Sep 16 2008
Ten Reasons We Love Hawaii
We’re thrilled about most things Hawaiian, and want to start sharing some of those and tell you why they make us love our Hawaii home:
1. Iolani Palace. This is the only royal palace in the United States, and it dates back to 1882. In my mind this is a must see for all first time visitors to Honolulu. You won’t be disappointed and will learn a good deal about Hawaii’s history too. We wrote about it back in January.
2. On Maui, you can drive around the entire island while remaining near the ocean’s edge. Each of the other islands have parts that are not drivable, including the Big Island, Kauai and Oahu.
3. Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee commercially. Here on Kauai, as we just wrote, is the largest coffee plantation, at about 3,400 acres. There is commercial coffee grown on all of the major islands.
4. Mauna Kea, the dormant Big Island volcano, is generally considered to be the world’s highest mountain at 33,000 feet, when measured from its base (below the ocean). It is also the site of winter skiing. The summit is located above much of Earth’s atmosphere and water vapor, and thus provides an ideal location for its renowned osbservatories.
5. Mt. Waialeale, on Kauai, is considered the rainiest places in the world, averaging nearly 40 feet of rain annually! Luckily visitors don’t stay there.
6. All of our state’s beaches are considered public. Access to some of them however is only via private property or the ocean.
7. Hawaii produces some of the world’s best pineapple, and at one time produced a significant part of the world’s supply. We most like the pineapples we grow at home (just by sticking the crowns in the ground). Unfortunately labor costs have reduced our competitiveness with foreign producers. Remember that you can bring Hawaii pineapples back with you from your next trip. Pick them up at any grocery store. We wrote about that back in January.
8. Here in Hawaii we have a unique time zone, known as Hawaiian Alutian time. We are located at GMT-10 and we do not participate in daylight savings. That means that the time difference between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland (west coast) is 3 hours in summer but only 2 hours in winter.
9. We have four counties in Hawaii (Honolulu; Hawaii, Kauai and Maui). Some of the counties encompass more than one island. Each county has a mayor and a council.
10. The Hawaiian Islands (Archipelago), once known as the Sandwich Islands, consists of over 130 land masses that stretch over 1,600 miles from north (the Kure Atoll) to south (the Big Island). The name Hawaii comes from the largest of the land masses, the Big Island. The islands are considered to be the most isolated in the entire world.
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