prettiest, most tropically lush island. It has beautiful green mountains and cliffs. Kauai is nicknamed “the garden island” for good reason. The majority of the island consists of rainforest reserves.

Lush landscape in Kauai

The only downside, is there is only one main “u” shaped highway that runs mostly around the edge of the island so when you reach the end, you have to turn around and go all the way around to reach the other side. It doesn’t connect. So you can encounter slow traffic.

We swam at Hanalei Bay. It had the most amazing back drop of mountains, water falls and sailboats. (Can’t find my pictures from here 🙁 )

Travel Tip: If you are looking for a beautiful, calm beach for kids, Hanalei Bay is a popular choice. The water is quite clear, has nice soft sand, and little to no jagged, sharp lava rock.

We visited Waimea Canyon State Park which was amazing! (Again missing my pictures from here). We just went to a look out point which had a fence. With younger ones, I’m always a little nervous about walking around drop offs without barriers. We didn’t stay long but the long winding drive was worth it.

We stopped and had Kalua pork nachos and a fruity non-alcoholic drink at Brennecke’s restaurant at Poipu Beach.

We didn’t have time to go to the beach itself, but the waves looked rough. I read somewhere that it has tidal pools for little ones to play in.

We went back towards the ship and parked our car at Anchor Cove shopping center for overnight which I read some people do when they need somewhere to park their rental car as there isn’t any parking at the port that I know of. We were willing to pay a fee but nobody was there to pay. The next morning, we had a “No Parking” warning on our window. Thank goodness we didn’t get a ticket or have to pay a fine.

Day 10: Kauai (2nd Day)

We drove to Opaeka’a Falls to see a double waterfall.

 Opaeka’a falls

Next, we went to Lydgate park which was nearby.

Travel Tip: If you little ones are getting antsy and need to expend some energy, I highly recommend planning some time to go to the park. It has a large playground and some lagoons or tidal pools protected by rock walls so the water is calm and clear. Most beaches in Hawaii are rough and rocky and not very kid friendly. If you want to swim, I’d just focus on going to the protected bays (like Hanelei) or swim in these protected rock coves at Lydgate Park.

Lydgate park has palm trees for shade and picnic tables. It is also great for snorkeling with lots of sea life around the rocks. Of course there are many colorful feral chickens running around on Kauai too. Hurricane Iniki destroyed chicken enclosures in 1992, releasing many of the island’s captive chickens which have multiplied in great numbers over the years.

Feral chicken on Kauai

This day was a shorter day so we had to head back to the car rental agency and the ship.

The next day would be disembarkation day so we started packing up in the afternoon. The kids went to Splash Academy to get ready for their circus performance in the Mardi Gras Lounge.

The circus show was super cute and the emcee was hilarious. My daughter, performed with “devil sticks” (a type of baton-not sure why they are called that) and my son did some plate spinning. My youngest son was an adorable tiger who jumped through hula hoops.

They danced to a song called “Ice Cream and Cake” and “YMCA”. My son got attached to one of the male counselors named “Pip” (a nickname). I’ve been on other cruises and I really like how the number of kids was small and the counselors played games and interacted with the kids a lot more than on bigger, fancier ships with ornate kids clubs. They basically just had a large open room and a side room with a movie screen but they had the time of their lives.

As a sort of finale, the ship cruises along the Na Pali coast. It turns around and goes back the other direction so that both sides of the ship get a good view. We lucked out and had a gorgeous rainbow appear near the coast.

Na Pali Coast with a rainbow

We watched a musical show in the theater that night. It was definitely rated PG13 in my opinion. This cruise ship doesn’t cater to kids in that respect in that most of the shows are more adult oriented. Disney Cruise Line is by far the best cruise line for kid friendly evening shows. I was okay with it as the kids just did other things like going to Splash Academy.

The next morning, the ship docked back at the port in Oahu. We got up, ate breakfast, and then headed off ship. We said good bye to our butler and our concierge  as well as our cabin steward. We got a rental car and drove to Disney’s Aulani Resort and was able to check into our room early!

Disney’s Aulani Resort & Spa

Check out my “Top Ten Must-Dos” at Disney’s Aulani Resort.

The Big Island is Hawaii’s largest island with a variety of activities and adventures that await your family.

