The Dole Plantation on Oahu is the second most popular visitor attraction in Hawaii with over 1.2 million visitors annually, it is second only to the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, Arizona Memorial.
The Dole Plantation offers a number of fun activities, including their world famous Pineapple Garden Maze, the Pineapple Express Train, the Plantation Garden Tour and their extensive Plantation Center and Country Store. We only had a couple of hours here so we weren't able to fit in all the activities, but we made sure to take a ride on the famous Pineapple Express!
The Pineapple Express is a 20-minute, two-mile excursion in a custom-constructed vintage train around the Dole Plantation which glides through several acres of diversified agriculture and actively worked pineapple fields with wonderful views of the two mountain ranges on either side of Oahu's central valley.
After our ride on the Pineapple Express, we took a lovely stroll through the lush Plantation Gardens.
The Plantation Garden Tour gives visitors the chance to look into the past and present of Hawaii's agriculture. The tour takes visitors through eight "mini-gardens": Life on the Plantation, Native Species Garden, Irrigation, North Shore Agriculture, Bromeliad Garden, Ti Leaf Garden, Lei Garden and Hibiscus Garden.
We ended our visit at the Dole Plantation by spending plenty of time exploring the expansive country store. There were so many yummy pineapple treats available, it was slightly overwhelming. There is also a cafe in the country store that serves all sorts of yummy pineapple inspired eats and drinks. I really wanted to get something from the cafe, but we had a huge breakfast that morning and I just didn't have any room left!
These shirts are super nostalgic for me. When I was younger, my mom and I LOVED these B. Kliban cat shirts, and she would buy me one when we saw them on our travels. I've always had the heart of a cat lady.
We made sure to have Giovanni's famous garlic shrimp for dinner one of the nights we were on the North Shore. There are tons of shrimp trucks all over Oahu, but Giovanni's is probably the most well known and is definitely one of the oldest, they have been around for about 20 years. We tried one other shrimp truck while we were in town and it didn't come anywhere near Giovanni's in my opinion. This hot spot is definitely lives up to the hype, just like Matsumoto shaved ice.
We got to the truck pretty close to it's closing time, and there was a long line of people making sure to get their shrimp fix before the truck closed.
Their menu is simple and gets straight to the point, they know what they do well and they stick to it, I like that. The shrimp scampi is their most popular dish, so that's what we got, I was tempted by that lemon butter entree, I'll just have to go back and try it out one day.
The exterior of the truck is covered with signatures, pictures and messages from their adoring clientele.
We had to wait a while for our food, but once our name was called, we picked up our pipping hot plates of shrimp and drove to a close by beach for a picnic dinner with a front row seat to the beautiful sunset.
Eating this delicious garlic shrimp, on a quiet hawaiian beach at sunset with some of my closest friends is one of my favorite memories from this trip, Every element just came together perfectly for a magical, memory-making moment.
The shrimp was warm and cooked perfectly, the garlic scampi sauce was thick and decadent and stuck to the shrimp perfectly. Our plates also came with two scoops of white rice and a lemon wedge which added the perfect little tangy zing to the shrimp.
For dessert I tried out some of these Li Hing gummy bears. Li Hing covered everything is all over Hawaii, and it was a must try to get the full Hawaiian experience. It was different than I was expecting, I thought it would be tangier and sweeter, so my high expectations kind of ruined it for me.
We stayed at this beautiful, blissful beach until the sun had completely set. Laura and Lex went and played in the waves a little while I volunteered to stay on the beach and watch our belongings. I love the beach but hate getting in the water, so I am the perfect beach buddy for those who want to play in the ocean but need someone stay back to watch their stuff.
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