| Saturday, March 07, 2009 |
| Smiles, everyone, smiles |
We were on a BART train yesterday and all the ads in our car had been purchased by Hawaii's Visitors and Conventions Bureau. Turns out it's part of a month-long campaign, "Hawaii: A Thousand Reasons to Smile," seeking to bombard Bay Area residents with images of the Hawaiian isles.
John Monahan, HVCB’s president and CEO, said the campaign goal is to get consumers longing for the restorative benefits of a Hawaii vacation – especially during these stressful times – and showing how affordable it is to visit the islands. “Getting people to smile is a perfect antidote to the nation’s dreary economic news,” said John Monahan. “And nothing defines being happy, carefree and lighthearted as much as a Hawaii vacation. We’re going to uplift spirits, recharge batteries and bring smiles back in a thousand ways starting with the great travel deals now being offered.” As it happened, the reason we were taking BART was because we were headed to SFO to board a flight to Hawaii. It had nothing to do with the tourism campaign, though; our trip had been in the works for two years. I was on the committee for a mystery convention on the Big Island of Hawaii, and after all the planning (not to mention a lot of cancellations -- turns out not everyone finds a visit to the islands as affordable as the Visitors Bureau says it is), it was finally here.
If I'd been planning my own first trip to Hawaii, I probably would have chosen Maui, which is where many friends and family members have vacationed. I must admit I didn't know much about the Big Island and was surprised by how desolate the landscape here is. It's definitely not the lush, green tropical scene most people envision when they think "Hawaii":
It's a far cry from the skyscrapers of Waikiki; like most of Hawaii, the Big Island depends on tourism dollars, but even in the resort area where we're staying, the landscape seems relatively unspoiled. Here's a photo of our hotel:
You may notice that it looks rather gray and overcast in the photos. It drizzled on and off all day, and I hate to be a spoilsport, but there was something a little grim about the harsh landscape and the steel-colored sky. I didn't find a thousand reasons to smile, but there were a couple. I had some delicious pancakes with macadamia nuts and coconut syrup at a cafe in Kamuela, and I enjoyed a scenic walk around the hotel grounds.
There aren't a lot of walls here. The public areas of the hotel are open to the elements, and there were several birds in the lobby.
The Big Island's main attraction seems to be the Volcanoes National Park, but since it's on the other side of the island, I don't know if we'll have the chance to get over there. Several companies offer helicopter tours, but the only thing that interests me less than flying in a helicopter is flying in a helicopter over an active volcano. |
posted by 125records @ 12:04 AM  |
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| 7 Comments: |
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Your description makes it sound like Iceland. Rainy and desolate. Iceland is where our astronauts trained before the moon landing. Perhaps they should have tried "The Big Island"
Your Dad
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It's so funny that you say that because I said to Joe yesterday that the landscape reminded me of Iceland!!! Of course it's a lot warmer...
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We spent a week on Kauai a few years ago -- also during a terrible rainy stretch when it was grey much of the time, though the landscape there is VERY lush rather than volcano-bleak. Still, I did come to fall in love with the place. It felt like a small town in many ways, and had the weird dualism of being on a tropical island but also being in the United States.
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Sue, I urge you to take advantage of the helicopter ride. We took one on Maui a few years back and it is so different from fixed wing aircraft. I will remember it til the day I die. We got earphones and the pilot turned the volume all the way up on Apocalypse Now music and took us over the volcano, down in valleys, over waterfalls....it was breathtaking. The sun should be shining and you should see a rainbow every day. Hope you will be there long enough for things to improve. We remember Hawaii with smiles!
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Sue, Skip the helicopter ride. When I took phobic classes so I would get on a plane, the counselor said skip helicopters.
You did enough just to get there.
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The helicopter rides are expensive -- we are getting around the island in a super cool Mustang convertible, but alas, so far the top has remained UP due to rain!
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Remember, Hawaii is a volcanic island (archipelago I mean). It is supposed to look like this. Where we stay in Kihei, rainfall is less than 10 inches a year - dry! It;s a bot of this and that, but I know you will experience the special spirit of Aloha before you leave!
(Um, hate to say it but I would pass on the helicopter ride and go for a walk or go snorkeling)
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Name: Sue
Home: San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States
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Your description makes it sound like Iceland. Rainy and desolate. Iceland is where our astronauts trained before the moon landing. Perhaps they should have tried "The Big Island"
Your Dad