Days: 7 & 8

Day 7: The Big Island (Hilo)

I looked forward to breakfast every morning because if you are in a suite, then you get to eat at a table service restaurant for breakfast and lunch, called Cagney’s. They had amazing breakfasts (even though service was a bit slow, I still recommend it but just allow enough time). Way better than the buffet that most of the ship was eating at. They had the best Belgian waffles with a huge lump of whipped cream on top. Yum!! You could order pretty much anything from omelettes to seafood eggs Benedict. They also had a buffet style set up for fresh fruit, yogurt, cereals, and other continental type breakfast items if you didn’t have time to order food.

The best Belgian waffles in Cagney’s

The main attraction near the Hilo cruise stop on the Big Island, is Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (VNP). It encompasses two active volcanoes: Kīlauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, and Mauna Loa, the world’s most massive shield volcano. To get to the VNP, we took a 10 minute shuttle to the airport to get our rental car for the day. They upgraded us to a Ford Expedition. It was about a 45 minute drive to VNP on a two lane highway from the car rental location.

It’s a good idea to start at the VNP Visitor Center to get information about where to visit, what trails are open, what ranger-led activities are going on, safety tips, etc. You can also watch a short video and explore a few small exhibits.

Travel Tip: If you have elementary or middle school aged children, they might be interested in signing up for the Jr. Park Ranger program that most Federal Park Services have. They have a booklet with pages of questions that kids have to research and find the answers to throughout the park. Once completed, they return to the visitor’s center and turn it in to get checked. Yes the park employees actually checked their answers. They then get to take a Jr. Ranger oath, get a plastic pin on badge, and their name announced over the loud speaker at the visitors center telling everyone that your child is now a Jr. Park Ranger.

My son was SO proud of himself for earning the Jr. Ranger badge. I will warn you, the booklet is extensive and we had to rush through it which caused a bit of stress. I even had a hard time finding the answers myself to some of the questions. If we had all day at VNP, then we could have taken our time but we were a bit rushed. It was worth the pain to see his smile! Even without doing the ranger booklet, I would still plan on VNP taking the whole day (mostly if you have older kids that can read, younger ones wouldn’t be entertained as much and probably wouldn’t last all day). We didn’t get to see everything there since we only had a half day. I really wanted to get a tour or at least hike to get closer to the lava flow near where it enters the ocean. I decided against it because depending on the route of flow, it can be a several mile walk on sharp jagged lava rock, not something small children could do so we didn’t do it. You can also take a boat tour with a private company to view the lava flow from the ocean, but the boats aren’t allowed to get very close anymore so wasn’t sure the $200+ per person price tag would be worth it.

One of the best parts of VNP, is driving to the Jaggar museum to see the lava bubbling up from the crater.

Close view of the Kīlauea’s active vent Halemaʻumaʻu

The seismograph inside the museum was pretty cool to see too.

Seismograph at the Jaggar Museum

On the way to Jaggar, there are various steam vents. You can get out to get a closer look but not too close as they are HOT. We just drove by since you could see steam from the road and we had limited time.

Steam vents in the distance

Also, don’t miss the lava tube. The lights weren’t working inside when we got there so I’d recommend bringing a flashlight or headlamps just in case. Cell phone lights are not bright enough. Also there are some 2-3 inch water puddles and uneven surfaces inside the tunnel. Parking is limited right near the lava tube so we had my husband drop us off while he waited for a spot to open up.

Travel Tip: If I were to choose another guided tour to do, it would probably be here at VNP just due to limited parking in the park and also to get some educational tidbits and stories from the guide. I overheard some interesting stories from a guide of a group as I was passing by.

After VNP, we visited Punalu’u Beach, one of the black sand beaches located near Hilo.

Punalu’u Beach

It was a neat sight to see if you’ve never seen a black sand beach.

You aren’t allowed to take any home with you, but I think a little bit of it got into my shoe while I was there (wink, wink). I’ve heard of others taking some back with them but they didn’t get caught so I guess they don’t do a bag search or anything. Unfortunately I only saw one turtle swimming in the distance. We headed back and were running a bit late. We had planned on Donnie dropping us off at the cruise ship and then driving back to the rental agency and taking the shuttle back to the ship. We noticed a ton of slow traffic coming from the ship so we decided we’d all just go back to the rental agency and take a shuttle instead of him dropping us off. Many others were running behind so the kids and I barely made it onto the shuttle. Donnie had to wait for the next one because there was no room but that meant it would be another 20 minutes at least since I think there was only one plus all the traffic coming back that we saw earlier. I texted Donnie to just hop on another agency’s shuttle, which he did.  Thankfully they didn’t ask for a receipt and he made it back to the ship with just 15 minutes to spare for boarding time.

