The next day we visited the town of Kauai. I felt guilty already being in Hawaii for 3 days and stil

On April 28th, 2014, The Carnival Miracle set sail from Long Beach, California headed to Hawaii. The 16 day Hawaiian cruise is one never to be forgotten. From day 1 I could tell it was going to be an experience not only for me but for the people boarding the ship as I stood greeting everyone on the ship playing my ukulele. To be honest, people probably los angeles night clubs thought it was pretty cliche and annoying but worst comes to worst I got a couple hours in of practice. The guests quickly came to find I was one of the performers los angeles night clubs onboard. That night, I performed for everyone with a few acoustic tunes to settle in for the 16 day excitement we had coming before los angeles night clubs us. To reach Hawaii from Long Beach it took 5 days at sea, including our first day out of Long Beach. You would think this sounds a little crazy but four days at sea wasn t as bad as you might think because there is so much entertainment on the ship including me performing every night so it is hard to get bored with your surroundings.
Our first port of call was the big island of Hilo, Hawaii. Immediately, prior to even arriving to Hawaii, I knew my first purchase was going to be a brand new ukulele. los angeles night clubs I did my research on music stores before my arrival so as quick as I could I rented a vehicle for the day and drove off to the local music store. When I arrived to my destination, the front door of the store was chained up and closed down. I couldn t believe it. I traveled thousands of miles for this moment only to come to what looked like a prison. Disappointed, I quickly put my ukulele purchase on hold and filled my time with some local tourist attractions. The first attraction I visited was Akaka Falls. Akaka translates to a split or separation which makes sense to this beautiful 422 ft natural waterfall which was absolutely breath taking. You pull up to a beautiful park and walk your way into the rainforest only to come up on this giant natural waterfall. It really is indescribable. Shortly after my visit or Akaka Falls, it was off to Volcano National Park. Here I experienced seeing real life volcanic activity as it happened. There are large fields with natural holes called steam vents in which natural stream from the volcanoes escapes the underground. Pretty fascinating stuff.
The second day in Hawaii we visited beautiful Maui, the second largest of the Hawaiian islands. Like the rest of Hawaii, this place is so surreal it s hard to take it all in at once. After picking up the rental car I immediately went to the closet music store. Thankfully it was open! The selection of ukulele s was truly inspiring in itself. I originally planned on purchasing another Kala brand like my other Ukulele but after testing numerous options, I went with a gorgeous little tenor Pono ukulele. It has a solid acacia top back and sides with a glossy finish and I just can t get over the warm sound it brings. Pono is the Hawaiian word for righteous los angeles night clubs which is also included in Hawaii s state slogan, Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono translating to, The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness. I now call him Lil Pono and he surely travels with me everywhere I go. Such a beautiful sound to it and thankfully I was able to perform a few Hawaiian sets to test him out and it sounded just as beautiful as it looked. Now I had my new ukulele, I jumped back into my rental and made my first tourist stop to Iao Valley. This dense rainforest was only 10 minutes from downtown los angeles night clubs Maui and the drive itself is as scenic as it gets. On route to Iao National Park, you are literally driving through the most beautiful green lush hills that stretch los angeles night clubs for miles. I couldn t believe the scenery and I spent the next 3 hours literally just walking around these beautiful tree covered mountains taking it all in. Because we spent the night in Maui, I later drove the car north to a little beachy mellow town called Lahina! This had a really relaxing vibe to it right along the beach as I explored the area. After a night of checking out the local area it was time to call it a night. I was up with the sun the very next morning because planned ahead was a 5 hour drive on The Road to Hana. If you are visiting Maui for a day or more, make sure this is on the top of your list to do. The road to Hana is an extremely narrow 50 mile winding road swirling it s way through the mountains all the way to a little town called Hana. Along the drive there are several beautiful spots to take in the scenery including countless breathtaking views, natural waterfalls, los angeles night clubs one of a kind trees growing naturally looking as if someone painted all over them, and the list goes on! After driving for a couple hours you will come to what is the most common destination or purpose of this drive. At the end there is a place called The 7 Sacred Ponds. These are ponds made naturally from the mountain springs. los angeles night clubs Unfortunately the tides were too high because of the large amounts of rain over the previous week closing