Hawaii: I want to take Carolyn

Kona coast sunset

I’ve seen my fair share of beautiful sunsets over the Pacific ocean from the shores of Hawaii. I think that since college I’ve made something like 8 or 10 trips to Hawaii, most of them alone. The last trip to Hawaii lasted six months, when I worked at the best dive shop on the Big Island and took people out to see the reef every day.

  by  StuSeeger 

In my various visits and short time as an islander I saw more than my fair share of couples staring off into the sunset together being so romantic that I just wanted to barf. At the time I would hear people say things like “Oh, Hawaii is such a romantic place.” and reply with such witty retorts as “It’s an island, you won’t find anything here you don’t bring yourself!” and “anger anger grunt snort hrmph!” I always figured that Hawaii was special because of its natural beauty and that was enough of a reason to be there. SCREW ROMANCE. Amwasirite?

Life has a funny way of putting us JUDGMENTAL curmudgeons in our place

Then I met Carolyn. Beautiful flowers became more vibrant and colorful and started to smell better (although that last bit might have had something to do with my sinuses finally healing after a surgery and the return of my olfactory sense, I think.) Sunsets turned into a thing to sit and enjoy as a pile of humanity on the beach rather than something to enjoy in passing from a bar or the driver’s seat of a moped motorbike.

This sunset blew all previous sunsets away. Mainly because it was so-mantic.

So Carolyn and I moved to Korea, and went to Bali. We weren’t exactly travel pros at that point, and we learned a lot on that trip, but it was gorgeous. The last night of our stay on the island we sat on the beach with about half a million other people and watched the sun sink into the ocean. The sky turned a million vibrant colors, the air turned cool, the sea breeze turned into a land breeze, and the air was lightly scented with frangipani and bouganvillea. We just sat there together and watched it happen, and it was beautiful. Over the next year and a half we’d have similar moments in Phuket, Railay, Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. Carolyn recently chronicled these sunsets on her blog, check it out here.

Now that the blahblahblah part of this post is finished, I’ll get the heck back on topic. I want that romantic Hawaii now. Let’s get on with it.

Places in Hawaii I need to take Carolyn.

  by  patentboy 

1. Nuuanu Pali Lookout, Oahu

Nothing says romance like the site of a battle with a dramatic and brutal ending, right? This is where King Kamehameha drove the Oahuan army over the cliff to their deaths. They still find skulls and bones at the base of the cliff. It’s a little grisly, but the view is stunning, the air is cool, and the ridge is lined with those beautiful casuarina trees I love so much. I want to stand here in the cool breeze with Carolyn and take it all in.

  by  Steven | Alan 

2. Waimea Bay, Oahu

I’d prefer to bring Carolyn here in the summer when the waves aren’t huge so we can snorkel and kayak and stuff. It’s a beautiful bay with a beautiful backdrop. Hell yes.

  by  TheGirlsNY 

3. Waikiki Beach, Oahu

Well I mean, duh. This one is sort of obligatory. You can’t very well take one to Hawaii for the first time and completely ignore the mess of humanity and sunscreen most talked about, famous, photographed, and recognizable beach in the whole archipelago, can you? Well I guess you could, but I wouldn’t want to do that. I’d like to take Carolyn to Waikiki, do touristy things. Hang out with tourists. Drink froofroo umbrella drinks under a cabana and eat puka dogs. Is that asking too much?

  by  Kanaka Menehune 

4. La Mariana Tiki Bar, Oahu

We both like cocktails. I at one time had a rather consuming obsession with Polynesian pop culture. I always wanted to go to this bar, and now that I have someone to buy a drink for I think it’d be a lot of fun. Sounds good. Let’s go.

  by  terrijane01 

4. A tacky tourist Luau
Say what you will about how tacky and commercialized these things are, but I like them. I’d love to take Carolyn to one. Don’t judge me.

Manta rays, underwater, sounds like Carolyn would enjoy it.

5. Manta Ray Night Dive, Kona, Big Island

I’ve done this dive so many times that I really have no huge desire to do it again, but I’d LOVE to do it with Carolyn. We’ve been diving together in a couple pretty spectacular places (Indonesia, Thailand), but we’ve never seen any big critters together. This is one of those sure-shot ways to see some big stuff, and I think Carolyn would enjoy it a lot.

  by  Mozul 

6. Mauna Kea, Big Island
The highest point in Hawaii, super dark skies, and telescopes. It’s like how we first started dating, but with bigger telescopes and a prettier setting. This would be a must-do kinda thing for us.

  by  super-structure 

8. Matsumoto’s Shave Ice, Oahu
I’ve never been here, but I wanna go. I don’t think Carolyn would mind this little side trip. Plus, Haleiwa is beautiful anyway.

  by  ClarkRealty 

9. Kona Village Resort, Big Island
I’ve always wanted to stay in a place like this, but never did because I always wanted to spend my money on other things like diving, sightseeing, or that kind of thing. Now, I’m not usually the kind of guy to blow a bunch of money on the place I’m staying, but Carolyn deserves to stay here. Shoot, I’m definitely not the kind of guy that doesn’t leave a resort, but I’m not sure I’d want to leave this one. No phones, private bungalows? Sounds pretty good to me. Nothing to deal with other than enjoying time with Carolyn in a beautiful place sounds like a pretty good set of problems for a vacation.