Waikiki Beach

If your idea of a fun vacation is crowds, upscale shops beautiful hotels and beaches-Waikiki is for you. It is a mix of Atlantic City (with crystal clear water) Rodeo Drive, along with the street performers of Bourbon Street and Key West. I prefer the other islands-same water-same beaches-no large crowds or traffic.

USS Arizona

I was almost one year old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor The battle ship USS Arizona is a memorial to those men (over 1000) who died and are still entombed in the hull.

One of the main gun turrets still protrudes from the water. An amazing phenomenon is the oil still leaking from her fuel tanks-it produces a multicolored slick on the water’s surface. Legend has it that the oil seepage will cease when the last soldier from WW II dies.

Whale of a Time

They come to the warm waters around Maui and other Hawaiian Islands to have sex. No-not the tourists- the whales! They (whales) swim from their “dining Hall” in the Bearing Sea to their “bedroom and nursery” in the island waters.

When we arrived at Maui, it was “spring break” and “Whales gone wild”! There was a major party going on-it was high season for whale watching as they were everywhere.

We went ashore and booked a whale watching tour hoping to see few up close. Wow-they were almost within touching distance of our 50 foot boat (providing you wanted to lead far out over the rail). It was so good that even the captain and mate were taking pictures.

We had a female with baby and a large male escort, circle our boat for 30 minutes-turning over and diving under the boat, putting on the best whale show I had ever seen.

Ze Plane, Boss, Ze Plane

King Kong, Jurasic Park, Blue Hawaii Magnum PI, Hawaii 50, Fantasy Island and dozens of others were made in the islands- especially Kauia. The tropical beauty of Kauia makes it one of the world’s premier filming locations.

Here are the falls seen in every opening scene of Fantasy Island. The gated dirt road guards the entrance to the cliffs of Jurasic Park.