Day 1 (Hawaii)

The Hawaiian Islands became the 50th state on August 21, 1959. There are 8 main islands in the state of Hawaii. The capital of Hawaii is the city of Honolulu, located on the island of Oahu. Oahu is also the location of a worldwide landmark, Pearl Harbor. When you think of Hawaii you think of fruit, particularly pineapple. The Pineapple was mainly grown on the island of Lanai. Lanai is/was mostly privately owned by Dole. Dole grew most of their pineapples on Lanai.

The island I visit during my vacation is the island of Maui. Each year, my family and I go to Maui during the Christmas holiday season all the way through to New Years. We stay on the west side of Maui near the small town of Lahania.(check out this link to see live footage of the town of Lahania: http://www.lahainagalleries.com/?WEBCAM ) Our hotel looks right at the island of Lanai.(see the island of Lanai from a hotel near our hotel: http://www.seehawaiilive.com/maui/maui-luxury-resorts) Christmas in Hawaii is the same, but different. Every Christmas day Santa gets onto a Hawaiian style canoe and travels the length of the beach and back. This is a tradition that I later found out was started by my hotel. As soon as we arrive on Maui we get right to shopping. Each year each member of the family must buy some sort of gift for each one of the family members other than themselves. Now I am old enough, and I know where I am and how to get back to our hotel. My parents now allow me to walk and shop Whalers Village by myself.

Though it isn’t a normal place to be during Christmas time, especially for someone who is use to cold winter mornings and freezing winter nights, you get accustomed to the fact that it’s Christmas where ever you are. With that in mind, my family and grandparents bring something to make our trip a little more festive. Each year we bring a small fake tree to make our stay enjoyable. This tree is so cool, it lights up, plays Christmas carols, its big enough to decorate and it even snows, yep its true it even snows. (to see our tree go to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k66lf5QfTV0) With all this festive cheer around us, we hardly miss our lives back home. Though every once and while, I wonder what it would be like to be home again on Christmas Day.