Dreaming of Hawaii

I've been to Hawaii once and that was two years ago. I want go back. Take me back! We went in July of 2014 to the big island. While it felt like it had the least amount of beaches due to the lava rock it was still amazing. I really want to go to Maui or Honolulu. But hey... beggars can't be choosers. I wouldn't snub my nose to a trip back to Kona.

Let's relive my one and only trip to Hawaii... If I can't be there physically then I can at least be there mentally.

  

 

 

 

Aloha

Can you imagine never being able to leave your house in the daylight without hundreds of fans mobbing you? That was Elvis' everyday life. He started living his everyday life during the night. His one escape though was Hawaii. The people of Hawaii would for the most part treat him like any other visitor. They would allow him his privacy and for that he thanked them many times.

Elvis first visited Hawaii in November of 1957. Sailing there on the U.S.S. Matsonia. He performed on two islands before heading back to the mainland. His next return to the islands would be in 1961 for a benefit concert. He was determined to help get the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial completed and he gave a concert where 100% of the proceeds went to completing it. The concert raised $65,000 dollars and the memorial was completed in 1962.

He returned to the U.S.S. Arizona in May of 1968 to tour it.

Elvis filmed three movies in Hawaii: Blue Hawaii, Girls Girls Girls and Paradise Hawaiian Style. He loved the beaches and the water. It was his vacation spot and every year he would try to come there and enjoy himself. He would also bring a large entourage with him to enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

 

In January 1973, Elvis performed the Aloha from Hawaii Special.

This would be the first live performance to be broadcasted live via satellite around the world. It aired in over 40 countries across Asia and Europe. In case of an accident during the live broadcast they recorded an entire concert in Hawaii a few days before the live show so they would have something to go to incase technology failed them. Elvis was so excited for this performance that he lost 20 pounds before the airing. When he arrived on the island he was greeted with fans awaiting to Lei him.

When he hit the stage he wore a white American Eagle jumpsuit that included a matching cape. He opened the show with trademark opener, See See Rider. The broadcast however, was not happening live in America. It was being held as a recording because the NFL Super Bowl was happening at the exact same time.

At the end of the concert, Elvis removed the cape and flung it out into the audience stunning the world. The cape location was unknown for many years but has finally found it's resting place at Graceland for all to see. The last song of the night was, Can't Help Falling In Love."

The entire concert raised 75,000 dollars for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund in Hawaii. Elvis did not charge a set price for the tickets. He asked the Hawaiian people and fans to only pay what they could give. The merchandise and ticket funds raised the amount. Elvis also made his entire entourage pay for admittance into the concert. No one got a free ride for this charity event. This concert was not his last visit to Hawaii. Elvis came here many more times over the years and was even in Hawaii the on the year of his death.

And on his last trip...

Green Sand Beach

I saved this post about Hawaii till the end. Visiting Green Sand Beach was probably our favorite thing we did on the big island.

When we set out that morning we had plans to make our way to the Volcanoes. Our plan was to swing by Green Sand Beach, Black Sand Beach and end our day at the volcanoes. When we started getting close to the turn off for Green Sand we realized it was going to be further out from the main road than we originally thought but since we were already that far out we decided to make the trip. Thirty minutes later we got to the end of the road but there was no beach. We could see the waves and the shore from really far away but we couldn't see a way down to it. It was still very far. We get out of the car and a girl came up to us asking us if we were trying to get to Green Sand Beach. When we told her yes she explained it to us.

To get to the actual green sand you have to go off road. That's the only way to make the 3 mile trek down to the sand besides walking. Umm... what?! That's three miles away? We could see it was far but we didn't realize it was that far. She said it would be 30.00 for both of us to be taken down to the beach. I was pretty iffy about it. It seemed a little sketchy and I hadn't seen anything about this online (I'm all about research). I could tell that Beezy really wanted to do it. So we paid her in cash and loaded up with another couple (whom we didn't know but had also forked over 30 bucks) and started making our way over the very rough terrain down to the beach.

