Go Visit Hawaii

Did you know that Elvis Week starts today?  As a tribute to such a great talent who loved Hawaii, I’m posting this video with the song and scenes from the movie Blue Hawaii.  Enjoy.

Jim from Columbia, Maryland provides us with this orange sunset photo that he took from the Waikiki boardwalk.  I think this is a pretty interesting photo.  The sky is super orange considering the sun has just started to set.  I also like that ships are flanking the sun on the horizon.  Mahalo, Jim, for sharing your photo.

Yay!  It’s Aloha Friday time.  Here are the news and deals on our radar screen today.

• Blue Hawaii Helicopter tours has added three new tours on Oahu. “New tours will cover Oahu’s must-see sights. “Waikiki by Starlight” (15 min.) is a romantic excursion to Waikiki and Diamond Head, glittering at night. “The Aloha Circle” (30 min.) offers the best of Honolulu, both harbors, Waikiki beach, the stunning beauty of the Kaneohe side and the Nuuanu Pali. “Blue Skies of Oahu” (45 min.) reveals the spectacular “other Oahu” of rainforests, beaches, reefs, and soaring valleys, plus Sacred Falls, the Dole Plantation, and Pearl Harbor.”  Tour prices range from $99 to $229 per person.
• Where does a busy presidential candidate go to relax and rejuvenate?  Well, that would be Hawaii, of course.  Senator Obama starts a nine-day Hawaii vacation today.  
• If you’re headed to the Big Island at the end of August, then you may want to check out the 34th Annual Parker Ranch Rodeo on August 30 and 31.  Seeing this rodeo would be a great way to celebrate the year of the paniolo. 
• ResortQuest Hawaii has oodles of Fall hotel and condo deals across Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island.  They’re offering over 30 special packages that include either a third, fourth or fifth nights free. 
• Honolulu Magazine issued their 2009 All-Island Restaurant Guide. 
• To round out our round up, head over to check out 808Talk’s  post on 08-08-08 with an 808 spin. 

Happy Aloha Friday!

In a place as beautiful and as colorful as Hawaii, there’s bound to be a thriving art community and that is the case indeed. You’ll find art and craft galleries through out the islands. Here’s just a sampling of where you’ll find a concentration of galleries and art nights across the islands.

Kauai
The small town of Hanapepe hosts Friday Art Night each week. There’s live music and galleries stay open until 9pm.

Maui
The towns of Lahaina and Paia have quite a few art galleries. Lahaina holds an Art Night every Friday between 7pm and 10pm. In the upcountry town of Makawao, there’s the Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center that’s open weekdays from 10am to 4pm.

Lanai
Lanai City, the uncity, has quite a few arts and crafts shops.

Big Island
Of course Hilo and Kona have art shops and galleries. A couple of small towns that have quite a few interesting small shops are in Hawi on the North Kohala coast and the hilly coffee town of Holualoa perched above Kona. (Don’t go to Holualoa on a Sunday as everything is closed, I know because I tried.)

Oahu
The North Shore town of Haleiwa has quite a few art galleries and shops. Chinatown may be considered the heart of Oahu’s art scene. This lively area hosts a First Friday celebration each month. Here’s a listing and map of the Chinatown art galleries. Here’s a video highlighting Chinatown.

Do you have an artistic treasure from Hawaii? Where did you find it? Where are your favorite Hawaii art scenes?

Based on the feedback, the colors of Hawaii series has been very well received.  Thanks to all the participants and for all the nice feedback.

I just wanted to write up a quick recap of our colors of Hawaii posts published so far.

• Kauai’s Green Goodness
• Beautiful Kauai in Blue
• Pinks and Purples at Waikiki
• Maui’s Golden Yellow Sunset
• Big Island Blues
• Kauai’s Kalalau Valley

I welcome your photos, so feel free to drop me an e-mail if you have a photo you’d like to share. 

This fantastic shot at the Kalalau Valley was captured by reader Peter Lazenby of Nanaimo, British Columbia.  This particular view is one of my favorites in all of Hawaii and is a must see when you visit Kauai.  (See my tips for visiting Kauai’s Waimea Canyon and Kokee State Parks.)  The scenery is beautiful with a hint of mystery in the air.

Mahalo to Peter for sharing his photo with us! 

This lovely photo was provided by Big Island resident Jerry Sullivan who blogs at The Right Blue.  Jerry tells me that this “real right blue” photo was taken from his desk at his house at his house.  Okay, deep breaths everyone!  Let’s try not to get too jealous. :-)  Mahalo to Jerry for sharing this photo in our Colors of Hawaii series.

Hawaii golf, deals, ferries, and lava pictures round out today’s newsy tidbits.

