Aloha! This spring I have been fortunate enough to visit Hawai’i for a lovely 9 days.

 

My trip began by immediately drinking a  piña colada out of a coconut. I was greeted with an authentic lei which smelled absolutely incredible.

This house had hundreds of pigeons…just chillin’. Why.

^The following day dad and I climbed Diamond Head. The view was pretty extraordinary. The small building on the right was one of the many pillboxes left from WWII. The photo below is me posing on one, because why not. #fencejumper

These were just down the shore from Doris Duke’s mansion of a house. She collected rare Islamic art which you can now tour.

These photos were taken just down the road from Halona Blowhole, a cove where the cliffs have been eroded by the water creating these pretty rad overhanging rock formations.

This photo has no filter, and I was able to swim in this beauty.

Some small town/off the path action. ^

This is Ko Ko Head. 1,050 steps up, and we decided to climb it at 1pm, the hottest time of the day. This is actually a railway trail that was used during WWII to haul supplies to  the bunkers, aka pillboxes. On the  other side of these tracks is a huge ass crater (below), too huge to fit into one photo unless you’re flying above it. The next three photos is the view from the top. This was without a doubt the toughest climb I have ever done, but dad and I agreed to do it without a second thought. Like he says, “we’ll rest when we’re dead.”

Hanauma Bay ^

Hanauma Bay, one of the most sought after places to snorkel. I got to chill with some pretty beautiful fishies. A water proof camera came later in the trip.

The trees on this island were probably one of my favorite parts of the scenery. They’re called Banyan Trees and I learned how this all works. This is a kind of fig tree, and when it germinates its seeds start to grow in the cracks of the host tree and then it gets all funky. #epiphytelife

A very badass Koa tree.

On Monday I had the first half of the day to myself. I somehow wondered into the financial district of Honolulu. Mind you, this is 4 and a half miles form my hotel. I had my swim suit and beach dress on. I therefore fit in really well… It was being beach ready in DC.

The photo above is the Iolani Palace. King Kalakaua and Queen Lili’uokalani (siblings) were the last to rule the monarchy in the late 1800’s. Hawaii was then annexed by the U.S. in 1898.

This is some official building that you can tour…but I took a photo instead.

The coffee place to go. Some of the absolute best coffee comes from here. This is where I discovered coconut coffee…

Coconut.

Coffee.

This was heaven.