Honolulu, HI
Waikiki Beach
The luau in Maui
I've written so many versions of my experience at The Aloha State of Hawaii that me & my family went to in 1993. I wrote my experience of Hawaii as a memoir in English Literature and Composition & I've written my experience of Hawaii as a poem in Creative writing. Lastly, I've written versions of my experiences in blogs. Well, this version of my experience of The Aloha State I will be as simple but creative as I can be.
It was my mom's dream to vacation in beautiful Hawaii. My mom mentioned that she have been wanting to come to Hawaii since the 70's which was 20 plus years since the family finally could afford to go in 1993. For the 4 of us it was at a reasonable price $3,200 round trip. Me, my mom, my step-father, and my older brother (who came home from college break) all went for 7 days and 6 nights to beautiful Honolulu. The family flew on an 11 1/2 hour airplane flying Delta Airlines out of Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Hartford to Honolulu. During our long flight we flew over nothing but water. What was very memorable about such a long flight was chatting with one of the flight attendants. When we all had lunch, I remember a blonde hair flight attendant woman chatted with me & I told her how me & my family were coming all the way from Hartford (this is when we changed in Atlanta which my mom remember). Now mind you people are observant especially traveling. The woman could tell that I was a stick. I was 15 and when you're really thin, people will quietly do things to let you know that they plan on putting meat on your bones (yes thin people is subject to be picked on too) without hurting your feelings. I was 5' 6" maybe weighing about 115 LBS. Me & my older brother was in the row right before first class seats where we were sitting at on the plane. The blonde hair flight attendant woman said, "You have a really long flight to Hawaii so I'm giving you some extra snacks and food. I will let you use these headphones to listen to music." I remember listening to I'm Every Woman by Whitney Houston on our flight to Honolulu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx19gmD71_w
When we arrived in Honolulu, the family was met & greeted by a beautiful Hawaiian woman who put lei's around our necks saying "Aloha!" We thanked her saying "Aloha" back. Aloha means hello & good-bye in The Aloha State which is a traditional Hawaiian greeting when we walk by people. The family adopted the Hawaiian culture very well. Me, my mom, my step-father, and my older brother had a chance to get a wonderful tour riding the tour bus. I remember when we stopped at the Dole Pineapple Factory enjoying dole pineapple juice (we got to see how Authentic pineapple juice was made). We went to a gift shop where they had gifts, souvenirs', postcards, etc. for purchase and enjoyed eating some chocolate covered macadamia nuts (homemade). It took us a little while for us to adapt to Hawaiian time zone (which is 6 hours behind Eastern Standard Time zone). We went to some restaurants in The Aloha State & I remember we had dinner at one and I wanted a slice of apple pie and it was very expensive $6.95 (ridiculous) the waitress told us in the grocery store a whole pie is $16.95. We decided that what was best for the family was to go to restaurants that was not as expensive and we also went to supermarkets that were really reasonable too. We enjoyed Hawaiian food like Hawaiian style Pizza. Eating the different Hawaiian food for me benefited me because I needed to gain the weight. Hawaiian style Pizza has ham & pineapple as their toppings as well as other toppings to all of my readers who is wondering what Hawaiian style Pizza is or to my readers who have never eaten Hawaiian style Pizza.
The family went on a dinner cruise in a big boat. We all got to meet Don Ho & the set of where Hawaii Five-O show is filmed at in Honolulu. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SndbRjPwRgY I think that what really made the family experience so wonderful was when we all would go to Waikiki. We had a wonderful time at the beach & I had a chance to go to the arcade & really enjoyed myself playing video games. The family really needed a vacation. My step-father & my mom got a break from work, my older brother got summer break from college, and I was on break from school. I was going to a new school & I was going in the 9th grade (High school Freshmen). That summer of 1993 was an unforgettable vacation in The Aloha State. The family adapted to making friends & one of them was a blonde hair woman who vacationed here and moved to Hawaii which me and my family almost moved there. The Hawaiian dancers enjoyed dancing to the beat of the Hawaiian music & I can't forget the beautiful Hawaiian women dressed up in hula skirts.
I remember we had our luau in Maui, which was part of the family vacation package. We had our luau the last night that we were in The Aloha State. The food was very delicious, it was the tradition with the pig roast, and I'm enjoying everything! I can never forget the luau tradition. It was a tradition for the men to stand in line & be kissed by the women. I remember me, my step-father, and my older brother all participated which helped me not be as nervous. You could hardly tell that I was nervous because every woman that kissed me, I kissed them back. I think I started a trend after I kissed the first 3 women because I was kissing back the teenage girls and the women. The Hawaiian experience matured me & I enjoy sharing my experience to all of my readers!
