I have spent an amazing month and a half in Hawaii and I wanted to remember all of the incredible things I did, so I thought I’d write them down in a fun way. I made a list of about 47 things I have seen or done in Hawaii so get ready, I am about to tell you all of it!
A few summers ago I stayed with my amazing sister Rebecca in her home while her husband was deployed to Japan. But if one Marshall takes a trip to Hawaii you know all the Marshall’s have to go. So on May 14th my mother, father, sister Jenna and I all drove up to Nashville, Tenessee and that is where we started our journey to Hawaii to meet up with Rebecca, Philip, Marissa, and Zach who were already there. Our flight to LAX was not bad and I actually was in the very front of the airplane with an empty seat next to me while the rest of the family was smushed in the back of the plane! You could say I got pretty lucky with that seat, but I was unlucky in both airports because I was the only one out of the family that did NOT get TSA pre-check, so you win some you lose some. Our flight to LAX was delayed so we missed our final flight to Hawaii. We spent the night in LA which wasn’t too bad! We woke up at 5 am the next morning to fly to Honolulu. That flight the family was all together so it was pretty nice and I just watched the Netflix series, Jessica Jones, all the way there which I highly recommend!
Flight recommendation if you are flying from the west coast! Fly first to LAX then to Hawaii on the way there. On the way back take the red eye overnight through Dallas! I find that is the best flight for my body to handle! (I have done this twice now!)
ALOHA! We had finally landed. Since we were a day late we went straight to Rebecca’s apartment and all got ready for the family photoshoot before Philip deployed. Rebecca’s best friend Ashley Bowman took some amazing pictures for us on Waimanalo Beach! Next we hung out while Philip was still in town and had some much needed family time. That night we all stayed at Rebecca and Philip’s apartment. Imagine eight people, two cats and no air conditioning; now that was a recipe for a very interesting night! That’s because homes in Hawaii often don’t have air conditioning. The utilities are extremely expensive there and people prefer to keep their screen doors open and feel the weather that’s fairly nice all year round. It gets a little hot in the summer though!
My top recommendation is to get family photos taken! The island is so beautiful and the pictures are just magical to have! We added a fun touch with flower crowns! Check our Rae Marshall Photography if you want some photos done on Oahu!
We then started more adventures! Our first outing was to Hanauma Bay to snorkle. This place was simply amazing and absolutely breathtaking. Jenna and I came up with a way to communicate under water, when the other had found a cool fish we would squeeze the others hand when we spotted something! We spotted the most amazing rainbow fish you could imagine that day. We also stopped by a very pretty look-out on the way to Hanauma Bay which is pictured below. This look-out is nicknamed “Heavens Point” but its actual name is Lanai Lookout!
One of the best things on this trip I would have to say was learning how to surf in Waikiki. Jenna and I had a private intructor named Paulo who we absolutely loved! He made it so easy for us to get up on the board and the best part is that we had go-pro’s attached to the board to get amazing action shots! That experience was like none other and I am proud to say I only fell once when someone came at me from the side. We found this cool deal on Groupon, which saving money in Hawaii is very hard to do so it was nice!
Since we were traveling to Hawaii we thought we might as well get the experience of staying in a big resort in downtown Honolulu in Waikiki. We stayed at the Hale Koa and it was amazing! We were there for two days and we just laid out by the beach and enjoyed ourselves. We enjoyed some restaurants and shopping as well. Waikiki happened to be my least favorite beach because it was so crowded and the sand was more coarse, so my recommendation is staying somewhere else on the island and taking a day trip there if you don’t want to be in Hawaii surrounded by people and city life. We did however get to see a Luau which was so cool and we ate some pretty good food! It did start raining in the middle of it but that didn’t stop the fun! In Hawaii if it rains just wait a few minutes and it will stop!
For the next part of our trip, we explored the island of Oahu and took a car tour on an app called “Shaka Oahu”. This car tour was so great because it told us about the history of Hawaii and had us take really cool stops along the trip at some unique places. These places included China Man’s Hat, Lāʻie Point State Wayside sea arch, Tropical Farms Macadamia nut farm, the mountain range that is reconizable from the movie Jurassic Park at Kualoa Ranch, and the Haleiwa shopping center! We also had lunch by the ocean at the Turtle Bay Resort at the pool side bar.
