Driving in Dreamland Hawaii

 Many people romanticize a vacation destination after seeing Rick Steves' Europe on PBS. I, on the other hand, dreamed about driving in Hawaii since I watched Jack Lord playing Lieutenant Steve McGarrett in the original Hawaii Five-O in the 70's. Back then, Steve was driving stately black Mercury Marquis and Mercury Park Lane. This dream was forgotten for a while as I got busy with elementary school, high school, college, first job, and so on. Fast forward to the 21st century, the remake of Hawaii Five-O brought my dream back from the medial temporal lobe of my brain.

The opening scene and the theme song of Hawaii Five-O always wash away my day's stresses and tiredness. The scenes of Waikiki beach and marina, surfers, outrigger canoes, clear emerald ocean water, rolling waves, lush green hills and mountains, crowded city skyline, and people going about their daily lives remind me that paradise and daily livings can co-exist. So, I no longer could put my dream off any longer.

Waikiki Beach

After checking into Hilton Waikiki Beach Hotel in the morning, we didn't waste time to get started with our paradise living. Given Savannah climate with the average temperature in mid-eighty degrees Fahrenheit, Waikiki is always busy with visitors from all around the world all year around.



We were warned to make an extra effort to leave Waikiki and see other parts of the island to experience Hawaii. After strolling on the white sand beach with the soft winds giving Swedish massage-like rub on our skin, breathing the refreshing pacific ocean air, watching surfers catching long rolling breaks, browsing so many interesting stores and restaurants featuring various ethnic foods, watching a Hula Dance show at an outdoor stage, exploring hundreds of small local vendors selling Hawaiian crafts, we took the warning seriously. Waikiki is indeed a place where you can check in at anytime and you do not ever want to leave.

The historic 19th century Moana Hotel, also known as the First Lady of Waikiki, is a must-see stop in
Waikiki. It is located on the main street of Waikiki, Kalakaua Avenue. The building has Beaux Arts-style architecture, the same architectural style as Lourve in Paris and Vienna Opera House. The grand front fascia features tall petite columns, arches, and intricate carvings. The hotel interior is open and airy allowing the natural breeze to regulate the interior temperature of the building. The back of the hotel has a courtyard that leads to white sand beach with the expansive view of the bay. In the center of the courtyard, an enigmatic 75 feet high and 150 feet across Banyan tree provided a very nice UV protection. Under this Banyan tree, we enjoyed the afternoon English tea time tradition while watching the beach live before us.

Diamond Head
Our first destination outside Waikiki was the iconic tuna's-dorsal-fin-shape Diamond Head. This dormant volcanic tuff cone got its name because of the diamond-like calcite crystals embedded in the rocks. Visitors who do one-hour hike to the crater's rim will be rewarded with panoramic areal view of Honolulu. We drove with the roof open and side windows down. From the climate control console, we activated the fans in our perforated Milano leather seats, so nice cool air ensured that our backs were always comfortable despite the humidity. The drive was through local roads and residential neighborhoods with minor stop and go traffic.

On the way to Diamond Head, we stopped at Leonard's Bakery on Kapahulu Avenue. This bakery was mentioned more than once in the new Hawaii Five-O. It is famous for its Malasadas; Portuguese donuts. Unlike American donuts, it doesn't have holes in the middle. Malasadas come plain or with fillings. Their special technique and ingredients ensure the inside of this golden brown crusted donuts is very fluffy, chewy, and light. This is the heavenly donuts from the tropical paradise.


Hanauma Bay

Volcanic eruption is always violent and its destructive forces must not ever be underestimated. However, what comes after the devastation is another story. And at Hanauma Bay, which was formed by a series of volcanic activities, ocean life is thriving. Over 400 colorful and shapely species inhibit the bay. The expansive coral formations that provide food and protection from the ocean waves can easily be seen through the clear emerald water. Everyone comes here to snorkel and swim with many schools for colorful fishes and green sea turtles, and to look for starfish and other small creatures on the ocean floors. Snorkeling here reminded me of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau Documentary.  We unloaded our snorkeling gears, picnic basket, and enjoyed the sunshine!

Polynesian Cultural Center
Located in the north shore, this large center offers unique participatory ways to experience various Polynesian Cultures from Fiji, Hawaii, Rap Nui, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, and many others. To get here from Waikiki, we took Kalanianaole Highway / Route 72 East. This 2-lane-on-each-direction road is mostly straight with a few bends and gradual incline. The 3.2 liter engine producing arousing 270 hp / 243 lb-ft torque gave us exciting acceleration.

Route 72 turned into one-lane-on-each-direction twisty and scenic road that hugs the coastline just after Hanauma Bay. There are so many vista points along this path. We stopped to see the Halona Blow Hole. Later, we picked up coastal Route 83 / Kamehameha Highway heading to the North Shore. This road is mostly flat but it features many beautiful vista points looking out to Pacific Ocean, white sand beaches, and many interesting rock formations on the east side. On the west side at Kahana Valley State Park, the view was filled with gigantic mountains raising vertically with sharp jagged ridge lines.
 
