Honolulu Museum of Art/Spalding House

The Honolulu Museum of Art is located on Beretania Street in downtown Honolulu.  Blake and I were able to go there on Kama'aina Free day, so we didn't have to pay anything to go.  Normally it is $10 to visit the museums (with admission you get to visit the Museum of Art and the Spalding House.)  I really like art museums so I enjoyed myself.  The Hawaiian art section was closed which was disappointing, because it'd be great to see Hawaiian art while in Hawaii.  I probably wouldn't recommend going here while on vacation unless art museums are your favorite thing in the world, especially because it'll cost you $10 each.

There was a Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams exhibit.  I snapped a photo of the first one I saw, then learned that we're not allowed to take pictures in that exhibit.  Lame.

Photo bomb

Indian bridal shawl

Our next stop was the Spalding House.  It has more contemporary art than the main museum.  I'm gonna be honest, this place creeped me out.  It had the strangest exhibits and the the freakiest music video I've ever seen (Radiohead's Weird Fishes,) especially the small building that was dark inside except for a few faint red lights and decorations that could have been painted by a child except for the dark creature lurking by the fireplace.  But, the weirdness also made it fun and memorable.  There is a network of trails behind the house that are fun to explore and really pretty.

View of Diamond Head

One of the props from the creepy music video.

This little guy tried to get himself run over by our car.

Moanalua Gardens

Moanalua Gardens is more like a park than a garden.  It might be a good place to stop by if you're in the area and want somewhere nice to eat your lunch or something, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way while on vacation to see it.  There are some cool things here, but you have to look for them, because most of it is just a big grassy park.  The tricky part about getting to Moanalua Gardens is that you have to turn while you're still on the freeway exit.  We missed it first time around and had to circle around back to the freeway and try again.  Keep your eyes peeled for the Moanalua Gardens sign when you get off the exit. 

Kaiona Beach

Kaiona Beach is a great spot to snorkel.  To get here from the South side of the island, drive East on the H-1 or Kalanianaole Highway depending on where you're starting from.  Once you get near Waimanalo, this beach will be on the right hand side.  We call it 'pink beach' sometimes because of the large pink building right next to the parking lot.  The best things about snorkeling here is that there is tons of coral, and I always see turtles!  I don't know anywhere else that I see turtles every single time.  I like to snorkel out through the 'sand path' on the right.  I usually run into a sea turtle within a few minutes.  There is not a huge abundance of fish here, but I do find quite a few different species every time and even eels sometimes.  I would definitely go to this beach if you really want to see some turtles!

People like to catch octopus here

This is just an ordinary half of a pen...

But wait! A hermit crab has made the pen his home.  Silly crab.

Eel eating a dead trumpet fish.  Ewww...

Bonus pic!  The starfish mani/pedi I did :)