Haleiwa is a small little town on the North Shore that is very cute for a stop if you have time! It has a lot of little shops and a famous Shaved Ice place called Matsumoto Shaved Ice. This shaved ice was probably the best shaved ice I have ever had! It also has my favorite store on the island, this store is called Mahina! It has two locations that I visited which were in Haleiwa and Kailua. I loved the necklaces and clothes at this store! One of the necklaces I bought is pictured below, I literally have four shopping bags from this store, I loved it.
After our stay at the resort was over, we stayed at a cabin on the marine base. This cabin was right on the water and very peaceful which was great! We stayed here for three days, we just relaxed and enjoyed our time. We rented paddle boards that day and tried to paddle board but it was a fail because the tide was very low and it was very windy! We managed to still have fun though becuase who cant have fun when you are surronded by people you love. But you should always call and ask how the weather is before you try to paddle board!
Next adventure, we tried to conquer our first Hike in Hawaii. The Pill Box hike trail is currently closed now due to remodeling now but this hike is apparently one of the “easiest” on the island! At the time I did not think so and as Jenna was practically running up the mountain I was slowly dying trying to make it up! But, the view was all worth it at the top, you can see the famous Lanikai mokes from the top and practically the whole island of Oahu! By the end of the trip however, it was easier to do hikes.
Now our parents wanted to get in on the fun and we did another hike, which was the Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail! This hike is probably the easiest hike on the island because it is completely paved all the way up. But you are walking at a stright incline all the way to the top which is about 2.0 miles round trip. This view was also amazing! It is really hard to beat any Hawaii view from this far up! This day we also went to Pearl Harbor which is so full of history! It was pretty cool to see and walk around and read all the history that happened there! Unfortunately, they closed the USS Arizona but we still had fun!
Sadly after a week dad, Jenna, Marissa, and Zach all had to leave. So it was just Rebecca, mom and I left to keep exploring. After everyone left we took a break from doing a ton of things and just rested and binge watched shows to recharge. Mom and I went and hung out on the Kailua beach a lot and walked around Kailua exploring the town that Rebecca lived in! We did fun small activities like yoga, and went to a Japanese restaurant where we took off our shoes and cooked our meal in front of us in a broth. This is the place that I finally tried shrimp for the first time and I hated it so there is that. Mom and I also went to the Hawaii Stadium to an Aloha Swap Meet, which is basically a whole circle of cheap tourist things you can bring home to friends and family! It cost us a whole dollar to get in, so I would recommend this is you like shopping and good deals for a full morning of fun!
One day Rebecca took mom and I to a hip town called Kaka’ako that is covered in amazing graffiti art. This town puts on a graffiti art festival every years so there is new art work every year which is super cool! We walked around and took fun pictures for a fun afternoon. We ate at this cute restaurant called Moku Kitchen which was very tasty in a little square of restaurants and a few stores in this area!
We also did another hike which was by far the most muddy hike I have ever been on! It was at Manoa Falls, which, besides the mud was an easy, but rocky hike with a beautiful waterfall at the end of it! After the hike we were starving and sick of eating rice and normal Hawaiian food. So we went to my favorite restaurant, Chili’s! I was sad to find out these prices are also higher than Alabama’s prices, just like everything else here.
After most of the family left I started my summer classes at Calhoun Community College so between all the adventures, I was taking 15 hours of classes, all online in a different time zone. Am I crazy? Just a little!
I know many people have heard of the famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel that is completely PINK! Well, we were able to go have lunch there. I think one of my favorite things to do is to go into resorts and just eat and pretend I am staying there when in reality I am not! We sat right by the beach for lunch and took some pretty cool pictures, too!
Another restaurant that is downtown Honolulu is called the Hideout! It is such a cool place that is not as busy as most restraunts downtown. They have complementary parking to take advantage of that if you are just going downtown for a short period of time.