Travel Tip: Make sure you plan to return to the ship at least two hours before the boarding time listed on the gangway. You never know when traffic or other things come up and can make you miss the ship. Worst case, he would just have to drive to Kona and stay the night somewhere for the next port day there but still it would have been a pain and most of the times on cruises, it would not have been that easy to catch up with the ship.

That night, we had dinner at Teppanyaki (Japanese hibachi style restaurant) which was entertaining and had good food.

Teppanyaki (specialty restaurant)

This night was also the night that the ship cruised by the lava flow into the ocean on our way to Kona on the western side of the island. The flow varies and I felt lucky we were able to see a good amount of the flow.

Stream of lava from the Kilauea volcano pours into the Pacific Ocean

Travel Tip: If you go on the Pride of America 7 night cruise, check the route of the ship. The ship only goes by the lava flow once and it is closest to the Starboard Side (right).  We had a private lava viewing party in our suite with all of my family on our huge balcony. Also, don’t forget your binoculars and night time camera lenses!

Day 8: The Big Island (Kona)

At the port in Kona, you have to take a tender boat to get onto the island. Suite guests were able to have priority boarding which was nice, otherwise you were assigned a time slot depending on if you had an excursion or not. We met Chris, the concierge, at the Wine Bar so he could get us on the tender ahead of most of the other passengers. Like a Disney Fast Pass.

Tendering to Kona

Once we were on shore, we walked over to get our rental car at the Courtyard Marriott King Kamehameha hotel.

Car rental agency

We had a reservation with Big Island Air, an airplane tour operator later that day. I was too chicken to ride in a helicopter although I might try it next time. Helicopters are able to get a little bit closer and have more maneuvering flexibility, but I don’t regret the airplane tour at all as it was longer and we saw more things for the same price. More on that later.

On our way to our plane, we had some time. I wanted to stop at a pineapple plantation since we didn’t get to on Maui. Instead, we accidentally came upon Kekaha Kai State Park. The only way in is to drive on an unpaved lava road through an old lava field. We had a sedan, and barely made it. If you have a compact car with a low frame or have a bad back, don’t drive it. It is super bumpy but it was pretty fun! Distance wise it isn’t far but it takes a long time due to the terrain. You have to drive really slow. But it was cool to drive through a lava field.

Lava road into the park

Looking out into the North Pacific Ocean

At the end, you come to at a rocky beach. The shore, like many beaches in the islands here, was jagged lava rock. I wouldn’t swim in that particular location, but we saw a lot of sea life hiding around the rocks. There are also picnic tables and bathrooms.

View from the shore looking back onto the beach

On the drive back out, we stopped and walked around the lava field that you have to drive through to get to the beach. It was pretty amazing to see acres of the black, harsh, jagged lava terrain. Since I didn’t get to hike on any at VNP, this definitely made up for it. I had never seen anything like it before.

Lava field

Lava selfie

We took off towards the airport to meet with our pilot, Rex, at Big Island Air. They were really nice and easy to work with there. I felt totally safe with our experienced pilot. I also felt safe because my husband, a trained pilot, got to sit up in the co-pilot seat, so we were in good hands if something happened to Rex.

Before our plane tour with Big Island Air

Our flight was a 1 hour and 45 minute flight around the island to see volcanos, water falls, canyons, macadamia nut tree farms, and more.  It was amazing!

Our cruise ship, Pride of America

View of the Halema’uma’u crater from the air

 Kamukona ocean entry of lava flow

I couldn’t believe how close we go to the large green mountain cliffs (think Jurassic Park) in an airplane.

Waterfall in Kohala Forest Reserve

A very expensive nap

After our plane tour, we drove back to the rental car agency at the Marriott hotel. As soon as we got there, we realized Blake left his snorkel gear at the beach park so went all the way back to get it. Yet another reason to allow enough of a buffer time between the time you get back on the ship and the time the ship cruises away. We obviously would have left the gear if we risked missing the ship, but since we had allowed enough time, we were able to double back. After returning the car, we walked over to wait in line for the tender boat.