I may be from West Virginia but I have never been on an ATV nor have I ever been off roading. So this was a new experience. Since there was 5 of us with the driver, Beezy road shot gun and I was in the back with the stranger couple. The driver told it would take about 20 minutes to get down to the beach. The road that the locals have made is deep and very steep. They've basically carved it out and if you don't have 4 wheel drive and know the terrain then more than likely you'll be asking one of them for help later in the day. After what felt like an eternity of bumpy terrain we made it to the beach. Or at least what we thought was the beach.

You see when you get delivered to Green Sand Beach you're actually being delivered to the top of the beach. To access the actual sand you have to climb down the rock face into the cove where the beach lies. This would have been a great thing to know before hand since I was wearing flip flops, carrying a purse and my expensive DSLR camera. But you know what... we came all that way. So climb down is what we did. It was totally worth it. I was pretty nervous once we started going down because it was very steep.

When we made it to the bottom we had to look back up to see the progress of climbing down! You can see other people at the top so you can get an idea of how steep the incline really is...

Of course we had to check out those green sand flecks. In my mind I thought it was going to be more green but you could definitely see the green sand inside of all of the grains.

 The waves at Green Sand are really strong. A few brave swimmers were indulging in the water but the locals were warning them that the waves are severely strong and can carry you out to sea quickly. Our guide was telling us that a young guy died here last year because he underestimated the current and strength. The guide said a lot of people use the buddy system when going into the water.

The Lava Lava Beach Club

The Lava Lava Beach Club in Waikoloa was so good it deserves it's own post. This restaurant was conveniently located right beside our hotel at another resort, the Marriott. Beezy had read hundreds of reviews before we left for the island and he really wanted to try this place out. We had heard it had not just great food but amazing views. The reviews weren't lying.

 

Our table was right on the beach. When I say we were on the beach I mean it. The sand was our floor about 10 feet away was the water. The Club had more traditional seating but obviously it was further away from the beach. The club also didn't have a dress code. We saw some people in their bathing suits for dinner while other guests were dressed nice. We had just came from touring the beaches and volcanoes so we were casually dressed and fit right in with the crowd. I was starving so we got an appetizer.

The shrimp was by far the best 16.00 shrimp I had ever had. We got really lucky and our visit coincided with the sunset. We arrived just in time to watch it. We noticed that in Hawaii the sun sets really quickly so if you aren't ready then you could miss it. I would say the sun actually set on the horizon and disappeared completely within 3 minutes. We were shocked at how fast it happened!

 You can tell it's escaping...

You can tell we were racing the sun for this photo...

Our bellies were growling with hunger so when our main courses arrived we were so excited! Beezy got a bacon burger with fries.

I got the short stack of pork ribs. I thought the meal came with fries but apparently not. I also loved their presentation on the cute plates.

The sun was gone but was still giving us some great color on the horizon. It was also about this time that the restaurant started lighting their tiki torches and setting their fire pits a blaze.

When in Hawaii... you order dessert. We went with vanilla ice cream covered with a chocolate chip cookie.

 And of course our personal fire pit...

Volcano

The last big activity that Beezy and I did in Hawaii was make a trip to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

We made the three hour drive from our resort to see some lava! Sadly, on the big island the only real way to see lava flow is at night and by helicopter. We did however see the steam vents. We got to see craters of the volcanoes and tons of lava rock.

 We were surprised to see how deep the craters really are in person.

 The lava rock has tons of grooves and designs in them due to the lava cooling naturally.

We also took the time to walk through some of the vegetation. We thought this tree looked like an elephant...

 

It's crazy how all this vegetation use to be covered in hot lava and how it's regrown since the direction of the lava flow changed. It's changed frequently but has been pretty steady since the 1980s. We also took the time to walk through the lava tubes.

 It was a little creepy to be inside and to think that hot lava use to flow inside of these tubes.

If you get a chance to go there do it! We had friends that stayed until dark and they said they could see a little bit of lava flow once it got dark. They couldn't get really close to it obviously but they enjoyed it. Next time, I'm down for doing the helicopter ride!