In 2013 We Missed Hawaii

For the past few years November hasn't just been the second to the last month of the year. Its been the month when the new Twilight movie came out (lame, I know) and it has been the month when we would travel to Hawaii...and we're kind of missing it. After we decided that Thailand and Cambodia wasn't feasible (you can read about that here) we were really torn on where to go. The wanderer in me wanted to go to some place new in different ... but Maui is new and different ... since we have only been to Kauai and The Big Island. In the end we decided to head to Europe and see some new sites! This will be my husbands first time to Europe and I hope he loves it as much as I do! ... But in the mean time we are missing and day dreaming about the Aloha State!

Here are some fun things you might not have known about Hawaii. (original article found here)

1. The Hawaiian language comes with a bit of a learning curve. For starters, there's only a 13-letter alphabet and every word—and syllable—ends with one of five vowels. 

2. The state of Hawaii consists of 8 main islands, the biggest of which is called, the Big Island. The Big Island's official name is Hawai'i.

3. The Big Island's getting bigger—by more than 42 acres each year—thanks to Kīlauea Volcano. It's been erupting for 30 years!

4. Mauna Loa, the world's biggest volcano, is also on the Big Island. Astronauts once trained for moon voyages by walking on its hardened lava fields. Most recently, six NASA-funded researchers spent months on the northern slope simulating a Mars space station.

5. Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows coffee, cacao, and vanilla beans. (Also: It can take up to five years to grow a single vanilla bean.)

6. The Aloha State's also good at growing ... people. It's got the highest life expectancy in the United States.

7. The people of Hawaii consume the most Spam per capita in the U.S.

8. No matter how old you are, only people with Hawaiian ancestry are called “Hawaiians.” People of non-Hawaiian ancestry—even those born and raised there—call themselves “locals."

9. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Hawaii has the highest percentage of Asian Americans (38.6 percent) and multiracial Americans (23.6 percent) in the United States. It also has the lowest percentage of White Americans (24.7 percent).

10. Regardless of ancestry, most families traditionally celebrate a child's first birthday with a luau.

11. No celebration's complete without a lei. The flower garlands come with strict rules. For starters, it's impolite to refuse a lei, remove it in front of the person who gave it to you, or wear one that you intend to give to someone else. A lei should never be thrown away. Instead, it should traditionally be returned to the earth, ideally to where its flowers were gathered. And it's bad luck to give a tied lei to a pregnant woman, as it suggests an umbilical cord around a baby's neck.

12. There are no seagulls in Hawaii. The closest thing is the white tern, a seabird that lays eggs directly on tree branches without building a nest to protect them. 

13. Hawaii has its own time zone 10 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time. It's also one of two U.S. states that does not practice Daylight Saving Time. (Arizona's the other one.)

14. Barbecue aficionados in Hawaii prefer meat smoked with guava wood, instead of hickory or mesquite.

15. The state gem isn't a gem at all. Black coral is technically an animal, but it's often used to make jewelry.

16. The Aloha State is one of four that have outlawed billboards. (The others are Alaska, Maine, and Vermont.)

17. Snakes are also outlawed. The only legal serpents are housed in zoos. Good to know one cant get you when you are hiking around!

18. When you picture a beautiful Hawaiian getaway, you might imagine a black or white beach. They also come in yellow, red, and green.