That night, the kids went to the Splash Academy again for dinner and to play. The counselors take the kids to a certain restaurant each night for dinner. One night they got to go to the Cadillac Diner, a super cute retro themed restaurant with burgers and shakes. Donnie and I had dinner with my parents at Il Moderno, the brazilian steakhouse on the ship. This was one of the specialty restaurants that we chose with our package. We had a great package that came with the choice of three of the specialty restaurants for two people for free. The food was pretty good. Surprisingly, my favorite thing was the Brazilian cinnamon and brown sugar grilled pineapple!

My dad getting some cinnamon and brown sugar grilled pineapple at Il Moderno

I have a tradition on every cruise to get a massage. After dinner, I went to the spa for my lomi lomi (Hawaiian massage). I will admit that it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had. I felt like the therapist was rushing to get done because it was late and I was her last appointment for the day. The table was cold and small and just had a thin sheet covering me. I feel like the price I paid was not equal to what I received. Oh, well! Things could be worse.

Spa lounge/waiting area

Afterwards, I got the kids out of Splash Academy at 10:30pm. Would you believe that they still wanted to play and begged me to let them stay longer? Of course I didn’t because I knew they would be little beasts the next day with no sleep. But that was a good sign that they were having a blast!

Check out Adventures in Hawaii: Part 4

Norwegian Cruise Line’s ship, Pride of America, is a convenient way to see a large portion of the Hawaiian Islands with your family.

Part 2: Days 4-6

Day 4: Pride of America-Norwegian Cruise Line

NCL Pride of America

After our hike at Diamond Head, we decided it was time to make our way to the cruise ship to embark on our adventure. Donnie dropped us off at the terminal and went to park the car at the nearby Enterprise rental agency. It was within walking distance for an adult but not kids with luggage so Donnie volunteered. We checked our luggage and waited for Donnie to return so we could check in together. We were greeted with flower lei’s for the ladies, kukui nut leis for the men, and Menehune necklaces for the kids. 

NCL Terminal

Our cruise was a 7 night round trip that originated in Honolulu. NCL also has an 11 Night cruise that includes land tours on Oahu.

https://www.ncl.com/cruise-destinations/hawaii-cruises

 Since we had a suite, we were lead to a private area to check in that had appetizers and snacks. We also got to be privately escorted onto the ship, along with another family that was checking in at the same time as us. The suite was really nice and could fit 6 people but 5 was just right. It had a King bed, a sofa bed, and a Murphy bed. It also had a mini fridge and coffee maker.

Suite number 13014

The balcony was huge, almost the size of the suite itself. The ship had recently been refurbished so everything was pretty new and updated.

Balcony and view from Balcony at the port in Oahu

We registered the kids at the kids club, Splash Academy (ages 3-12). The younger ones need to be potty trained. There wasn’t a whole lot in the rooms at the club, but the counselors had lots of fun games and activities that it didn’t matter. My kids loved the club and begged to go and hated to leave each day. The Guppies Nursery is for ages 6 months of age to under 3 years old and Entourage is for teens age 13-17. 

Splash Academy for ages 3-12

We all had dinner together (all 16 of us) in our assigned dining room, Liberty, that night as our ship was sailing towards the island of Maui.

Cousin table in Liberty main dining room

Day 5: Maui

Our first stop was snorkeling at Kuau cove right behind Mama’s Fish House (a popular eatery, but we didn’t eat there). It had amazing fish and one huge turtle! Public “Beach Access” parking is limited to a few spots unless you are eating at Mama’s. Snorkeling at Kuau Cove was protected, fairly calm, and safe. We also saw an eel, sea urchins, and crabs.

Kuau Cove behind Mama’s Fish House Restaurant

Later in the afternoon, we toured Haleakala Crater (pictures coming soon). Henry was our tour guide on the charter bus. This is one of the few excursions we signed up for on the ship. We just happened to see my brother and his family at the top of the crater at the same time. They drove their rental car up there.

