LAST MINUTE TRAVEL DEAL! $245 Roundtrip Air to Honolulu or Maui from Los Angeles or San Francisco Plus 3-day Car
Have you been waiting for it? If so, this week is your lucky week!
$245 roundtrip airfare to Honolulu and Maui from Los Angeles or San Francisco PLUS 3-day Hertz economy car! Price includes taxes and is per person based on two people per car but you can still get a great deal even if traveling alone or with others! If you want to stay longer you can — just add into the price any extra days that you require a car. Seats are limited; offer good while seats last.
We have availability for travel October 20 to 29. If you want to travel on different dates, combine either leg with our other competitively priced fares for what will still be an awesome deal. For a complete vacation, add your choice of hotel and fun activities and tours from our broad selection!
Routes and Dates with Most Availability
Los Angeles - Maui
Departures: Oct 21-26
Returns: Oct 24, 26, 27
Los Angeles - Honolulu
Departures: Oct 23, 25, 26
Returns: Oct 28, 29
San Francisco - Maui
Departures: Oct 20-26
Returns: Oct 20-22, 26, 27, 29
San Francisco - Honolulu
Departures: Oct 20-21, 23-26
Returns: Oct 20-22, 26-28
CALL 1-800-843-8771 NOW and ask for the PH special!!
A box full of star fruit was near the office mailboxes today – fruit fresh from the tree free for the taking. I had never seen or tasted star fruit until I moved to Hawaii but now I love its citrusy taste. A week ago, my office-mate brought guava to share. Not only had I never before experienced guava, but I also had to look up on the Internet how to eat it! (I should have just asked him, but it seemed a little too basic.) He also brings tangerines at times; another co-worker makes the rounds distributing guacamole and limes. Last Friday in the student lounge, people were rejecting free mangoes because they were a little too ripe.
I haven’t been in Hawaii long enough to turn down any fresh produce – I took one and we had mango mash on top of pork chops for dinner. It is still a huge treat to get fruit fresh from the tree at all – much less in October! The fruits and veggies do have seasons, but something is available year-round.
We are fortunate to have two Farmers Markets in Kailua, one in the morning and one in the evening. There are also locations all over the islands; the markets rotate days so the farmers can get to all or most of them. I see several Farmers Market locations in Honolulu as I travel through by bus. We have one at the university every Friday. If Rick doesn’t find a particular item at the Thursday market in Kailua, I look for it the next day on campus. No matter where you visit in Hawaii, there will be a Farmer’s Market nearby.
We first went to a Farmer’s Market during our second visit to Hawaii while still living on the mainland. We were staying in a room with a kitchen, so preparing our own meals from locally grown food was an adventure. Many hotels have kitchenettes but even if you don’t have the ability to cook, you can still enjoy fresh snacks. Honestly, we just wandered around the first couple of visits, amazed at the new sights. The sellers will explain what unfamiliar foods are, usually offering a sample, if you ask. It also lets you meet and visit with the people who grow your food — local flavor of two types. Don’t miss the opportunity to experience new tastes when you visit Hawaii!
Some people in Hawaii learn to sail fairly early.Young sailors in small boats skillfully maneuvered around Kaneohe Bay this weekend, wrapping up the season of races for the Hawaii Youth Sailing Association.It is amazing to watch them pilot their small boats, switching the sail from side to side to catch the wind, quickly ducking beneath the boom as it passes over their heads and switching the position of the tiller behind their backs.It is a complicated move that they have obviously practiced many times.
The group of sailors from several yacht clubs was divided by age and skill level.We watched the youngest and newest sailors on what are called training races.They coped with too little wind, too much wind, drifting start lines and friendly but determined competitors.Some had mechanical problems — sails that came loose, fittings that broke.Most were still able to sail into port on their own, displaying remarkable composure.