Our next adventer was Island Hopping! We hopped on a 30 mintue flight to Maui for a quick two day trip. In this trip we packed a lot in, we went to a plantation where we learned about the fruit they grew and had lunch, then we went to Haleakala National Park to watch the sunset, Ali’i Kula Lavender farm, and the Surfing Goat Dairy. Haleakala was an amazing sight to see. You are above the clouds and just feel like you are on top of the world! However, we all got car sick on the winding ride up in the car. The car ride is about an hour straight up of just zig-zag roads, but it was all worth it in the end! The lavender farm was absolutely stunning and smelled amazing and milking goats was a very funny and cool experience to say that I have done!
Mom and I also helped Rebecca with her styled photo shoot at the Royal Hawaiian Country Club and Golf Course was amazingly beautiful. It was up where you could see amazing mountains and I also got to drive a golf cart around! Soon, we started to try to do more local things because we were running out of money and major tourist things to do. So mom and I headed to the Kailua Farmers market which is a cool place to listen to music and try food in the Whole Foods parking lot every Thursday.
It was getting close to the day mom had to leave 🙁 so we did some things that she really wanted to do! So we sat on the beach at Lanikai, Kailua, ranked as one of the top 10 beaches in the world, and stood on lava rock at Makapu’u Beach (which is more of a local spot), watching the waves crash and make giant splashes. Kailua and Lanikai beaches had the softest, silkiest sand there could ever be. Trees lined some of the beaches so you could sit in the shade if you wanted to. We also went to the Byodo-in Temple which was very beautiful. This picture below is actually from when my cousin, aunt and uncle came to visit and they wanted to see the Byodo-in Temple!
Mom read about a place that we should go have brunch this place was Hweiwa Joes Seafood grill. They had fun drinks and it was a buffet. This was such a good meal and it had amazing views!
So as I mentioned above, shortly after mom, left my cousin and her parents flew in to celebrate her graduation from high school. I stayed with them most of that week on the North Shore which was a change from Kailua. We started off our trip with something that I REALLY wanted to do which was zip lining! We zip lined at Kaena Farms (climb works), this included an ATV ride up the mountain and 8 lines down the mountain! They also had us repel twice and pull up a quarter of our body weight during this adventure. My first time zip lining was amazing; I mean the views speak for themselves!
While sitting on the condo porch one night, a very nice lady told us about a traditional Japanese Ceremony going on that night and we must see it because it is so pretty. She wasn’t lying, it was amazing to see lighted lanterns floating over the water, and you could feel the emotion from the people around you! Although I am not sure what cermony this is called the nice lady explained that the lanterns were a symbol of loved ones that have passed.
With my cousin, aunt and uncle we drove to see Rebecca back in Kailua and to give them a chance to try the pillbox hike I mentioned earlier. Although my aunt wanted to strangle me after it (joking of course) I think we had a pretty good time. The next adventure that I did with them was going on a catamaran to snorkle with turtles! And if you know me or my aunt, our favorite animal is turtles! (We also found this deal on Groupon ;)) This experience, although had its ups and downs from being sea sick and some falls, had an awesome crew and the turtles were stunning, so were the views. I highly recommend taking a catamaran out to see the island from the ocean! I also saw some dolphins and even a baby shark while snorkeling.
Now if you do not know my sister, Rebecca is an amazing photographer! (Rae Marshall Photography) She had ordered some angel wings a while back and had this photoshoot that she really wanted to do of a angel for a while. So we did it! Now when you see the picture you will say OH MY GOSH THAT VIEW! I know it is amazing but it was about a 75 degree angle incline all the way up with no trail and was by far the hardest hike I did on this island! But these pictures and the view was all worth it! Her friend, who is also a photographer Ashley Bowman, came along and captured some amazing images, too! Check out her blog post for more of a story on the images!
