Wendy and I took this year’s vacation to Hawaii, opting for Honolulu instead of Maui. We decided to explore some of the local museums during our stay.
Our first stop was the Bishop Museum, which showcases an extraordinary collection of cultural and natural history exhibits. Often regarded as the world’s premier Polynesian anthropological museum, it was founded in 1889 in honor of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a descendant of the Kamehameha dynasty. While it originally housed only Hawaiian and royal artifacts, today the museum honors all of Polynesia, making it a must-see for anyone interested in the cultural fabric of Honolulu.
Next, we visited the ʻIolani Palace, a symbol of a pivotal era in Hawaiian history when King Kalākaua and his sister and successor, Queen Liliʻuokalani, ruled the Hawaiian Kingdom. The Palace is rich with memories—both joyous, with grand balls and hula performances, and painful, with the overthrow and imprisonment of Queen Liliʻuokalani. After the fall of the monarchy, ʻIolani Palace served as the Capitol for nearly 80 years before being vacated and restored to its original grandeur in the 1970s.
To keep with the historical theme, we stayed at the Moana Surfrider, one of Waikiki’s iconic resorts. Known as the “First Lady of Waikiki,” this beachfront hotel, which opened in 1901, combines Victorian elegance with a touch of island charm. It’s perhaps most famous for the magnificent banyan tree that graces its beachfront courtyard.