Category Archives: TRAVEL!

Shangri La

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Okay. If you live here or are vacationing here you HAVE to visit Shangri La. Oh. My. Goodness. This place is insane!

A little backstory:

Shangri La was built by Doris Duke in the 1930s. (She was a crazy rich heiress) She gets married and on her honeymoon does an around the world trip. While on her honeymoon she falls in love with Islamic artwork and design. So she starts to collect some… On her way home they stop in Hawaii where she ends up staying for 4 months instead of a few weeks after falling in love with the island.

She ends up moving to Hawaii and building this BEAUTIFUL house near Diamondhead. She continues to collect Islamic art and has craftsmen working on the house for years. After her death she left the house in a trust and tours are conducted through the Honolulu Museum of Art.

While the kids were still in school (Shangri La is 8+ I think, but even then it’s not really kid friendly) Steph and I headed downtown to the museum to catch our shuttle. Of course we had to do a little poking around in the museum as well!

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There was also a small section with some Islamic art and a video with a synopsis of Shangri La. See those 8 pointed star tiles with the cross tiles? Those make my heart flutter. This stuff was so insanely beautiful. museum2Finally we hopped onto our shuttle to Shangri La which is only about 10 minutes away.

As you can see from the driveway, its a pretty private location. The house sits on 5 acres of Hawaiian perfection.

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And the front door. Here is where it gets incredibly sad. You cannot take pictures inside the house. RIGHT?! Can you believe it! I know, I know, I get it but it was SO hard to keep my camera in my bag. And we had a lovely security guard escorting our tour group just to make sure!DSC_1588Oh and this part I just found hysterically amusing… So our guide is telling us about this front door and translating the Arabic inscribed on it (Something along the lines of ‘May Allah bless those who enter’ something like that) And one of the older ladies in our group was like, “Did she know what that meant?” Like it was so horrific to have this door say those things. I am pretty sure Doris Duke had quite the staff willing to translate for her, she didn’t practice Islam but I think she appreciated the beauty in the religion for sure.

*This is where all of my interior photos of the house would be*

And out back we are!

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This is the living room window, that window is one entire piece that, at the push of a button, slides into the floor. I love it! And it is all original from the 1930s!

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Out on the lanai…DSC_1594 DSC_1593

This boat basin has now been turned into a swimming hole… You just have to get creative with how to get there. I hear on weekends it is a bit crazy!DSC_1591

Master Bedroom windowsDSC_1602

I just loved this tabletopDSC_1603

Guest house and poolDSC_1604 DSC_1605

 

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That concluded our tour, but we did enjoy a fabulous lunch at the museum. Beautiful setting and great food!DSC_1613

Perfect lamb salad! There was not a bite left (well except for the tomatoes!)DSC_1618

 

Oldie But Goodie: Gonzales Byass Bodega Tour

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While I was going through my hard drive I kept finding tons of old pictures that I would love to post from our years in Spain. We did a few different sherry tours while we lived there but this was … Continue reading →

Bellows Beach

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Oh my… how has it taken me three months to get to this beach? It. Is. Gorgeous!

Like the beach you picture in your mind when you think of hawaii? The perfect curl of white sand with lush green mountains in the back and gorgeous blue water?

 

 

Yeah. This is it. Beautiful, soft white sand… clear blue water… just lovely.

 

 

 

So we set up camp right at the edge of the woods (great campgrounds right next to the beach for all you campers!) and hit the waves.

 

 

We went with a friend of mine and her two kids and we all had a great time. The water was the perfect temperature and the waves were perfect for boogie boarding. Mckenna hadn’t done in years but picked it right up again.

 

 

I could sit here with this view forever.

 

Or this one!

 

Omar was a little miffed at me after we wiped out one time when I took him out on the boogie board. Nothing bad, I think it just surprised him. Time to rinse off and eat some more snacks!

 

 

Little Surfer Girls (boogie board girls?) They had a great time riding the waves and digging a giant hot tub in the sand.

 

Sandy, happy children. Really, who couldn’t be happy with this practically in our back yard?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kaneohe Bay – Pyramid Rock Beach

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One of the first things you learn when you move to Oahu is how the island is divided. Down the center of the island runs a mountain range (gotta love all that volcanic activity!). The north eastern side of the divide is the windward side, it gets all of the winds and moisture. The southwestern side (where we live) is the leeward side, not as cool and much drier. This becomes very apparent when you go from one side to another. I LOVE the windward side! It is so lush and green and every time I see it I feel like I am in Jurassic Park (because it was filmed here!)

 

 

 

This is the tunnel that cuts through the mountains, it is fairly new and is much easier than having to drive all the way around or over! And when you pop out of the tunnel this is what greets you:

 

The hills all have those distinct ridges due to erosion, all of the rain has carved the rock.

 

 

 

We were looking for someplace to snorkel over on the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay but there wasn’t really anything suitable so we headed to Pyramid Rock Beach. It was a beautiful breezy day but the surf was really rough and we were advised by the lifeguard to stay shallow and keep our kids close.

 

 

Yes, I know it is all beach and ocean pictures all the time but seriously, this has been my life! We have spent a disgusting amount of time at the beach, but isn’t that what you are supposed to do when you live in Hawaii?

 

 

My gorgeous girl. This was the only picture I have where she isn’t posing like she’s trying out for America’s Next Top Model.

 

 

Oh this boy, he melts my heart.

 

 

Pyramid Rock, I wanted to go see if we could hike up the stairs but as you can see it’s REALLY far away and I am incredibly lazy. I bet the view from up there is great! 

 

 

 

Super crowded beach, I don’t know how we deal with the masses of people. Seriously though, I love going to beaches on base.

 

 

 

 

 

We also stalked a crab… cutest thing ever.

 

 

And the weirdo dog that was happy as hell to eat the leftover ice from the ice chest. Also please ignore my dirt back yard. My gardening stuff isn’t here yet, give me a couple of months and it will be beautiful!

 

Turtles!

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I totally just swam with a sea turtle!

It was amazing and I can’t wait to do it again! One off the life list!

Guess who got a new underwater camera???

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This girl!

 

My WONDERFUL husband bought me one last night and we couldn’t WAIT to take it for a spin!

So today started out a bit of a disaster.  We planned on going to Hanauma Bay for the morning after dropping the kids off at school (do you even know how awesome that is?!) but guess what? It’s closed on Tuesdays! This is something that we didn’t realize until driving there, so we decide to hit up our other favorite, Shark’s Cove on the North Shore.

Couple things about me:

I have a pretty good memory when it comes to maps.

I am stubborn as hell and don’t like to admit being wrong.

I actually LIKE getting lost/figuring how roads connect etc.

And one thing about my husband:

he highly dislikes being lost and my constant assurance that I ‘totally know where we are.’

 

Unfortunately I had left my Oahu book in the other car and we didn’t bring the GPS because we knew where we were going.  So I suggest we follow the highway around the island instead of backtracking and taking our usual central island route. I knew you could drive around the entire island but I think I may have misremembered (totally a word) quite how large the eastern half of the island is. So while the drive was beautiful, I don’t recommend doing it when you have plans and kids to pick up at 2!

Anyways, a couple snaps from our scenic drive:

 

 

Thank GOD we had an awesome snorkeling day, trust me we needed it!

Shark’s Cove was great, we saw a TON of stuff and I put my new camera to use.

 

I put all of my fish photos here to try and track everything we’ve seen and to help anyone who needs a hand with fish identification!

 

Love this place!