This is a GREAT article written by David C. Jefferys from the WSJ. ..
"Hawaii is not a state of mind but a state of grace." - Paul Theroux
When I was 9 or 10, I met Barack Obama-a friend of a friend knew him. He must have been 19 or so, even slimmer than he is now. We were standing on a street corner in Honolulu. It was a sunny day. Most days are like that here. In my memory, he is backlit. He is much taller than I; maybe the sunshine gives him a faint golden glow. Because Obama is now president, the moment has taken on an iconography it didn't have at the time. In fact, it was altogether forgettable. I don't know what we're doing there. I don't know where I'm going next.
I've come home for the inauguration of the first president born and raised in Hawaii. I wanted to see it where we were both from, and I did, at dawn, the television's reflection in my hotel's sliding-glass doors, Diamond Head silhouetted behind. Later that morning, people gathered in Kapiolani Park as they always do, to practice tai chi, jog or head out into the ocean for a morning swim or paddle board ride. The mood in the city is gentle and buoyant, sweetened, perhaps, by the humble pride locals have in the new president. But watching this island boy-born at the Queen's Medical Center, off to the mainland at age 18-seems to have been mostly a private experience.
So it was a particular gift when during the inaugural parade, Punahou School's marching band came on live. I had gone to the school to visit an old classmate, now a history teacher there, and while we were talking about all things Obama (we had graduated the same year as his sister), the new president gave his alma mater the shaka sign-thumb and pinkie extended-which means, "We're cool, all's well," especially when dangled out a car window.
Everyone cheered. "They're playing ‘Aloha ‘Oe,' " my friend said. Queen Lili‘uokalani wrote "Aloha ‘Oe." She was the last monarch of the kingdom of Hawaii, and though the lyrics are about a lover saying goodbye to his cowgirl in Maunawili, anyone who grew up singing the song knows that it is a greater loss she was describing.
Down the block from the school are the tenements of lower Makiki, laundry suspended over the lanais. In the breezy space-age lobby of Punahou Circle Apartments where Obama grew up, ink jet pictures of the president with his family-Toot and his grandfather; Michelle, Malia and Sasha-are connected by red, white and blue bunting. ";We had a party with refreshments for the tenants,"; a lady pushing an empty shopping cart tells me. Another lady smokes a cigarette under copies of the Shepard Fairey posters, while in the building's office a white-haired man sorts through papers. He seems grumpy about me, though I am the only tourist. This is a strange stop on the presidential homes tour, I realize-we expect log cabins in Kentucky, compounds in Maine. But it's the 21st century: Here is a man we know.
Hawaii, not so much. The 50th state is 50 this year. Middle-aged. When the press pool arrived in Honolulu before Christmas to follow Obama around, they seemed confused by the euphonic, bewilderingly repetitive place names, by the smallness of the place, its physical blend of L.A. suburban, Hong Kong high-rise and lost-in-the-Pacific ham-radio vibe, all set in a terrarium of overwhelming dramatic beauty. Molten lava spurting like a gigantic Hadean fountain? Check. Forty-foot waves? Check. And Wal-Marts and slums and people who live in tents on the beach. This last trip the only tiki torches I saw were at the Outback Steakhouse.
Obama took his daughters to Sea Life Park on Oahu's southeastern shore. Sea Life Park! With its tetchy old sea lions and suspiciously mellow trainers, and dolphins that actually seemed happy. There is something kind of awesome about Sea Life Park, but the most awesome thing is that it is still there.
So is Waiola Shave Ice. And Irifune, the Japanese surfer restaurant. Leonard's still makes malasadas, tourists still lean into the wind on the Pali, and the Board of Water Supply puts up its light show every Christmas. (We love our Santa in a canoe.) Not much has changed on the windward side of Oahu-except that the cars seem newer. There was more rust when I was a kid.
Someone has planted a sign in front of Makapu‘u Beach, a bit of homemade activism-the old tourist marker sign with the drawing of Kamehameha holding a spear with one hand and pointing with the other, but where the place name should be, ceded land is painted. It's a reference to the dispute over 1.4 million acres of public land in Hawaii-comprising airports, resorts, forests, universities and beaches-and how the massive yearly income generated should be apportioned between the state and descendants of indigenous Hawaiians. After the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893, the land was annexed by the U.S.-an act for which President Bill Clinton issued a formal apology.
