When you hear the word "Hawaii", the first thing that comes to mind is...

I took the public bus around Oahu one day just for kicks. It took about 4 1/2 hours to take the full trip and I got to see a lot of interesting things and talk to some very interesting people. I found the local citizens very friendly, on the whole.

There was no part of the islands I visited (Oahu, Kauai, The Big Island, and Maui) on three trips I've taken there that I didn't fall in love with.

I wish I could live there for awhile, but I doubt I could afford it.
 

@Paladin1950 It doesn't get any more slick, classy and classic than Hawaii Five-0. It was pretty violent at times but was a great cop show.

I think of beaches and now sadly, the fire. Because being from California, I'm traumatized by fires.
 

Those are all very nice! She is indeed very clever/talented. I bought this one in a little shop called "Paradise Found Boutique" near Kona. Lotsa little sparklies on it front and back. I think I've worn it once or twice at most...

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That's quite an eye catching Aloha shirt. The finished appearance of the shirts my lady makes for me, is, as one fellow once said. "The way that the pattern all lines up and the breast pocket matches the pattern so well it all but disappears, earns her many a compliment.
This large pattered fabric demonstrates clearly what she does. You can hardly see the breast pocket. Look closely to the right hand side of the shirt, you can just make out the line of the pocket that runs parallel with the centre line of the shirt.
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Do you want to see a few more of my collection? Go on then.

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I was fortunate enough to go to Hawaii in 1982 with three of my co-employees. My best memory was seeing such beautiful land.

And of course the best was being able to see Tom Selleck and the rest of the Magnum PI crew.
 
I went to Pearl Harbor as a sailor in 1958. Hawaii was not yet a state. A bus load of us went around Oahu one day, that was fun and interesting. We saw Hula girls and had pineapple fresh out of the field. It was excellent. On a different day some of us went to Waikki swimming. One of them tried a surfboard. He said it was hard work. I didn't try it. I bought a LOUD aloha shirt that I wore for many years after. It was a novelty back on Long Island. Enlisted sailors were not permitted to have civilian clothes on ship, so I had to hide it.
 
Maybe not the first thought, but sometimes Fort DeRussy. The Carrier I was stationed on for 3 years was home ported in Alameda, and we always stopped in Hawaii on the way out, and the way back. Fort DeRussy had a good O’Club and a great beach. Nice place to hang out. Just talking to the son of a friend who lives in Hawaii, and Fort DeRussy is still there, alive and kicking. (-8
 
Heat and beaches. I lived there for a year way back when. Beautiful place. I noticed all the children I saw were happy and smiling.
 
1967 - 1970. First three years of high school. Windward side of Oahu.....town of Kailua.
It took me awhile to fit in......but I learned how to be a "new guy"; I learned the survival skill of situational awareness; I learned how to recognize what dangerous people look like; I learned to recognize who might be on my side and who will just look the other way.

By the time I came to enjoy being there, we moved to California where I arrived much more vigilant and tougher than the 14 yr. old kid who walked into the crucible that awaits new haole boys in the travesty that passes for public schools in Hawaii.
 
The quiet of the USS Arizona. The homeless people in the parks. Cameras on Waikiki beach. Eating breakfast at McDonalds. Spent two days in Honolulu then on a ship visiting each island. Not really impressed. Perhaps my expectations exceeded what Honolulu had to offer!
 
The first thing that comes to mind is......stress release! Years ago, taking vacation from the high stress job I had and going to Hawaii was unbelievably therapeutic! I have been to Maui many times and have visited the other islands. They are all so spectacular and all quite different from each other.
There is nothing like sitting on a beach on Maui, the soft icing sugar like sand, warm water, with the subtle warm trade winds coming off the ocean. After all that hard work of relaxing, a late afternoon cold beverage like a MaiTai or something tropical really caps off the day!
 
I think about when my grand nephew and great grand nephews were living there and my niece offered to take me on a trip with her to visit them. Well...that never happened. Her mom got sick and eventually had to go into a nursing home, so her (our) trip got cancelled.
 

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