Hawaii Part 2
Welcome, friends!
Sooo many of you are interested in Hawaii! That makes me so happy! Liam still says Hawaii was our best trip, and I think I have to agree. It truly is everything you imagine it to be. Check out Part One to see our first four days on Oahu and Maui!
I think the comment that stuck with me the most was simply, “I wish.” I can’t share this enough – don’t postpone joy. Do those things you’ve always wanted to do. Whether that is travel, adventure, adopting another pet, or whatever your heart wants within moral and ethical reason – go do them. My little family has been through the worst life has to offer. We still choose joy. God is still good.
Now, let’s take a look at part two of our Hawaiian cruise!
Our third morning and second port took us to Hilo on the “Big Island”, Hawaii. This day kinda stunned us. The weather was awful, rainy and muggy like Mississippi in hurricane season. It didn’t “look” Hawaii either. Apparently, Hilo is known to be the rainforest-y side of the island. If you take this cruise, don’t be bummed by the weather and first glance at Hilo. We scheduled a best of Hilo highlights tour and really enjoyed our day.
We visited the Liliuokalani Gardens…
And the Pana’ewa Zoo.
We toured the Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory (where I may have purchased five bags to take home!)…
And we watched the bakers at Big Island Candy.
In true Hawaiian style, we saw the statue of King Kamehameha.
And we stopped at Rainbow Falls and Akaka Falls, both beautiful areas!
Back on the ship we had another wonderful evening at dinner. We requested the same servers each time we went to the restaurant (Norwegian Cruise Line offers open seating, so you do not have a reserved table and set time to eat. You’re on your own schedule, and it is fabulous.) Each night our waiter would get more and more creative with napkin animals for Liam.
Our fourth morning took us to our third port, Kona, also on the Big Island. What a difference it was from Hilo!
Much better! Back to paradise!
This was a very touristy excursion, but it was the one thing Liam genuinely wanted to do – ride a submarine. Judson and I rode a submarine down to the ocean floor of the Caribbean off the Cayman Islands once, and Liam wanted to ride a sub too. Liam’s day was made when we saw several sharks! (If you’re interested in an excursion like this, I will caution you there is steep climbing down into the sub and out, and if you are claustrophobic, don’t even think about it.)
After a beautiful day on Kona, it was back to the pool for us. Liam BEGGED to go snorkeling, but I wouldn’t let him try it in the ocean. I bought this little set at a souvenir shop, and he used it every single day in the pool.
That’s all for today! My next post will wrap up the trip on the beautiful island of Kauai. And if you missed Part One, you can find it here. Thanks for stopping by!