At Polynesian Cultural Center, visitors can join wood and Tiki carving, enjoy signature foods from many different islands, watch Voyage of Discovery show, join cooking lesson, learn about fire making, practice spear throwing, take canoe tours, practice tree climbing and many others. Given the breath of activities and the time required to fully enjoy the center, and the fact that we still more places to drive to, we decided to only study the map of the complex and browse the gift shop. We made a mental note to come back here on our next visit to Hawaii.

Kahuku
There are probably many reasons to visit Kahuku in the North Shore. But for us, the reason why we came to this small town of 2614 was to experience the Hawaii Shrimp Truck phenomenon popularized recently, again, by the new Hawaii Five-0. Using Google, we were able to find the most famous Shrimp Truck: Giovanni's, located right off the Kamehameha Highway in Kahuku. Thanks to Facebook and Yelp and the obsession of our X and Y generations to share things online with their friends and their friends' friends, Giovanni's Shrimp Truck story has gone viral through the internet. We heard people speaking Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and Korean while waiting on a long line to place our order.

Due to its daily sales volume, the owner built a permanent tent so visitors can enjoy the delicious garlic shrimp without worrying about the daily tropical passing rains. The truck itself is now placed on a concrete floor. While they still cook the shrimp in the truck, the truck is no longer drivable. If we didn't know about Giovanni's reputation, and we saw this graffiti covered truck, we would not stop because we would not think good food could come out of that truck. We did confirm that the delicious Shrimp Scampi and the non-refundable Hot and Spicy Shrimp are definitely worth the internet sensation. Shrimp, butter, garlic, flour, paprika, cayenne pepper, white wine, sea salt, lemon, and probably some secret ingredients created an amazing culinary fanfare. The sticky rice added a distinct flavor to the delightful ensemble. 

Banzai Pipeline
Before we started heading south towards Honolulu, we made our last stop in the North Shore. Unlike Waikiki, that features long rolling breaks good for learning to surf, Banzai Pipeline is notorious for forming large, hollow, thick curls waves. They are not only exciting to avid and adrenaline-crazed surfers but they can also be deadly. The Billabong Pipeline Masters event is held annually since 1970 attracting many world famous surfers.


Tropical rain poured intermittently with varying degree of intensity during the drive. The rain sensing feature came very handy and it worked beautifully. It adjusted the speed and the frequency of the wipers depending on the intensity of the rain.
We parked our Q5 and took out our binoculars, a camera with a very long lens, and a large golf umbrella. We walked to a high ground and from there we watched surfers riding curls waves for a while.

Dole Plantation
Plantation is no longer Hawaii largest industry, tourism is. Located almost in the center of Oahu Island, Dole Plantation is a nice half-way stop between the North Shore and Honolulu on Kamehameha Highway. The main attraction here is 2.5 mile botanical maze consisting of over 14,000 Hawaiian plants. We stopped here to browse the everything-made-of-pineapple gift shop and to get a couple of cups of afternoon pick-me-up coffee.


  
Mount Tantalus
For car and motorcycle enthusiasts in Oahu, Mount Tantalus is a regular hang out. Due to its location nearby Honolulu, this mountain has the breathtaking panoramic view of Diamond Head, Punchbowl Crater, Waikiki, and Honolulu. The road to top is full of switchbacks, hairpins, and elevation changes. To top that, the road is actually cutting through a large tropical forest. The vegetation is very lush and tall trees make canopies over this exhilarating road.


 'Iolani Palace and Aliiolani Hale Because this driving vacation had been inspired by Hawaii Five-O, we had to visit downtown Honolulu and the fictional Hawaii Five-O headquarters for our last stop. Driving towards downtown on Interstate H-1 turned out to be more challenging that I had thought. Some articles mentioned that traffic jams in Hawaiian Interstate system is worse than the ones in Los Angeles. After sitting for close to one hour in a snail-pace traffic, I tended to believe that assessment.

Finally, we arrived at South King Street downtown Honolulu. 'Iolani Palace, which represented Hawaii Five-O headquarters in the original series, is one of its kind. Its unique architecture is known as American Florentine. It is a blend of traditional Roman and Hawaiian architectures featuring petite columns, wide verandas, crinkled walls, and many ornamentation. This palace was the official residence of Hawaii's monarchy. Today, this National Historic Landmark is open to public showcasing Hawaii’s royal heritage.

The new Hawaii Five-O uses Aliiolan Hale building for its headquarters. This building is located exactly across the street from Iolani Palace. In real life, Aliiolani Hale hosts the Supreme Court of Hawaii. Many tour buses drop visitors here so they can take their pictures in front of the iconic gold-leaf statue of Kamehameha the Great. I, on the other hand, wished that Steve McGarret, Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly, and Kono Kalakaua were around.  Goodbye Hawaii 'till we meet again...

-Andreas
driving-vacation

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