It's a cliché to say, "Look how well we live together"-the ceded land sign reminds me we're not beyond tribe-but maybe Hawaii shows us that it's time to tend to the business of malama, taking care. (Malama Obama? Yes, there's a bumper sticker.) We've been doing this here, living and dying side by side, for a long time. In Nu‘uanu Valley, an Episcopal church houses a preschool for Native Hawaiian children, while across the street, O‘ahu Cemetery, established in 1844, accommodates whalers-a greyhead Indian, a drowned Russian seaman-Chinese businessmen, Hawaiian historians and Joseph Campbell, all resting in incomparable peace next to one of the largest pagodas in the world.
The problems now-traffic, resource allocation, energy, sewage-are the same the mainland has, but here they're condensed. The federal government is taking note: Gov. Linda Lingle's ambitious Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative for 2030 aims to generate 70 percent of Hawaii's electricity from renewable sources, a joint effort between the state and the Department of Energy. Only here do you have text-book-perfect wind, ocean, sun and geothermal. There's a near-shore ocean conservation project for Maunalua Bay in East Honolulu-the first of its kind-and light rail is planned for 2012; there's even a new chain of "gas" stations with an electric-car-battery swap system opening.
For a millennium, people in Hawaii have been drawn to the summit of Mauna Keaon the Big Island, an object massive enough that its wake may have guided Tahitians to Hawaii a thousand years ago. At more than 33,000 feet from ocean floor to summit, it is the tallest thing on the planet. The slope is so gradual it is difficult to see its immensity, but at the top, 13,796 feet above the sea, it is no longer the Earth we're looking at-we are above the clouds-but the heavens. More than a dozen telescopes cluster here, some of the most powerful in the world, and the mountain will soon be home to an even more powerful one. The Thirty-Meter Telescope will have 10 times the resolution of the Hubble. It will allow us to peer deeper than ever into other galaxies. The project is not without controversy: Some Hawaiians see the mountain as sacred and perhaps our attention is better focused below. But so goes the process of ho‘oponopono, making things right-another Hawaiian concept ripe for export.
What better testing ground for putting away childish things than this small place, so much the object of fantasy-its fearsome concrete skyline and jammed freeways the result of our American problem of seeing everything as tabula rasa, even when it's a full page. The pictures the world saw in the days before the election, of Obama walking through his old neighborhood-as run-down as a postwar-boom landscape can get-made me think that this man has properly Hawaiian roots. Could aloha define a real way to live? Yes, it means hello and goodbye and they say it at the airport, it may be too hokey for most of us, but a shaka now and then couldn't hurt.
O'ahu Travel Guide
The island of Oahu compresses a lot into roughly 600 square miles-from world-class surfing on the North Shore to stylish hotels in Waikiki, as well as dozens of lush golf courses. An insider's guide to the best:
HOTELS
A much-needed spruce-up of the beaches and skyline has brought back tourists after a slump in the 1990s, particularly to Waikiki where accommodation ranges from quirky retreats to luxurious resorts.
Hotel Renew: A new boutique hotel that's only half a block from Waikiki Beach, if you can break your gaze away from the in-room 80″ projection television set.
The Royal Hawaiian: Renovated and redesigned, the Spanish-Moorish "Pink Palace of the Pacific," stretches across 10 acres of coconut groves to the beach.
Trump International Hotel &; Tower:This 38-story tower, one of the most dramatic additions to Waikiki in recent years, will have condo-hotel units; due to launch in late 2009.
DINING
Although traditional luaus with roasted pigs still lure the tourists, Oahu is taking a turn away from well-worn themes as the dining scene matures. There are high-end restaurants featuring Pan-Pacific, Eurasian and Hawaiian Regional cuisine, as well as humble trucks and beach shacks that serve tasty local dishes.
Macky's Kahuku Sweet Shrimp:Shrimp trucks along the North Shore are plentiful, but Macky's stands out with five kinds of shrimp, including those from local farms that are cooked to order and eaten with sides of fresh pineapple and sweet corn.