Sailing is an equal opportunity sport: it doesn’t matter how big you are, or if you are male or female.Girls were equally represented in the competitors and in the plaques handed out at the end of the day.The smallest and youngest girl started the day falling out of her boat when it overturned during the practice run.She was too light to flip it back over the way the other sailors did (several went upside down during the course of the day, figuring out how to turn your boat over and get back in is a required skill).One of the older boys swam over to help her right the boat.She still finished every race on her own power, including the last run with pretty high winds.
The day was entertaining and I learned two things.First, the sailing season is over for the winter — this was the last HYSA race and the Friday evening races at Waikiki have also stopped for the season.Second, when you start sailing around the bay, avoiding coral, or navigating waves off Waikiki as a pre-teen, responsible for your own safety and that of your boat, sailing across the ocean doesn’t seem like such an impossible undertaking. My guess is that it is sailors like these we watched Sunday who later pilot boats in the Trans Pac or Pacific Cup races to Hawaii.
Also, Pacific Cup will start July 5, 2010 in San Francisco and end in Kaneohe, Hawaii.Mark your calendars!
Usually these beautiful bamboo trees in the courtyard of the building where my philosophy classes meet are a distraction. Watching them sway gracefully in the wind is mesmerizing. Today, however, they are completely still. There is no wind. In Hawaii, trade winds are welcome for many reasons, including the way they make it feel so much cooler. Weather forecasters mention when the “trades” will be returning as part of the weather outlook (along with the surf report).
When the trade winds are gone, like today, it feels slightly more humid. Locals complain about it, but anyone who has visited the southern states in summer has a better story. I moved my oldest daughter into a dorm in New Orleans one memorable August. The expression “like a sauna” has a whole new personal significance to me now. The slight mugginess in Hawaii is MUCH kinder and gentler than the mainland.
The wind is gentler, too. When my sister visited from Kansas, she commented that it is not windy here. We had trades during her visit, but they don’t compare with the kite-shredders in Kansas. Wind there rearranges outdoor furniture, sometimes relocating it in the next county. My sister was so happy to wear her pretty, big-brimmed hats while on vacation in Hawaii, where “you don’t have to nail them to your head to keep them on.”
The climate is so mellow here, with such slight variations, that it is easy to notice a few degrees warmer or cooler or an increase in humidity. Fortunately, the trades are never gone for long – they’re due back this weekend!
Having attended the 2009 Hawaii Underground Music Awards (HUMAs) at Honolulu Academy of Arts’ prestigious Doris Duke Theater, I was recently reminded that our island state and Honolulu in particular enjoy a wide variety of independent music. There are many euphemisms for music not produced by major record labels, and terms like alternative and underground are now saddled with mainstream recognition, for better or worse.
The event itself featured several local bands in a handful of genres, from pop-punk to jazz and hip hop. There were costumed theatrics and off-color remarks, pretty much everything you might expect from an awards ceremony honoring the unconventional personalities that make up an independent music scene in any city. About 150 people attended the event.
What got me thinking, however, was the emcee’s recollections of venues past, glorious havens to eclectic musical stylists that are now but fond memories for hundreds of loyal musicians and fans that made the scene back in the day.
I realized that although many of the legendary clubs that helped spawn a thriving alternative music scene way back in the 1980s and early 1990s are gone, more have sprung up around Honolulu and they continue to provide the spaces aspiring musicians need to hone their music in front of an audience. Places like Ong King, The Loft, Thirtynine Hotel and Next Door are at the forefront of discovering and exposing new talent to new audiences, and there seems to be no shortage of young and hungry bands to fill playbills every weekend. Anna Bannana’s near the University of Hawaii, a 40-year stalwart of local music continues to feature new bands.
Do to major changes in the recording and broadcast industries in recent years, it’s unlikely that local and visiting fans of independent, alternative music will be able to hear new music coming out of Honolulu unless they make the effort to make it to the venues those bands are playing. Some Hawaii bands have made it out on tour, in genres ranging from pop-punk to ska to hardcore metal. Bands like Pepper and Go Jimmy Go have toured all over the US, Canada, Europe and Asia. The reason those bands have been successful is that when they started out, there were venues willing to give them a shot at developing a fan base through live performances.
