Hawaii 2018, Day 4, Part 2: Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden, Haleiwa Joe's, and La'ie Point

When we got back from Hawaii last time, a lot of Erik's coworkers asked him if we ate at Haleiwa Joe's. Unfortunately, we didn't visit the restaurant last time, so we made it a point to eat there this time. It didn't open until the early evening, so we visited the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden to pass the time. The garden is a huge park with lots of picnic areas, campsites, ponds, hikes, and a visitor center. It is an engineering project that was designed to minimize flooding in the area. Ian fell asleep in the car, so we mostly drove around the garden at first. We found a short hike from the visitor center to a pond, so we went for a walk while Marsha stayed in the car with Ian. 

This small stream was running into the pond.

We still had some time before Haleiwa Joe's opened, so we wandered around the Windward Mall for a while. Finally it was dinner time, and we drove over to Haleiwa Joe's. The restaurant had just barely opened, but lots of people were already showing up. It is an open air restaurant that overlooks the Haiku Gardens, which is a popular location for Hawaiian Weddings. The kids kept getting out of their seats to look at the gardens all throughout dinner. We had to take a few peeks at the gardens as well.

Erik caught Ian inspecting his silverware.

We got Ian's shirt at the swap meet to match Erik and Elisa.

Yummy coconut shrimp for an appetizer.

A huge prime rib dinner that Erik and I shared. We were barely able to finish it.

Looking over the Haiku Gardens after dinner.

On our way back to the beach house, Marsha wanted to stop briefly at La'ie Point. It is a peninsula in Laie that overlooks the ocean. There are several houses on the wider aspects of the peninsula. We could see a few small islands just off the point, one of which had a large arch underneath it.

Hawaii 2018, Day 4, Part 1: The Dole Plantation

Another place we wanted to visit again was the Dole Plantation. The kids like the train ride and seeing the pineapples. We enjoy seeing the different crops on the plantation and eating the unique Dole food. Before we left our beach house, we found a huge snail crawling around the lanai. Elisa was mesmerized by it.

Waiting in line to ride the Dole Pineapple Express.

The cacao fruit can be yellow, green, or brown. The beans for making cocoa are inside the fruit.

This is a gum tree. There are a lot of strangely colored plants at the Dole Plantation.

Everyone enjoyed seeing the different varieties of pineapples.

We had a pork quesadilla and fish & chips for lunch along with plenty of pineapple.

Everybody loves Dole Whip, especially this boy.

Silly kids posing for pictures in the giant pineapple.

Hawaii 2018, Day 2, Part 1: The Swap Meet and Tantalus Lookout

We started out the second day in Oahu by visiting some old favorites: Kono's and the swap meet. Kono's has really good kalua pork that they serve in a breakfast burrito or on a biscuit. We ate our food outside this time and enjoyed the view of a small part of Haleiwa. Gabe and Elisa were quick to show Ian the chickens and reminded him that he used to call them "hey heys."

Luckily the swap meet is open at the Aloha Stadium on Wednesdays and Saturdays, so we were able to visit at the beginning of our trip. The swap meet really is the best place on the island for souvenirs. They have the best selection and the best prices. However, it seemed like there were fewer vendors on Wednesday, so maybe we should go on a Saturday next time to make sure we have a larger selection.

Outside of Kono's for breakfast. Notice the sign: Please do not feed chickens.

For lunch we wanted to try some authentic Hawaiian food, so we went to Helena's in Honolulu. It really is a hole in the wall restaurant that only accepts cash. We tried the kalua pork, sticky ribs, and lomi salmon. I guess dessert was included because it came with some sort of coconut gelatin (haupia?). We took our food on a picnic to Puu Ualakaa Park where we could see the Tantalus Lookout over Honolulu. It was quite a steep drive on some windy roads to get to the park. We walked to the lookout from our picnic table and took in the incredible view.

Diamond Head Crater is just down the coast from Waikiki Beach.

Erik used the panoramic feature on his camera phone.

Erik says that Rick and Marsha have a similar picture to this from over 35 years ago.

Hawaii 2018, Day 3: Kailua Beach

Thursday was windy, chilly, and rainy, so we didn't do a whole lot. We drove to Kailua Beach, hoping to avoid the rain. It sprinkled a little bit, but we didn't get too wet. It was still pretty windy, and a lot of wind surfers were out catching some air. The water seemed colder than usual, but maybe it was just the wind and the clouds. Needless to say, we didn't stay at the beach very long. We considered hiking to the Lanikai Pillboxes, but it seemed too muddy and windy for such a steep hike.

We drove back up the coast to Laie, looking for something to do. We made sure to visit another one of our favorite restaurants in Laie: Seven Brothers Burgers. They have amazing hamburgers and the best hot dogs. It's obviously owned by members of the church. Who else would have seven brothers?

The mountains at Kualoa Ranch are always breathtaking.

Onion rings on a burger? Mmm yeah.

Another benefit from our hosts at the beach house was the use of their bikes. When we got back to the house, Erik and I went on a quick bike ride across the street to Sunset Beach. The name for this section of the beach is Velzyland, and it is a hidden treasure for local surfers. Sure enough, we saw at least 20 surfers floating in the water, hoping to catch the perfect wave. We also made sure to stop by Ted's Bakery again for some chocolate haupia (coconut) pie. We even had enough pie left over the next morning for breakfast.