When I retured to my counsins condo, we sat on the beach and just relaxed! A crazy story that I want to share with y’all is when I was on the beach with my cousin Alaina, I was getting out of the water with one of those blow up intertubes we heard a girl yell HELP! But she was around two of her friends so we took a second and looked to see what was going on. I then yelled out to them and asked do you need this (pointing to my intertube) and finally one girl said yes. So I swam out to where she was and a girl hopped on it. I found out she was snorkling and took in a ton of sea water so she could barely breathe and couldn’t stand where she was. After pulling her in we said goodbye and I just realized what had happened. I might have just saved her life which is crazy to think about becuase I am just a girl vacationing in Hawaii.
On my cousin’s last day I did the car tour with them! (so round two for me!) But we also saw different places which were really cool. We got to see a sea turtles on the beach at Laniakea beach. We also went to Pu’u O Mahuka Heiau State Monument which had some gorgeous views and more history to learn about!
Rebecca and I then started our final adventure together by ourselves. We went on another waterfall hike on the island because hikes are a free, athletic and something fun thing to do. We did the Lulumahu hike! The waterfall was stunning at the end but it definitely was harder in my opinion than some of the others because there was no set trail. So if you are planning on doing this hike, I want to let you know that when you get to the front of the trail the gate may be locked but they expect you to go through a cut out hole to the side of it which I thought was strange. Also, in Hawaii as I mentioned it rains randomly all the time, well you guessed it, it started to pour down rain on us during this hike! So needless to say my chacos were VERY muddy and wet when we got home. If you do this hike, bring chaco’s instead of tennis shoes. You won’t mind putting them completely in the water because it is easier and safer to just step in the water, and it is easier to wipe off your shoes when you are done!
The next day we decided to just find a cool beach and sit down and people watch. Now, people watching is probably the most fun thing to do on a beach. To get here Rebecca told she was taking me to a new beach and then we pulled into a lookout point on the island. A lookout point is exactly what you think it is, it is a place you can park and go look at the view and there is a huge railing in front of it. She said, “alright, lets get our chairs”. I said, “are we going to sit in front of this railing or something?” Little did I know, there is a secret beach that you climb down to, which was stunning! We sat for about an hour and a half and people watched. Then it started to rain so we decided it was time for us to leave. On our drive back we made an impulse decision to pull off the side of the road in Waimanalo at a very small coconut stand. I really wanted that cute insta picture with a coconut and just wanted to try it! We came up to these two older Hawaiian men who said the coconuts were $5 a piece. (which is a great price on the island!) We asked if they had change and one of the men said ,”Sh**” haha so the other man ran across the street to the 7/11 to get some change for us! We watched as they opened a fresh coconut which most likely just came from their backyard and took some great pictures with it! I have to say coconut water isn’t my favorite but it isn’t my least favorite, and Rebecca says the ones we got were really fresh. It is worth a try if you get a chance!
As I said my favorite beach is Kailua! Here are some photos from that beach, the sand is very soft and silky. It is not as crowed as many other beaches around the island.
Another place downtown we went to is called the Epic Aloha. This place has a ton of different backgrounds that you can go in and take a ton of pictures in front of. Rebecca and I left with over 300 pictures on our camera rolls! (its the photographer in us!)
On my last day here we had an impulse decision to wake up at 5:30 in the morning and do a mermaid photoshoot at sunrise on Kailua beach. Needless to say, Rebecca and I are not morning people so we struggled but we made it happen! I then had to start packing my bags to leave which I had a lot of stuff. On the way to the airport we went to a cute sandwich shop called La tour cafe which also had macaroons and were so good!
In the end I had the most amazing trip you could ever ask for! I tried things such as food trucks on the side of the road and Mochi Balls. Which if you know me I am the pickiest eater ever! (This trip consisted of a lot of Subway, one of the few fast food places they have!) I couldn’t be more blessed with my parents letting me be here for so long and the quality time with my sister. That is what I enjoyed most about this trip was being with my sister! Hawaii is a fantastic place to be and I can’t wait to come back to this floating rock in the middle of the ocean! I am forever grateful for this opportunity of a life time!
I want to thank Rebecca for having me live in her space for this long. I know it isn’t easy to have someone randomly in your house always asking well what do want to do now! But this trip brought us so much closer togther and I gained so much knowledge to help me in the future regarding: friends, marriage, and credit cards (lol)! I love you sis! Till next time, team blue forever!
