When you are asked, “If you could live in one place for the rest of your life, where would you go?, what place do you think of?” From now on, when I am asked, I will respond with, “Hawaii”.
After my vacation to Hawaii in late January, there are few places I could imagine that top this state and all of its beauties. From the glistening, blue water that surrounds the islands to the relaxed city life, Honolulu, Hawaii is a dream place to be.
My first highlight of this trip was when I step foot on the sandy shore of Waikiki Beach for the first time. The sand was so soft and the water was so clear, the scene looked like it came out of a movie.
Since my family and I were tired from the long journey to the island, we decided it would be best to get over our jet lag by spending a day on the beach. This counts as an easy highlight of vacation because there is no better feeling than the hot sun beating on your skin by the ocean while the temperature back home in New York was in the negatives.
The second full day that I spent in Hawaii will always be one of the most memorable parts of the trip. Early in the morning at four o’clock, we woke up and packed bags to take with us to spend the day on the island of Maui.
This trip will always carry significance because of the reason we decided to go on the trip. In lieu of my parent’s twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, they decided it would be meaningful to travel back to their honeymoon destination with their three children. They spent a lot of their honeymoon in Maui so it only made sense to visit where they stayed and the locations that we, their children, have seen in home videos.
Another moment of significance that I see as a highlight of the trip was the morning my family and I spent at Pearl Harbor. After so many years of learning about this event in history class and every year on its anniversary, being able to be there in person where the event took place was saddening but surreal. Getting a chance to step back into history and stand where those of an impactful event like that once stood is something you don’t get to experience too often.
An aspect about Hawaii that is so unique and beautiful is the views from the buildings that fill Waikiki. The view from our hotel room every night was above any other view in the world. Being able to stand on our lanai in the morning and drink a cup of coffee while looking at the ocean and feeling the sun on your skin so warmly, even at seven in the morning, was one of the things I miss so deeply. With all the views I remember, the most beautiful of them all was the sunset we watched on one of our last nights on the island. What a beautiful and peaceful thing it is to sit while staring into the orange sun. Following its ever-changing glow as it descends into the ocean was a breathtaking experience.
Another one of my favorite days in Hawaii was spent on the North Shore of the island of Oahu, where my family and I discovered a beach that, at first, we thought would be a disaster to spend our time, but ended up contributing to one of the best days of the vacation. When we first discovered this beach on the drive to the absolute north of the island, that morning the winds were awful and the sandstorms on the beach were atrocious. Laying down on the sand and having it kick up into our backs and faces deemed to be the start of a terrible experience, but when we moved to the moist areas of the sand near to the water, the sand did not pick up and we made our fondest and funniest memories for the rest of the day.
By far, Hawaii will always remain the most beautiful and adventurous vacation I have ever gotten the opportunity to be a part of. The beauty and memories that my family and I made while on this trip will stay with of me forever.