• Ten Big Island golf courses, ranging from familiar high-end resort layouts to attractive but lesser known upcountry tracks, have joined ranks to promote the inaugural B.I.G. Season – Big Island Golf Season – which offers golfers 75 days of preferred rate golf and more, starting September 9 and running through November 15, 2008.
• Hawaii hotel and occupancy rates have continued to decline as reported here on KGMB. The great news for you, is that you can really take advantage of this more economic time to visit Hawaii! Your vacation dollar will stretch further.
• Kauai Visitor’s Bureau has a listing of Autumn accommodation specials.
• Maybe you’d like to volunteer a bit of your Oahu vacation time for a good cause. The Wyland Waikiki Blog has written some suggestions.
• Has the uncool become cool now? The once battered Hawaii Superferry is gaining popularity and ridership continues to increase. I’m starting to read more and more positive reviews on the ferry. If you are thinking of giving the ferry a try, make sure you’re prepared to prevent motion sickness. You may not be bothered, but it’s best to be prepared.
• Bryan Lowry is a very talented Big Island photographer. He’s shot some amazing photos of volcano activity. I encourage you to check his Web site at Lavapix.com. To see his lava photos, enter the site, then select the “Gallery” pull down menu. Next select “2008 volcano activity” to see several different categories by area and date.

I’m excited to share this guest post written by Lauri Brownson of Shady Cove, Oregon. She and her husband Norm just renewed their vows for their 25th Anniversary. I asked Lauri if she had tips to pass along for planning a vow renewal in Hawaii. So, she kindly prepared this article describing how she approached the planning. Mahalo Lauri and congratulations to you and Norm on your 25th anniversary!

So you have reached that milestone where it is time to consider renewing your vows. Pledge your love to that someone special all over again. Whether 10 years, 20 years, 25 years, the time frame is your choice. The renewal your choice, too.

I am not an expert by any means, but I do have a little experience as I just planned and celebrated my 25^th wedding anniversary in Hawaii. Let me make some suggestions to help you start planning your vow renewal.

1. SEARCH for your options, find what you want and do not let anyone else tell you WHAT you want. In your heart you have an idea of what you are looking for and this is a time for YOU to make that dream happen.

2. My first consideration: COST. Bottom line I am not made of money and do not have an unlimited budget. I have been saving for this special trip for over three years. Set a budget and stick with it.

3. Remember if you are renewing vows no license is required.

4. Decide WHO, TIME FRAME, WHERE & WHEN

WHO to involve: We decided to keep the celebration within our immediate family, my husband, daughter and myself.

TIME FRAME: We decided on May 13^th, our actual 25^th anniversary date. We chose May because it was not yet “tourist” season in Hawaii, rates were a little lower.

WHERE: We decided to do a simple vow renewal on a beach. (Did not have any idea of where, but it would be a beach vow renewal.)

WHEN: we wanted a sunset renewal ceremony, a beautiful sun setting in the water behind us on a beautiful sandy beach somewhere.

So what steps did I take?

Well I surfed the web and I surfed the web some more.

I had subscribed nearly 2 years earlier to GoVisitHawaii.com and read and saved EVERY single post. (Referring to those posts quite frequently for more and more details and information that helped make every decision for our ENTIRE trip!)

I bought guides, and asked friends who had gone to Hawaii before to give me suggestions.

I even posted on websites for details to save money yet still have the romantic lasting memories that Hawaii can give.

I reviewed WHOM I wanted to do the vow ceremony by searching online as well.

After many months of searching I decided on Greg Christopherson of MarryingManHawaii.com. He let us choose the beach and date and time and was well within my budget. Greg and his beautiful wife Jolene helped us make our 25^th anniversary ceremony one that we will remember forever.

I then found the most amazing Photographer Joe Philipson (a regular on the Go Visit Hawaii website.) He truly captured the emotion of our ceremony! Again he was quite reasonable as well! You can see some of his wonderful work at PhilipsonPhotography.com (Note that Joe Philipson captured the two photos included in this article.)

We chose one of the most beautiful locations in Oahu on Ko’Olina Beach at the Marriott; right on the edge of a spectacular man-made lagoon. It was a perfect setting. It was free; it was a public beach. (All beaches in Hawaii are public beaches, just in case you did not know.) [Sheila's note: In July, the Hawaii DLNR announced that permits will be required for any commercial operations on state land overseen by the DLNR. That includes weddings on beaches. There are a few exceptions noted in this article. Check with your service provider about whether or not a permit is required. They should handle the permit process for you, so you shouldn't have to worry about it.]

So basically we set a budget for these services, we made a decision of when, where and who was going to be working with us. We made many calls and sent many emails ahead of time to coordinate. I even arranged to pay BEFORE we even left the Mainland! All the planning ahead paid off, by making the entire event quite stress free!

Goodness the only stress was the concern that Mother Nature would bless us with a wet kiss from her bountiful blue skies. (Thankfully she waited to christen us until AFTER the ceremony was completed!)

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Ah, how romantic! Mahalo, Lauri, for sharing your experience with us!

As the week is coming to a close, I thought the timing would be good to post this beautiful sunset photo.  David from Maui Online Guide captured this photo of a kite surfer at sunset. David took this photo near Kihei.  Ah, I can just hear the sounds of the waves when I look at this photo.  Mahalo to David for sharing this shot with us.  Have a great weekend!