Travel Tip: Save some money and just rent a car to drive to the top of Haleakala. I had read that it was a challenging drive but it was totally doable in a car. Since we had come up on the bus (about a 60-90 minute drive one way), my brother drove us up to the very tip top just another half mile up to the observation windows at the 10,000 ft elevation spot. It was cold up on the crater. It was probably around 50 degrees F or less on average so wear something warm. We watched the sunset and then headed back on the charter bus to make our way back down the crater. To me, the drive down watching all the different constantly changing colors of the sunset was almost better than the sunset at the top of the crater. The down side of the charter bus (or it could be an upside depending on how you look at it), was the bathroom on it being closed. We forgot to have my youngest (5 year old) use the bathroom at the observation area before we boarded the bus again. He had to go really bad and I was worried he wouldn’t make it back to the ship in time. We finally asked Henry if he could pull over so Owen could go outside. He was very kind and understanding to let Owen do that. Thank goodness!

Travel Tip: Bring some extra cash to tip the tour bus drivers if you feel they went above and beyond their call of duty. We got back to the cruise ship and ate dinner at Skyline restaurant, the other main dining room, then turned in for the night.

Day 6: Maui (continued)

On our second day on Maui, we went to Ka’anapali Beach. We parked in the parking garage of the Sheraton hotel for $5. It was a nice beach with lifeguards, bathrooms and boards you could rent. This is normally a calm beach, but the day we went, there was a really strong undertow so the kids just played in the sand after getting tossed like salad a couple of times. Waves came all the way up and got our stuff and Nana (my mom) wet. The kids had a blast.

Kids frolicking on Ka’anapali Beach

There was an area down the beach a little ways called “black rock” (lava rock formation) where people were snorkeling but we didn’t do it this time.

While the rest of my extended family went back to the cruise ship, we had the idea of continuing north on the coastal highway to check out the rest of the northern tip of Maui. Maui is the shape of what looks like a human torso and we went driving to the top of and around the head. Our plan was to try to maybe stop at a pineapple plantation on our way back to the ship in Kuhului, the back of the neck if you are looking at the island as if it were a torso. Let me back up and say that we decided against driving the “Road to Hana” because we heard it had lots of twists and turns that could make us car sick which has started happening to me as I’ve gotten older. And also I heard that it wasn’t the safest drive either due to it’s narrow, winding, one lane roads.

Little did we know that the Kahekili Highway was essentially the “Other Road to Hana”. Luckily we were going in the best direction for traveling on this highway (north so we were on the inside lane and not on the cliffside) with hairpin curves, narrow lanes (some were just wide enough for one car) with few guardrails, and falling rocks.

Kahekili Highway: one lane road with dropoff on the left side

We saw a large rock that looked like it just recently landed in our lane and can’t imagine what damage it could have done to our car if it landed on us.

Large rock in the road

Travel tip: If you want to drive the “other Road to Hana”, drive it going north so you aren’t cliffside, have a full tank of gas as it is a long drive and no gas stations, empty your bladder before leaving as it’s pretty remote, drive during the day, drive slowly, and also drive the smallest size care that you can. Luckily we drove a small car rather than a mini van or large SUV. Also there is very little cell service out there, just FYI. Also we made the mistake of not bringing cash with us so we couldn’t buy fruit or homemade baked goods from the roadside stands (they can’t take credit cards due to poor cell service).

I didn’t take as many pictures of the highway views because I was a bit nervous at some points on the road. One treat we got for our daring drive was getting to see the Nakalele blowhole, a natural formation where the power of the ocean is funneled through a lava rock keyhole.

Travel Tip: If you visit any blowholes, stay far enough away as you can get sucked into the hole and drown. Don’t let small children play near the blowhole, hold their hands the entire time and keep a safe distance. It was a little rough in terrain so we just walked to a ledge that overlooked the hole from a safe distance but still be careful with little ones as there is no railing there.

Afterward, we headed back to the cruise ship boat and the kids spent some time playing in the pool with cousins. There was some singing and conga lines going on as well. Donnie and I had a date night at La Cucina, one of the specialty restaurants, while the kids ate and played at the Kid’s Club (Splash Academy). They were getting ready for a circus show they would perform at the end of the week and the kids seemed very serious about it. We had an awesome view of Maui during dinner. Then it was time for bed to see what our next adventure would be!