‘Elua Restaurant & Wine Bar:Two chefs with two cooking styles might seem contradictory, but it works at ‘Elua where French and Italian Mediterranean classic cuisine incorporates Hawaiian specialties such as the rare Moi fish; the creative selection of wines is a bonus.
Tangö Contemporary Cafe:You couldn't draw inspiration from farther afield than Finland, but this packed Kakaako neighborhood newcomer does just that by fusing traditional Nordic fare with Hawaiian classics in a minimalist room.
SPORTS
A temperate 70 to 85 degrees year-round combined with dramatic landscapes (volcanic valleys, dense jungles) and pounding surf beaches make Oahu ideal for outdoor exertion.
Golf:The 18-hole Coral Creek Golf Course on Ewa Beach incorporates unusual rock formations on cliffs that plunge from the southwestern shores of the island. The Olomana Golf Links course near eastern Waimanalo is where Barack Obama played a round in 2008 under the shadow of the grand Ko‘olau Mountain Range.
Surfing:For those not brave enough to plunge into swells on the North Shore, try stand-up paddle boarding on forgiving Waikiki Beach, or enlist the help of the Waikiki Beach Boys Canoe Club for a lesson on paddling traditional outriggers. Or go bodysurfing in the shallow waves of Waimanalo Bay Beach Park on the eastern coast.
Basketball: Chance a pickup game in Paki Playground across from Kapiolani Park where Magic Johnson played once and Obama honed his skills. The Crane Community Park in Kaimukiis always busy, and the YMCA on Atkinson Drive (Saturday mornings and weekday afternoons) is refreshingly civil, where courtesy rules in the form of a gentle "Mahalo nui loa," or "Thank you very much."
SHOPPING
Oahu shopping has grown from ticky-tacky souvenir emporiums to the place to pick up bonafide island clothes, crafts and goods. There are the requisite boutiques and malls selling designer fare, but with prices comparable to the mainland, it's better to hunt for homegrown specialties.
Royal Hawaiian Center:This revitalized and rebranded (in 2008) Waikiki complex is packed with high-end boutiques such as Bulgari, Fendi and Hermès, and has quiet places to rest under manicured trees as well as a new bridge connection to the beach.
Garakuta-do:The Japanese have long flocked to Hawaii to stock up on American goods; now they're also buying Japanese antiques and folk art at this crowded store.
Native Books:This island institution brims with books on island language and history, hula gear and ukuleles that are well-chosen and, above all, authentic.
ITINERARIES
Architecture: Even if you're only passing through Honolulu Airport, stop to admire the work of its architect, Vladimir Ossipoff. Born in Russia and raised in Japan before moving to the islands in the 1930s, the master of modern Hawaiian architecture is also known for designing more than 1,000 homes on Oahu. The Honolulu Academy of Arts occasionally organizes guided tours of some of these private properties.
Open Skies:Hop a helicopter or a seaplane for a swoop across the island. With a good pilot and eagle eyes, you'll be able to pick out hidden stretches of Hanauma Bay, the forceful Halona Blowhole, colorful coral formations at Kaneohe, the 1,000-foot drop of Sacred Falls and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, uniquely located inside Punchbowl Crater (the remains of both of Obama's maternal grandparents are there). Chinaman's Hat was the forbidding locale for "Jurassic Park" and "Godzilla." From the skies Oahu's breaking waves look even more menacing in comparison to the antlike souls who surf them.
Culture:One moment you could be standing, awestruck, in the Valley of Temples at the Byodo-In, a replica of a 900-year-old Japanese temple, the next where mythical elves might have built the ancient Hawaiian Ulupo Heiau temple. Royal offspring were born at the Kukaniloko Birthstones State Monument. It's worth sneaking a kiss on the east coast at Eternity Beach just like Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr did in 1953 (as long as there's not a wedding party ashore).
Getting There: Major airlines fly nonstop from mainland hubs to Honolulu. From the mainland, Continental Airlines has premium Business First seats. Low-cost carrier Go! has intra-island flights.
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