The wonder of Hawaii

I admit the biggest draw was my granddaughter. No place, not even one as stunningly beautiful as Hawaii, can compete with a 19-month-old walking, talking bundle of energy who wants you to read Go, Dog. Go! every ten minutes. That said, Hawaii — specifically Oahu — was a close second. As a vacation spot, it met my expectations and even exceeded them in some respects. It served as a splendid retreat for someone who plans to do more traveling in his "golden" years.

With my wife, Cheryl, I visited our son Matthew, daughter-in-law Mikayla, and granddaughter Sarah this summer and experienced an island I had only seen from afar. As I did, I saw many venues I had heard about and even written about but never actually visited.

As many of my readers know, I set The Refuge, my nineteenth novel, in Hawaii. I built an entire story, in fact, around a string of towns on the Windward side of Oahu, a part of the state I got to know well.

On my vacation, I visited Laie, where the Lanes, my protagonists, sought refuge from their enemies. On the North Shore, I saw where Japanese fighters first entered U.S. airspace on their way to Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Later, I saw Makapu'u Beach, where my time travelers beamed themselves to 1963. I even stopped at a grocery store in Kahuku that resembled the one used in Chapter 65.

Needless to say, Oahu is a different place now than it was during World War II. It is mostly a big city wrapped around an island that looks like it was chiseled from volcanic rock, which, of course, it was. It is a delightful blend of natural and man-made treasures that still draws nearly six million tourists each year.

Though we saw the big attractions, like the USS Arizona Memorial and the Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout, we also saw smaller ones, the kind travel sites often overlook. On July 3, we sampled authentic Chinese cuisine in a hole-in-the-wall diner in Honolulu. The next day, we celebrated America's 250th birthday at a spirited community parade in Kailua.

With the addition of Hawaii, I have now visited 48 of the 50 states. Only North Dakota and Alaska remain on my shrinking bucket list. I hope to see them in the next few years, the ones retirement experts identify as the "Go Years." In the meantime, I will appreciate the latest stop on my travel journey, a place that can never get too many raves.

Photographs: North Beach, Kailua (Cheryl Heldt); July 4 parade, Kailua; "Granddog" Maggie (Michelle Miller); USS Arizona Memorial (Cheryl Heldt); Southeast Oahu from the Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout.