Post #611772 by tigertail777 on Thu, Oct 27, 2011 1:24 AM

WOW. Punalu’u sounds like it is just the ticket of what I was looking for but couldn't find. If I can ever afford to go back it will be one of my first stops. Thanks so much for sharing that I really appreciate it, Msteeln it means a lot to me. :)

I admit I might be a bit biased anyways, having grown up watching slides practically every weekend of Oahu taken in the late 60's early 70's and craving the chance to go. When the chance finally came and I saw all of the commercialization that had happened it was devastating to me. I felt I was denied the beautiful paradise that the rest of my family remembers. I was too young when we left Oahu to remember very much so this was to be my one chance to see what I always heard everyone talk about in my family for years, and they always had a permanent sense of joy and admiration in their voices when they spoke of it. I wanted to be a part of that. It looks like some of that paradise may still exist, it just takes a lot more looking to find it which was time I did not have as our trip was quite limited due to our budget. One day I will make it back there and this time by god I will find some of that paradise so I can finally understand that eternal joy and admiration my family has for Oahu. The closest I ever came to that sense of joy and wonder my family had is when I saw the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland, so naturally I am probably just a little too defensive of Disney's fantasy version of Hawaii.