HAWAII
By: Megan, 12, TN (AKA megara)

This summer I went to Hawaii for two weeks and here are some cool tourist attractions on both Oahu and the 'big island' Hawaii.

OAHU
If you like to learn about different countries and their cultures, then the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is a great place to explore. There you can experience cultures of Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, and even experience an authentic luau. While you go from country to country you get stamps and if you get a stamp from each country you get a prize!

If you like to get lost in a maze and eat pineapple ice cream, the Dole Plantation is a great place to go. They have the world's largest pineapple maze and you can climb aboard the Pineapple Express which is a train that takes you around the plantation to see exotic plants grown there.

If you are one who likes to learn about history, visit Pearl Harbor. There you can ferry out to the memorial and explore the USS Arizona and USS Missouri.

THE BIG ISLAND
Like hiking and camping? Then Volcanoes National Park is the place for you. There you can hike into a lava tube, on top of volcanoes and even see a steam vent! If you are planning to visit the national park, bring warm clothes, it can get pretty cold being that high up.

Are you an animal person? If so you should visit Parker Ranch. Established in the 1800s the ranch allows you to visit their petting zoo, learn how the cowboys lived, and ride horses!!

As you can tell there is a lot of wonderful things you can do in Hawaii and I did not even mention their beaches!!

HAWAII HERE WE COME
By: Hol, 15, France (AKA 014)

I visited Oahu, Hawaii this summer. First we stayed in the Hilton Hawaiian Village which was gi-normous. You could have stayed there the whole time. We visited the Bishop museum. It was a very cool mix of history and new science. They had a Grossology exhibit! We were going to visit Pearl Harbor but it must have had a block of people lined up at 8 in the morning. We also visited Iolani Palace where the first and last royalty of the United States lived. When driving down streets you could see a lot of kids had school in the summer.

Every day and sometimes twice a day we would swim in the ocean. It was wonderful. My mom and I went on a dolphin watch trip near a lagoon. It was fun-a-menia! The dolphins would play near the front of our boat and would swim in the surf. We saw spinner dolphins, some of the smallest. Our tour guides were marine biologists so when there weren't dolphins we would listen to them. Then they let us go swim with the dolphins though we soon lost them because they were going too fast. After that we went to a corral head where sea turtles would swim. The fish would come and eat the algae off them. It was so cool to watch! :-) We got to swim with them to and I swear I saw a sand shark. All and all my trip to Hawaii was great and I hope that if you ever visit there yours will be to!