When I was a kid in 1959, my school made a big deal over the addition of Hawaii to the list of United States. That, plus an old tune on my Victrola called "Hello, Aloha, How Are You?" started me wanting to go to Hawaii in the worst way. It was four decades later that I finally got to make that trip, followed quickly by three more.

How to Pronounce Hawaiian Names

By: Paul S Cilwa	Posted: 5/1/2010		Page Views: 1,832
Hashtags: #Hawaii #Linguistics #Travel
How to pronounce those wiki-wacky words of our 50th state.
Estimated reading time: 4 minute(s) (905 words)

No one started out with more trouble pronouncing Hawaiian words than I did. On my first trip, to Maui last year, I had spent two days on Mount Haleakala before I could pronounce it properly (hollay ah kah la). Last week's trip to Kauai wasn't much easier. True, most of us have heard Waimea often enough to remember how it's said (why MAY ah) But then there's towns like Kapa'a (coppa ah) and Po'ipu (poh IH poo). And what's with the apostrophe? What got left out? (Often, it's the apostrophe: You'll see as many signs with "Poipu" as with "Po'ipu".) So today I thought I'd research the topic a little and share what I've learned.

Kauai

By: Paul S Cilwa			Page Views: 1,228
Hashtags: #Hawaii #Travel #Kauai
My travels on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (63 words)

Kauai is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of over 560 square miles, it is the fourth largest of these islands and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle", Kauai lies 105 miles across the Kaua'i Channel, northwest of Oahu. This island is also the site of Waimea Canyon State Park.

Maui

			Page Views: 1,162
Hashtags: #Photography #Travel #Hawaii #Maui
My travels on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
Estimated reading time: 1 minute(s) (122 words)

The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at over 720 square miles and is the 17th-largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the State of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which include Moloka'i, Lāna'i, and unpopulated Kaho'olawe. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444, third-highest of the Hawaiian Islands, behind that of O'ahu and Hawai'i Island. Kahului is the largest city on the island with a population of 26,337 as of 2010 and is the commercial and financial hub of the island. Other significant places include Kihei, Lahaina, Makawao, Pukalani, Paia, Kula, Haiku and Hana. And I've been to all of them, plus more!