Thankfully, online resources like 808shows.com and 808scenezine.com make it easy for anyone with an interest in new music to find out when and where to catch the next show.
One of my favorite places in Hawaii reopened to tours this week. Shangri La is closed during the month of September each year for conservation work. Called one of Hawaii’s “most architecturally significant houses,” it is both a tribute to and collection of Islamic art.
The five-acre compound is secreted in a residential area behind Diamond Head. By today’s standards, the home itself is relatively modest in size. However, the building and grounds compliment one another as parts of the overall composition. Large windows form walls that can be lifted or lowered to open rooms completely to the outside. The grounds include beautifully arranged plants, stairs, reflecting pools and water gardens. The view of the shore with Diamond Head in the distance frames the small estate. It is this combination of Islamic focus with Hawaii as backdrop that I find most interesting.
Doris Duke built Shangri La in the late 1930’s. Over the next 60 years, she filled it with an extensive collection of Islamic art. But to encounter Shangri La is much more than a tour of pieces of artwork in an unusual museum. This was the private retreat of one of the wealthiest women in the world for most of her adult life. She first visited Hawaii at the conclusion of her honeymoon, and immediately began plans to build a home. Duke already had several family estates at her disposal, including a Fifth Avenue mansion that she donated to the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. This Hawaii home was the only one that she built for herself and filled with the Islamic art that she loved.
This quote from Duke captures what many of us feel when first experiencing Hawaii: “The idea of building a Near Eastern house in Honolulu may seem fantastic to many. But precisely at the time I fell in love with Hawaii and I decided I could never live anywhere else, a Mogul-inspired bedroom and bathroom planned for another house was being completed for me in India so there was nothing to do but have it shipped to Hawaii and build a house around it.” (from Shangri La: Islamic Art in a Honolulu Home by Sharon Littlefield)
Photos in the book show Duke surfing and enjoying a luau with another Duke – Olympian and surfing legend Duke Kahanamouku. It says she became friends with the entire family and they became her social circle for many years — quite a change from her New York society upbringing! Not all of us have the option to live in various mansions or travel the world, but we all feel the special spirit of Hawaii that captured Doris Duke’s heart and led her to create this serene escape.
[Tours of Shangri La MUST be arranged through the Honolulu Art Academy. Due to the residential nature of the neighborhood, you must arrive on a van from HAA to be admitted.]
Music will fill the air Saturday for the 33rd annual Day at Queen Emma Summer Palace. The large "Hawaiian-Victorian" style home tucked into the Nuuanu Valley above Honolulu was the summer retreat of Queen Emma, wife of King Kamehameha IV. It is carefully preserved with furnishings and household objects of the royal family.
You can tour the summer palace at other times, but the annual celebration provides special treats. Last year, I watched women showing how Hawaiians pounded tree bark into cloth and then saw actual articles of kapa clothing that have been preserved on display inside the house. Men also were pounding taro root into poi alongside examples of traditional Hawaiian weapons (fierce despite a complete absence of metal). Throughout the day, musical performances from the Royal Hawaiian Band to traditional singers to contemporary groups alternated with hula performances of various kinds.
One of the surprises was a display of Hawaiian quilt-making techniques. Piecing quilt blocks was a popular pastime for women in my family in my younger years but the Hawaiian women took this basic technique taught by early missionaries and made it into a completely new art form. There was a completed quilt, a quilt-in-progress showing how it is composed, books on various aspects of Hawaiian quilt-making and small blankets or pillow covers available for purchase. It was like a one-stop shop for elements of Hawaiian history and culture.
