Hawaiian Vacation – 2016 | The Bis Key Chronicles

“I can’t even speak Hawaiian, but if you go there and listen to a Hawaiian song, you get captured because it’s so beautiful, like the melody is just gorgeous and you know Bob Marley is on the radio every single day. It’s very reggae-influenced down there. Basically, you haven’t been to paradise if you haven’t been to Hawaii.” ~ Bruno Mars

Aloha in the Hawaiian language means affection, peace, compassion, and mercy. Since the middle of the 19th century, it also has come to be used as an English greeting to say goodbye and hello. “Aloha” is also included in the state nickname of Hawaii, the “Aloha State.”

Suzy, my sister Deb, and I just returned from Hawaii and it was an amazing trip. Our first time, there was so much to see, hear, taste and experience. So we did the Norwegian cruise hitting many of the islands. I really enjoyed learning about the language, the history and more.

Here are some of the highlights that we recommend:

Luau Kalamaku (Kauai)
Some would say that if there’s one thing you can’t miss out on while cruising to Hawaii, it’s a true luau experience. The beautiful hula dancers, the fire performers, the knives, the pig and, of course, the smiles—we couldn’t miss this.

Road to Hana
We took a limo van and was blessed with a very knowledgeable guide who really knew the history and had a lot of stories. He even told us how the Hawaiian language was documented by the Protestant church after the Catholic church demanded conversions by the islanders before they’d do that.

Nice highlight vid with Hawaiian music background.

The best part was the company, living the dream, and exploring.

Hanging out, enjoying the views, and seeing the random gigantic bikini girl, this was a trip that will never be forgotten. The 8 daze went by so fast. I ate too much and didn’t gain a pound, probably because of the walking we did. One day I did 20 up flights (stairs) in one day!

One last note, everywhere we went we heard music from the Hawaiian’s best known contemporary musician, Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole aka Iz. For us in 2016, he was the voice of Hawaii.

Iz sings his most recognizable song.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that I’m recommending that my newest fav Hawaiian musician is Jake Shimabukuro. I first heard him (and I swear this is a recording of that session, but since the vid is from Tokyo, I guess the green couch is a common stage prop) when I was working at Amazon in Seattle. Never a Uke man myself, this session left me loving the instrument. Yes, I know own a Uke.