Hawaii Trip Day 3: Food

This may have been our favorite day of the trip when it comes to FOOD!

We headed farther towards Laie after seeing the turtles again to find this:

Giovanni's shrimp truck in Kahuku

We shared (I'm not a shrimp lover yet but had two because they were THAT good) the shrimp scampi which is their DELICIOUS garlic shrimp they are famous for.  You should read the description off the menu on their website...it'll make your mouth water!  We also got barbecued corn from a booth set up near there that was pretty yummy too!  There were two different ways they prepared it so we got both and shared.  One was "island style" that had garlic salt, mayo, and parmesan cheese among other things on it.

And then again driving back towards our hotel we stopped again at Matsumoto's in Haleiwa.  This time we shared one instead of getting our own because we had just had lunch.

Then for dinner we went to Helena's Hawaiian Food.  This was the BEST Hawaiian food we had during our trip!  We are still talking about it and I'm pretty sure there kalua pig has been in my dreams at least once since we've been home!  It's been on Man vs Food on the Travel Channel and also on the Food Network.  We went on the recommendation of one of Brian's high school friends and we LOVED it!  A neighboring table of older Hawaiian couples could tell when we sat down we didn't belong (maybe because we were the only white people there) and took it upon themselves to show us what they were having and tell us what to order.  When that happened, other near by tables decided to join in and I don't think we've ever been asked so many times, "How did you find it? "  I think they were a little upset to share their local hangout with two tourists from Utah!  We had kalua pig, laulau, poi, Short ribs Pipikaula Style, fried Ahi, and Haupia.  We left VERY full and sad that we ate here on the way to the airport and unable to come again! Brian bought a shirt when he paid for dinner and Helena's daughter asked the same question and wanted to know where he was going to wear the shirt.  It may have been our favorite meal/resturant of the trip! 

As we were driving from Helena's to the airport, we found some funny signs:

 SO glad we didn't eat here!

 Not sure why you want a "free jail call to your cellular" but maybe it's a Hawaii thing? 

Hawaii Trip Day 3: Pearl Harbor

We showered and got cleaned up at the hotel after our time at the beach and left the hotel.  We wanted to go to Pearl Harbor as our last stop before dinner and heading to the airport to fly to Kauai.  Unfortunately we didn't pay attention to the times it operated tours!  We got there at 3:30pm and the last tour out to the Arizona Memorial left at 3pm! :(  So instead we walked around the visitor center grounds and did the audio tour on the USS Bowfin Submarine.

The USS Arizona Memorial off in the distance.

The USS Bowfin Submarine that we toured.

Boarding the USS Bowfin

We enjoyed learning about life on a sub especially because Brian's Dad served in the Navy and did tours on submarines.  It was lots of tight and cramped spaces and very stuffy in there.

I made Brian get on one of the beds so we could see how it was like when his Dad had to sleep during his time serving on submarines.  I don't think I would do well on a submarine!  I'm too claustrophobic!

We walked this circle of plaques after our tour.  It listed those who have lost their lives on submarines.

Brian with the anchor from the USS Arizona.

Hawaii Trip Day 3: Sea Turtles

We woke up to this view from our balcony on our 3rd day.  It was beautiful!  We were up and out of our hotel around 8 am and at the local Target less than 10 minutes after it opened for the day!

We dropped our Target purchases off at the hotel and headed back to that beach on the North Shore past Haleiwa where we found the sea turtles. 

  It's a beautiful spot and Brian was anxious to get in the water with the turtles!  We met and visited with a lady on the beach that was staying in a studio apartment in the house in the picture and I think if we go back to Oahu, that's what we want to do next time!

 We saw 4 or 5 different turtles while we were there and one that was missing a front right flipper.  They came right up to the shore and we were so close to them!  We never did touch them but there was a few times where we had to move back because they were coming to us!  

Here's a few videos we took of the turtles:

This is the one missing it's front right flipper.

And this is our boys favorite turtle video to watch!  At the end you'll see the reason that Brian stopped swimming with the turtle...it pooped!

Hawaii Trip Day 2: Laie Temple

We had initially planned to do an endowment session in the Laie Temple but when it came down to trying to pack the things we wanted to do on Oahu into our short 2 1/2 days there, we had to cut our visit at the Temple short.  We were able to enjoy the beautiful grounds and spend some time in the visitor center and talk with the sister missionaries.  It must have been a quiet day for them because they were VERY excited to have someone to talk to.  I'm think one sister was from Easter Island and the other was from Korea.   One of them had even heard of my cousin, Leavitt Woodland, who had served in that mission almost 2 years ago.  They invited us to watch a video that talked about the history of the church in Hawaii and specifically Laie so we did and enjoyed learning a bit more about it.

Hawaii Trip Day 2: Drive to Laie

We left the Dole Plantation and headed towards Laie to see the Temple and go to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  As we headed North, we saw more pineapple fields.

Brian saw this type of tree in Australia and liked it so we took a picture.

And we stopped for shave ice at Matsumoto's.  (We tried many different places, each with their own spin on shave ice while we were in Hawaii, and Matsumoto's was tied for the top spot on our list.  It was also the only place we went to twice!)

A little ways down the road after Matsumoto's we started driving near the ocean and seeing lots of surfers.  I told Brian we should stop and watch for a few minutes and by the time he decided to stop the car, we had passed a big crowded beach and come to this little quiet strip of beach.  There were still surfers there so we parked and went and sat for a bit.

 It was a beautiful spot.

 After being there for 5 minutes or so we noticed some people taking pictures of something in the water.  We joined them and got to see 4 sea turtles!

 You really have to blow up these pictures to spot the turtles.

Brian talked to a local surfer and he said that turtles were here everyday eating the green stuff growing on the rocks.  We were pretty excited to see them and decided we'd come back the next day with our swimsuits and waterproof camera to see if we could get a closer look when we had more time.

Hawaii Trip Day 2: Dole Pineapple Plantation

We stopped at the Dole Pineapple Plantation as our first stop of the day.  We stopped mostly for the Dole Whip but we ended up going on the little train ride and walking around for a bit.  We enjoyed learning a bit more about pineapple and of course picking up some pineapple flavored treats to bring home.  We also learned a new way to cut pineapple and we've tried it out on the pineapples we brought home and it's worked really well!

These koi fish were at a pond at the plantation and went crazy when we fed them so we took a video to show the boys!