Hawaii!!!

[ClashmoreDave]

Let me second many of the responses: Dole, Diamond Head (definitely a must!), and the North Shore.

Once you get out of Waikiki, any beach is pretty much a great beach.

I also liked Pearl Harbor - the USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri. If war memorials are your thing, there is also Punchbowl, the Navy cemetary of the Pacific.

One thing that I've always heard is good is the Polynesian Cultural Center. Its a day long trip, on the northern side of the island, but its supposed to have that old Hawaii feel to it, which you will not find in Waikiki....

As someone else mentioned, try to island hop! Depending on what you think Hawaii is, the others are so much better. I liked Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii better, but I don't like crowds that much. Oahu is, on the other hand, sooo much better once you leave the touristy Waikiki behind, so get out and go to the North SHore (great parks and beaches and waterfalls on the way) and eastern side as well (Diamond Head is on the way).

Get a guidebook, too. While I've never consulted it while actually there, it helps for whatever advanced planning I feel like doing.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

I second diamond head, esp if you want to be able to mildly brag about something you did on vacation, but will part ways with the hubby at Dole and Pearl Harbor. then again I am neither a war nut nor a pineapple fanatic.

One thing in Waikiki that I did enjoy was the international marketplace. Gigantic flea market sort of place, do all your souverneir shopping there.

 

[Piratecat]

Don't get eaten by cannibal headhunters. Don't take a short boat tour.

- Pirate "everything I know, I learned from Gilligan's Island" cat

 

[diaglo]

see if you can get a hold of Ranger REG.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Note: I'm going with my wife. She's attending a professional conference in Honolulu, and I'm tagging along.

Heh, that's weird -- I am also tagging along with my wife who is attending a professional conference in Hawaii. I wonder if it's the same one?

 

[Umbran]

Heh, that's weird -- I am also tagging along with my wife who is attending a professional conference in Hawaii. I wonder if it's the same one?

AVMA?

 

[diaglo]

AVMA?

http://tradeshow.alibaba.com/trade_...dical_Association_AVMA_Annual_Convention.html

143rd American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Annual Convention
Date: Jul 15, 2006 - Jul 19, 2006
Venue: Hawaii Convention Center, USA
Organizer: American Veterinary Medical Association (AMVA)

No. of Exhibitors: 400
No. of Attendees: 10000
Exhibition Floor Size: 180000
Venue Address: 1801 Kalakaua Ave
Honolulu,HI USA 96815
Venue Phone: 808-943-3500


Event Information
The AVMA hosts the profession's premier scientific educational program and tradeshow, highlighting the latest advances and trends in veterinary medicine.

Exhibitor Information
By exhibiting, you can reach more than 9,000 attendees, including over 5,000 key decision makers, eager to learn about your latest verterinary products and services. Products and services to be exhibited include veterinary specific products, business enhancement services, financial opportunities and personal use products appropriate for a family venue.

Attendee Information
Attendee demographics include veterinarians, technicians, students and practice staff from the United States and abroad.

More at: http://www.avmaconvention.org

 

[Endur]

Waikiki is fantastic albeit pricey and overrun with tourists. The rest of Oahu is equally fantastic, less overrun and less pricey.

Parking in Waikiki is a pain, its often faster to walk or take a taxi than pull the rental car out of the garage or get it back from the valet parking.

Definitely take the rental car for a trip around the island. I recommend using the highways along the coast. There are neat sites. You can drive all the way around Oahu in a single day.

 

[ClashmoreDave]

Don't get eaten by cannibal headhunters. Don't take a short boat tour.

- Pirate "everything I know, I learned from Gilligan's Island" cat

The hotel I stayed at last time was next to the harbor they sailed from at the beginning of Gilligan's Island!

 

[bodhi]

Heh, that's weird -- I am also tagging along with my wife who is attending a professional conference in Hawaii. I wonder if it's the same one?

AVMA?

And here I was, thinking "same wife".