View from La Cucina

See Adventures in Hawaii: Part 3

Hawaii is a great place to go on a family vacation

This past June 2017, our family was able to embark on a 14 day Hawaiian vacation. We visited four of the islands: Oahu, The Big Island, Maui, and Kauai. It was a wonderful vacation that we will remember forever and it was made even better because my parents, my siblings, and their families were able to come as well. I’m hoping that I will be able to give you some ideas for your future Hawaiian family vacation. Since this would be one looooooong post, I am dividing it up into four parts. 

Part 1: Days 1-4

Day 1: On the first day of our travels, our family flew to Los Angeles on American Airlines. Our flight was delayed 2 hours so we didn’t take off from Raleigh, NC until 9 p.m.! I would have picked an earlier flight but my mom picked them so I just went with it.

Travel Tip: Try to book earlier flights in case of delays, especially if you have young children.

We got to L.A. at around 11 p.m. (2 a.m. Eastern). When we landed and went to our hotel, we had a bit of a snafu. Our credit card company thought we had a case of fraud because we didn’t notify them that we were now in California. Oops!

Travel Tip: Notify your financial institution before you leave for vacation in a different state (or country) so your card won’t get declined and they know it is you charging the card.

The first room I had reserved went through but the 2nd room was declined due to the fraud alert. So the hotel sold our second room and we were left with only one room for five people (only 2 beds) because they were completely booked up and full for the night. Luckily, my daughter was able to share a bed with a cousin in another room but it is totally not what I wanted to have to deal with after traveling across time zones. On the bright side, we saved $274 by not renting a second room. 

Day 2: After having only about 5 hours of sleep, we headed back to the airport on the shuttle. As inconvenient as it is, I would still break up the trip in two parts.

Travel Tip: If you have young children and are traveling from a place where the flight would be really long (10 hours for us), breaking up the flight into two days will save you and them from going “bonkers”. I don’t think I could handle it, let alone the kids. I am also glad I spent a little more money and upgraded our seats. We upgraded to Delta’s Comfort Plus seats. The extra inches (up to 4) of leg room is totally worth it on the long flights. The extra inches made it easier for me to rest on the drop down tray. On our other late night flight, there wasn’t enough room to do that so it was incredibly hard to get any sleep.

Since we had an early morning flight, we got into the Honolulu airport at around lunch time. We grabbed our rental car and headed up north towards the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Travel Tip: Rent a car from these companies (Avis, Budget, Advantage, Hertz, & National) at the Honolulu airport to save time since you can walk straight over to the rental counters. Otherwise, you have to waste time waiting on a shuttle to take you over to the other rental agencies. 

Car Rental Center

Polynesian Cultural Center (Oahu)

On our way to the PCC, we stopped at Kualoa Beach Park to use the restroom and see Mokoli’i, commonly known as Chinaman’s Hat. According to Wikipedia:

“It is a basalt islet in Kāneohe Bay, Hawaii. Mokoliʻi is part of Kualoa Regional Park and located 1⁄3 mile offshore of Kualoa Point, Oahu. The 12.5-acre islet is owned by the City and County of Honolulu and is protected by state and federal park regulations. It is open to the public from dawn to dusk. It can be accessed by kayak, boat, surfboard, by swimming, or wading at low tide.”

Chinaman’s Hat

Since it was lunch time, we chose to eat at Pounders Restaurant located at the Polynesian Cultural Center’s new Hukilau Marketplace. The restaurant is named for Pounders Beach, a popular bodysurfing spot located about a half-mile down Kamehameha Highway. Pounders serves produce fresh from island farms, Hawaii-raised beef, locally caught seafood, and bakes distinctive Hawaiian-style pizzas in their brick oven imported from Napoli. The kids can order a pizza and design and make their own pizza at the pizza making station (don’t know the official title). The Mahi-Mahi nuggets were good with the aioli sauce. “Pupu” is another name for an appetizer. You bet the kids and my husband had a lot of laughs talking about how they were going to eat some “Pupu” for lunch!

The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is a wonderful place to learn about all the Polynesian cultures. We enjoyed visiting the different exhibits and learning about the Tongans, the Fijians, the Tahitians, just to name a few. One of the young Tongans gave my son a woven grass cube that she had made.  They also got in a little spear throwing. 

Afterward, we went on a little canoe ride there. We watched a video about Hawaii in the IMAX type theater. It is a 4D experience that I will not give away. You need to experience it for yourself.

