Since getting engaged, my husband and I make an annual trip to Hawaii.  Last week, we were supposed to be enjoying some R&R on the Big Island, so we had to get creative in finding ways to bring Hawaii home.  I have been having so much fun following along with the hotels who are bringing aspects of their hotels into their guests’ homes during this time on their social media pages.  We enjoyed yoga from an instructor we met on our honeymoon at Nihi Sumba and have had mini escapes through the Four Seasons bringing Aloha Home from their three island properties with cocktail recipes, spa treatments, fish feeding, story time, you name it!  They even curated some Spotify playlists to share their favorite island music.  Follow the Fairmont Orchid on Instagram for some lessons on Hawaiian culture, mixology and cooking lessons from the chef’s home kitchen. 

With all of these fun ideas circling the internet, we found it easy and so fun to bring Hawaii home!  I used these as inspiration and started researching fun recipes to prepare our shopping list.  We woke up on Monday and put on our Local slippers and whatever Hawaiian brewery logo gear we could find.  While I made breakfast, Sean found some Spotify playlists and read me fun facts about Hawaii.  Like did you know that Hawaii was the first state to ban plastic bags and one of four states that does not allow billboards? 

Here is how we “traveled in place” to Hawaii on the day we were planning to fly to Hawaii:

Breakfast “at The Gazebo” - Maui

I grew up staying at Napili Shores Condominiums on Maui with my parents every summer.  It was my favorite vacation of the year and one of the best parts of that property was, and still is, The Gazebo.  Apparently, the word got out and now, The Gazebo is such a hot spot for breakfast! (My tip: arrive there at 8:00am, order takeout from the side window and then take the food to the beach, wherever you are staying or any picnic table you can find and enjoy your feast while avoiding the long line.) Anyways, one of their more notable dishes are the banana-pineapple-macadamia pancakes with coconut whipped cream topped with mac nuts and a side of coconut syrup. Holy yum.  I made our own version using this recipe, but adding sliced bananas and pineapple and crushed mac nuts into the batter as it was booking.  We topped them with lilikoi butter, shredded coconut, more sliced fruit and maple syrup.  They did not disappoint and I don’t know I can go back to a regular pancake!

Lunch “at Da Poke Shack” - Big Island

My first time experiencing poke was at Da Poke Shack in Kona.  It was a game changer and still the best poke bowl of my life so far.  And now that poke has gotten insanely popular, you can pretty much find it everywhere! While I don’t love shelling out $15 for a bowl, I do love making my own!  My recipe for this poke was inspired by the Aloha Kitchen cookbook with some modifications below:

The quality of the ahi tuna you prepare it with makes a huge difference! I would not make this dish unless I knew I had really, really good fish because remember, you are eating it raw! With the fresh poke, we prepared our own bowls with steamed white rice, lettuce, pickled ginger, green onion, more avocado, seaweed salad and topped it with wasabi furikake and sriracha. 

Afternoon Activities - POG Vodka, top down on the convertible & golf

One of our favorite day trips on Maui is a West Maui Snorkel tour with Sea Maui. They have a full bar on the boat and keep the POG vodkas flowing! Simple and delicious for a day on the water.

After lunch, we took Sean’s convertible down Highway 1 and when we got home, Sean setup his golfing net.  I was his beer girl and held (read: drank) his Kona Brewery Wailua Wheat while he got in some swing practice. 

Dinner - Mac Salad, Coleslaw, and BBQ Chicken Sliders

I could probably eat this meal every night and luckily because of the amount of leftovers we had, we pretty much had this for a week!   Here are some of the recipes we used:  Mac Salad, Coleslaw  For the BBQ chicken sliders, I put four chicken breasts in the crock pot with this Hawaiian BBQ sauce on low for 6 hours.  Easy and delicious!  Of course, no dinner on vacation could be complete without a perfectly paired beer. We both enjoyed our favorite Kona Brew beers. I wrote about 7 Beers and 3 Non-Beer Beverages That Will Transport You To Hawaii so you can find one that fits your taste!

Dessert & Disney

While malasadas were what I was really wanting, I also really wanted to find a slightttly healthier option.  I made my own vegan coconut “ice cream” and grilled rum soaked pineapple.  This could be my new favorite dessert! It was overall super easy and really, really good - also, something pretty fun and different! After a debate of Lilo & Stitch vs. Moana, we decided to end the night with dessert and Moana.

More Ideas to Bring Hawaii Home

• Shaved Ice for Dessert

• Online hula dancing or ukulele lesson

• Try making spam musubi!

• Serve up some mai tais (don’t forget the tiny umbrella!)

• Order a care package full of goodies straight from The Big Island!

• Too cold to go outside? Turn the heater on and take a nap in your bathing suit (we didn’t do this, but our friend gave us this fun idea!)

If you had to cancel a vacation due to the coronavirus, I would highly recommend traveling in place!  I honestly was looking forward to our “vacation day” leading up to that Monday and it was fun to have something different on the calendar.  We were obviously bummed not to be heading to Hawaii that day, but sprinkling things that reminded us of our favorite spot throughout the day made it pretty special.  I know I appreciate traveling 1000% more now and will  never take a flight for granted again!  Hopefully we will one day remember these days when we are about to complain about a flight delay or a long line at Peet’s before a 7:00am flight.  I am just going to be so damn happy to be wheels up heading anywhere when the world allows for it!︎