I was amused that the house was described as a summer escape from the heat and dust of Honolulu – it can’t be more than a couple of miles from the beach and the buildings of Honolulu are clearly visible. It didn’t seem like such a short distance could really make a difference. But surrounded by lush vegetation on the palace grounds and protected from an afternoon light mist by the thick leaves of enormous trees, I was convinced. Hawaii’s microclimates allow this retreat to be a cool, refreshing escape within hiking distance of the beach.
The palace is an entertaining and educational stop for any Hawaii vacation. If you happen to be here on the first Saturday of October, it is also a slice of living history. Admission is just $6 for adults and $1 for children. Proceeds from the Saturday event help to support the preservation of the Summer Palace (Hānaiakamalama) and Hulihe’e Palace in Kailua-Kona.
The small Hawaiian island of Molokai is receiving attention of a heavenly sort.On October 11, Father Damien will be canonized as the newest saint of the Catholic Church and the first from Hawaii.A native of Belgium, Father Damien deVeuster arrived in Kalaupapa in 1873 at the age of 33. Unlike most residents of the leprosy colony, he came voluntarily as a Catholic missionary priest.He lived on Molokai until he died on April 15, 1889 after contracting the illness.
Leprosy was one of many diseases to ravage the Hawaiian islands after contact with the outside world.The thousands who contracted it (now called Hansen’s disease) were forced to live in Kalaupapa.Father Damien built homes for the exiles and a church.A float in this weekend’s Aloha Parade represented Father Damien’s church.The float was followed by young people from all the islands — their blue shirts created a wave from the parade’s beginning at Ala Moana Beach Park, across the Ala Wai canal and out of sight.The impressive parade presence is one sign of the local enthusiasm over Father Damien’s canonization.About twenty patients still live at Kalaupapa and eleven of them will travel to Rome for the canonization.They are among almost 650 people from Hawaii who are making the trip, including a troop of Boy Scouts who plan to document the journey online.
Modern treatments control Hansen’s Disease and the patients who remain on Molokai do so voluntarily.Those who wish to may live there for their lifetimes.The area is still under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Health.But the National Park Service is preparing to restore and preserve the old sites.Kalaupapa is a small peninsula of less than 5 square miles that juts out from the high sea cliffs on the windward side of Molokai.Tours are now available but it is a remote location, chosen for the leper colony because it was (and still is) relatively inaccessible. The beauty of the area and the allure of the saintly story are likely combine to attract visitors in increasing numbers.
Hawaii loves a good parade!Events and celebrations are frequently marked by parades but I think one of the most impressive is the Aloha Parade.I happened upon it by accident last year and was amazed at the sheer beauty of the flower-covered floats.This year, it has been on my calendar for months.In addition to the tropical beauty, the parade serves as an illustration of many facets of life in Hawaii.
The parade begins with a ceremonial blowing of the conch shell calling everyone together.The United States and State of Hawaii flags are carried by riders on horseback.There are always horses in parades in my hometown on the mainland but I didn’t realize how central they are in Hawaii.Just as parades in the midwestfeature cowboys and rodeo princesses, the "paniolo" presence is celebrated in Hawaii.In fact, there were paniolos in Hawaii before other western states.The first cattle were brought as a gift to King Kamehameha in 1792 and by 1836 Hawaii had working cowboys. This heritage shows up several times throughout the Aloha Parade.
The first float honored the royal heritage of Hawaii, unique among the states.Other floats marked important historical events and celebrated the importance of hula.This parade was the first time I realized that hula is not just a dance for young, attractive girls to entertain onlookers in a performance.It is an activity for men and women of all ages with deeply spiritual roots and implications.Silver-haired women dance alongside very young girls, passing on the movements and love of hula to new generations.
Throughout the parade, groups on horseback represent each island.Each of Hawaii’s eight islands has its own color, flower and title.For example, Maui is the "Valley Isle", its color is pink and the official lei flower is the Lokelani, or rose.In the parade, a woman in a beautiful pink gown represented Maui, followed by three young women and three men on horseback, also dressed in pink.
