I recently took a trip to beautiful island of Oahu. My husband’s family grew up there, and some still live there so we were able to visit.

I had a really amazing time trying to experience and eat my way around the Island 🙂

Experiences

Polynesian Cultural Center

The PCC let’s you learn about island cultures (Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand, etc.) in such a fun and engaging way. My favorite thing was watching the incredible Samoan fire-dancing and drinking out of pineapples.

How PCC stole my heart

Kualoa Range

We went on a raptor tour of the Kualoa range that was really amazing. The Kualoa range is recognizable even if you haven’t been there, because it has been filmed in 50 First Dates, Jumanji, Jurassic Park, etc. When we went it was pouring rain…which made for a very memorable experience!

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Pearl Harbor

If you are on Oahu hands down I think you should go on a tour of Pearl Harbor. We went on a bus tour which was amazing, because of all the history and stories. Ferrying out to the US Arizona was a very humbling experience. You end up being right on top of the ship, and can see the oil leaking out which is crazy to me! Side note: I think that Arizona is shutdown right now, because they found a leak in the memorial. Very grateful that I was able to see it when I did.

Food

Ted’s Bakery plate lunches

Ted’s Bakery is amazing. They have a ton of different pies and baked treats (Chantilly cake, Haupia pie, dobash cake). My favorite thing from them was the teriyaki beef plate lunches though. Plate lunches are huge in Hawaii! You can find them every where. Plate lunches are made up of protein (teriyaki beef, chicken, kalua pork), macaroni salad, and rice, YUM!

Outside of Ted’s

Chantilly

Chantilly is something I’ve never heard of before travelling to Hawaii! You will find it on cakes, cream puffs, etc. My favorite chantilly cake was found at The Willows. It is similar to a German chocolate cake with no coconut, and covered in chopped nuts.

Chantilly cake from Ted’s Bakery

Shave Ice

If you are in Hawaii shave ice is a must! My favorite place was Matsumoto’s in Haleiwa. The flavors were on point. Also, we met Matsumoto and he is a super cool dude! Haleiwa is a must see too. It’s a very cool surfer town with fun shops and great food.

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I can’t wait to get back to Oahu. It is such a beautiful and unique place.

Mahalo for reading!

Links for you!

Polynesian Cultural Center

Kualoa Ranch

Ted’s Bakery

Matsumoto’s

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Hands down Martini Mayhem is my favorite event of the year.

May 19th will be my 4th consecutive time attending. I don’t think I’ve had such good attendance to anything in my life 🙂

Let me tell you why I love this event so much!

Bottomless martinis for $40 ($50 at the door)

This pretty much explains itself. Martinis are expensive, so you can justify your drinking habit with this amazing deal!

Access to IF’s best bartenders

Martini Mayhem is a competition between participating bars to see who has the best martini in several categories. I’m convinced I need to get myself on this judge’s panel! After the judging is over the public is invited in to try the martinis. It is so much fun to see what all the different bartenders had in mind, and to try martinis that you won’t find for sale in Idaho Falls bars.

Over-all amazing event

The event is always beautiful, and well put together. I’ve never had a bad time. Afterwards, you can get dinner at The Bee’s Knees which is delicious! Then if you still have some kick in ya shimmy over to The Shilo to dance like you had at least $40 worth of martinis.

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Get your tickets at The Bee’s Knees (cash only). Hope to see you there!

The Bee’s Knees Facebook

Do you live a little local?

Have you seen our new t-shirts?

Make sure to follow Live a Little Local on Facebook and Instagram (livealittlelocal) to keep up with fun things going on in our community!