entrance to the ponds but seeing them was a thrill in itself. While chatting with some locals I had an amazing local experience. I was browsing around in the visitors center and I found a beautiful Hawaiian necklace in which I have been searching for but yet to find the one I like. Of course, here it hung around the neck of a manican. It was made of beautiful, rustic nuts and I needed to have it. I explained to the locals it was the most beautiful one I ve seen yet and I asked them to put a price on it. Once they politely explained to me it was not for sale, I continue to walk around and browse. Before I left, I approached the women behind the counter one last time and said, Are you sure you can t put a price on it? The women slowly reach over and took the necklace from the manikins neck and place it over mine. She kissed me on the cheek and said, Please take it. It is a gift. I immediately had goosebumps from the experience as she kissed me on the cheek and explained to me the many meanings of this particular necklace. The nuts of the necklace are from the Hawaii state tree called Kukui nuts. The bark of the tree was used for burning in which oil from the tree was used to make light. They explained to me this is the tree of light, and light for many people can have many different los angeles night clubs meanings and the generosity of these beautiful people in itself was such a lightening experience for my first visit to Hawaii. An experience I ll never forget. After chatting with the locals it was time to head back to Carnival Miracle. If you make it to the 7 Sacred Ponds, los angeles night clubs you can either take The a Road to Hana the same way you came, or keep going straight for a couple hours and it ll bring you right back where you started. I advise you to keep going forward. Be aware that car rental insurance will never insure your car on these back roads but fear nothing because they drive wasn t as rough as people make it out to be. I cannot explain the scenic views through the back roads on route to downtown Maui. The sites from the edge of mountains seemed to be the edge of the world and were stunning. Being so high above the sea level and looking over the edge to hundreds of miles of water was so surreal. A drive never to be forgotten.
los angeles night clubs The next day we visited the town of Kauai. I felt guilty already being in Hawaii for 3 days and still not even touching a surf board so a day of surfing was ahead. I rented yet another car for the 3rd day in a row and immediately asked some locals where the best surf in the area was. I ended up driving to the north end of the island to a place called Honalo Bay. I must say this was the first time I went surfing where I was surrounded but mountains. Having a day to myself just to vibe out on the waves really gave me some time to relax and take it all in. Sadly, when we visit these areas we are limited to a number of hours so I returned my board and really had a full day of success surfing. Now, I m just dying to get back on a board once again. Hoping this summer either at Mahom Bay in Nova Scotia or down in North Carolina if I make it that way this fall. We will see.
The second last port we visited was Kona. I brought my ukulele to a nearby coffee shop early in the morning and practiced for a few hours while learning a few new songs. I brought my old ukulele to practice because I didn t want to play Lil Pono while being outside or near the beach. los angeles night clubs I grabbed one of the best banana smoothies I have ever had in my life, and then moved on my way to a local beach in town called Turtle Beach. This place is called Turtle Beach for a reason. los angeles night clubs If you walk out to the rocks right on the edge where it meets the water, sea turtles swim right up to your feet and feed in the algae growing on the nearby rocks. I captured some amazing photos and footage of these big guys and had a blast while doing so. Now it was time to head back to the cruise ship for our sail away. When I got back to the ship, I noticed I was missing something. I had my bag with my iPad, headphones los angeles night clubs etc; I had my camera los angeles night clubs bag including my camera and then boom, it hit me. No ukulele! I traced back my steps in my head and recalled the last time I had it in my presence and this was in the cab ride heading towards Turtle Beach. After about an hour of contacting the local cab service a driver los angeles night clubs pulled up beside me and politely said, You are missing your ukulele aren t you? . I couldn t believe it. He told me a driver would be around shortly to deliver my Kala! Soon enough, around he pulled up with the ukulele. I couldn t thank him enough los angeles night clubs for his kind soul so I at least took his information and personally thanked him for its return. When I got back onto the ship, I sat my two ukulele s down and made sure they each understood their roles. Kala is for practicing and taking with me as I travel and Lil Pono is for live performances. This way they both help me to move forward in my career without one of them feeling los angeles night clubs left out and abandoning me in the rain-forests of Hawaii.
My last stop in Hawaii was the beautiful city of Hon