Another interesting feature of the parade is the prominence of high school marching bands.Hawaii has no professional sports.Many here are passionate about the University of Hawaii’s team sports (it is not unusual to pass restaurants where patrons gather to watch the UH women’s volleyball team).But the big rivalries are among high schools.The respective marching bands strut their stuff in the Aloha parade - beginning with large letters that spell out the name of the school.Some have traditional dancers, costumes or instruments, all have flags and rows of uniformed students playing instruments as they march.
I was so fortunate to have this illustrated welcome to Hawaii.It piqued my interest in many ways about my new home.Any time you visit, check to see if there is a parade — you may get lucky as I did because they are fairly frequent, marking most important occasions.Hawaii loves a parade!
I managed to sneak off to the Big Island a couple of months back, for four days and three nights with family and friends living there. What I thought would be a quiet weekend getaway some turned into a golfing trip. I arrived in Hilo on an early flight. A “calabash cousin” of mine living in the lush Puna District picked me up with two surfboards strapped to his roof, so I gathered we were in for a surf. “Yeah, man,” he beamed, “We’ll go for a surf and catch a twilight round up at Volcano.”
I’d heard of the Kilauea Volcano Golf and Country Club course up there, and had even spent some time in the area touring the nearby Volcanoes National Park (the golf course is just before the entrance to the park on the Hilo side), but I had never seen the course. After a fine surf at a spot along the jagged Hilo Coast, we gathered the necessary provisions for a round of golf on an active volcano with a first tee at an elevation of over 4000 feet: sunscreen, umbrellas, plenty of water and beer. The beer may not have been necessary, but I was on vacation.
We got a discount kama’aina rate of $19 (wow!) at 2:30pm, and arrived to find the course all but empty. There were a few seniors finishing a late morning round, but the course was otherwise all ours. An empty several hundred acres of some of the most beautiful tropical forest in the world is a dramatic backdrop for a casual round of golf. It also makes for a whole lot of opportunities to lose golf balls.
We needed all of our provisions, as conditions at that elevation in that part of the Big Island can change quickly. It was blazingly sunny for most of our round, an afternoon punctuated by one brief but heavy downpour. There was no one behind us, so we took our time taking pictures of the breathtaking views and wild turkeys, native Nene Geese (the State Bird, incidentally) and the exotic tropical birds singing to us from the trees. We only got in 14 holes before the sun dove behind the volcano, but it was some of the most gratifying golf I’ve ever played.
I met up with a dear old friend the next day, and we decided on an impromptu round at the Hilo Municipal Golf Course. Being a Saturday, there was a minor throng milling about the clubhouse, either waiting for their start time or musing on the round they’d just completed. It was an obviously proletarian group, with many single players getting away from work, family or whatever for a quiet, solitary round of golf.
We paid very reasonable green fees and even sprung a few extra bucks for a cart (gotta put the beer somewhere!). My friend and I were paired with two singles, a Big Island native who has been living on O’ahu for years and a Japanese national who had been coming to Hilo on business for more than twenty years. We got along famously, alternately praising and chiding one another’s performances.
There are no sand traps on the course, which makes it perhaps a little more enjoyable for a high-handicapper like me, but there are plenty of trees which, if you ask me, are capable of uprooting and jumping into your shot in the blink of an eye.
As the Hilo side of the Big Island is windward, it receives steady rain. It makes for a soft and green course that I’m sure is as pleasurable to walk as it is to ride. The sky threatened to downpour while we were out there, but mercifully only drizzled on us with a lovely mist and painted a vivid double rainbow.
The leeward side of the Big Island (Kona, Waikoloa) is home to some of the most famous and opulent golf courses anywhere in the world, but there are clearly some lesser-known courses on the island that offer similar beauty and challenge that even a writer/musician can afford.