We went on the free trolley tour that took us to see Brigham Young University (BYU) Hawaii. 

BYU-Hawaii

We also visited the beautiful Laie Temple. It is one of 150 or so (and counting) temples owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the world. We were able to tour the Visitor’s Center and chat with the missionaries who volunteer there. It was neat to see scripture printed in many different languages.          

  The Laie LDS Temple

When we returned from the tour, we checked into the Courtyard Marriott hotel (right next door to the PCC) and got ready for the Dinner Buffet and show at the PCC. The PCC is a great place to visit with many options as far as luau’s and shows. We did the evening show which included a buffet dinner before the show. We were all so exhausted from travel and the long day that it was hard to stay awake, however I’d recommend going to the PCC.

Travel Tip: If you book early enough, you get a 10% discount.

Day 3: The next day, we visited Pearl Harbor. I had reserved our tickets online in advance for the U.S.S. Arizona: https://www.recreation.gov/showPage.do?name=landing&landing=/htm/pearlharbor/home.jsp&contractCode=NRSO&parkId=72369

The tickets for the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial site & ferry go on sale every morning 2 months in advance at 7:00 a.m. HST (Hawaii) which is 1:00 p.m. EST in North Carolina where I live. Tickets are free unless you add the audio tour for $7.50 but the tickets are usually all gone within minutes. You are also only allowed to reserve or purchase 12 tickets per account. You may also get free tickets by lining up at or before the museum opens at 7 a.m. They give out 1300. First come, first served. You can also go through a tour company that includes the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial but they are typically much more expensive.

Travel Tip: You must arrive at least 30-60 minutes early so you don’t miss your tour time as you may not be able to go at all. We were just a few minutes late due to a wrong turn and we had to beg the guy in charge to let us try to fit in on another boat to get out to the U.S.S. Arizona. They pack people in tight in those boats, I can attest.

The Memorial was so peaceful and reverent. It is a sullen experience but I am grateful for the service and sacrifice of those service members who lost their lives.You can still see the oil slick on the surface of the water. The oil from the sunken ship continues to leak out and will for many years to come.

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial         Names of fallen soldiers

Oil leaking from the U.S.S. Arizona

Waikiki Beach & Surrounding Areas

After touring Pearl Harbor, we checked into the Armed Forces hotel, Hale Koa, on Waikiki Beach.

Travel Tip: If you are a military member, this is a really nice hotel in a great location for less than $200 a night per room (depending on the time of year) which is amazing. It is common to pay twice that at the other hotels.

We ate dinner at a restaurant on the beach and then walked back to our hotel, enjoying the beautiful evening. 

Waikiki Beach at Sunset

Travel Tip: Each Friday evening, the Hilton Hawaiian Village (next door to the Hale Koa) puts on a free firework show on Waikiki Beach. The fireworks show usually begins at 7:45pm or 8:00 pm depending on the time of year and the daylight hours. The show lasts about ten minutes.

Fireworks at Hilton Hawaiian Village viewed from the Hale Koa hotel

Day 4: The next morning, we explored the resort, went for a jog, and enjoyed more of the beach’s beauty including a rainbow! We enjoyed the pool, swam at the beach, and watched the homecoming of the Hokule’a from a distance: http://www.hokulea.com/home/.       Rainbow over Waikiki Beach       

  Pool area at Hale Koa

Diamond Head

We decided to hike Diamond Head but didn’t plan too well as we thought there was a short cut to the top (my mom said there was) but either we went to the wrong entrance or she was making it up because we ended up hiking uphill, in some very steep sections, for an hour in the mid day heat with little water.

Travel Tip: If you want to hike Diamond Head, go early in the morning right when it opens as parking is limited and the heat takes a lot out of you. Wear a hat, wear sunscreen, and bring water. Only hike if you are healthy. Also, there are no facilities on the hiking trail itself, just at the start of the hike. I believe it is 1.6 miles round trip. My son, Owen, did great considering, but I wouldn’t bring kids younger than five years old unless you want to carry them most of the way. It is an amazing view and was worth it but I underestimated the effort it would take. We did get to enjoy some shave ice right before the climb. 

                                                                 Climb up to Diamond Head                                                              

View from Diamond Head

Next stop: Adventures in Hawaii: Part 2 – Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America!