Dole Plantation in Wahiawa, Hawaii

Gift shop and restaurant is located in the main building at Dole Plantation.

Dole Plantation visitor map.
(above photos: TheHopefulTraveler)

This is one of a series of posts about the Dole Plantation visitor attraction.

At one time pineapple was a king crop in the Hawaiian Islands. Though the crop is now grown cheaply elsewhere, the heritage of the fruit remains on the island of Oahu at the Dole Plantation. Located 40 minutes from Honolulu and en route to the North Shore the attraction is worthwhile for morning or afternoon of fun not only for visitors but locals too.

I had time to spare while going to a business meeting in the town of Waialua, I got call that the meeting was pushed back two hours. It was too late to return back to my office but fortunately the call came while I was approaching Dole Planation and decided to make a lunch out of the visiting the attraction.

Aerial view of Dole Planation in Wahiawa. (photo: Dole Plantation)

For the longest time I've been wanting to visit the "World's Largest Maze" and now I got the chance. Hopefully I could do it before my meeting time. Other things to do include the Pineapple Express and Plantation Garden Tour. These three attractions each carry an admission. It's free to visit the gift shop, the Plantation Grille restaurant and the Pineapple Variety Garden. This and the next few posts will cover these individual attractions.

Visit dole-plantation.com for more information. Hours: Visitor Center 9:30am-5pm daily.

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Dole branded t-shirts.

The vast gift shop floor.
(above photos: TheHopefulTraveler)

DOLE PLANTATION STORE
Call it a tourist trap if you will but at least the shop carries many worthwhile products related to the Dole Plantation. Many products carry the Dole name from shirts to candied pineapple chunks and mango slices. Perhaps more interesting is the salad dressings in lilikoi, Maui onion ponzu and pineapple flavors. You can even find Maui onion salsa. A whimsical dispenser sells pineapple flavored candy.

The shop's Waialua Chocolate gained national attention when Art Smith, Oprah Winfrey's personal chef, was smitten by the confection. The chocolate is grown on the North Shore of Oahu and consists of 70% cacao. This item and other Dole Plantation products are available online at shop.doleplantation.com

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Dole brand pineapple chunks and mango slices.

Salad dressings in lilikoi, Maui onion ponzu and pineapple flavors.
(above photos: TheHopefulTraveler)

PINEAPPLE GRILLE
The restaurant is the only place to eat for a few miles so if you're hungry when at the Dole Plantation, this is it. The menu selections include cheeseburgers, hot dogs and salads and their signature Dole Whip soft serve ice cream. Visit the dole-plantation.com to download a copy of the menu. There's also the Waialua Roasters coffee bar for those craving a caffeine fix. The Plantation Grille is open 10:30am-4:30pm.

The dining tables are all outside. Most are beneath umbrellas but some are located in the shade of the restaurant building. I had already eaten before heading out the day. So I just grabbed a cool iced coffee and then went to challenge myself to complete the Pineapple Maze before heading my rescheduled meeting time.

Waialua Roasters coffee bar.

Outdoor restaurant seating at the Pineapple Grille.

The Pineapple Grille interior.

Stocked shelves of Dole Plantation food products.

Maui Onion Salsa.

The gift shop also sells other favors such as these tropical mango
macadamia nut cookies.

Pineapple candy dispenser.

Bromeliad plants like the walkway to the Dole Plantation entrance.
(above photos: TheHopefulTraveler)

"The Great Gatsby": 1920s Times Square Misspelled

Screen shot from the "The Great Gatsby" movie trailer featuring Times
Square in the 1920s with an obvious misspelling. (photo: Warner Bros.)

Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre in 1936 featuring a Ziegfeld
Follies marquee. (photo: Getty Images)

New York City. Times Square. The 1920s. The trailer to the long-awaited screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby" finally hit movie theaters. The visual style of director Baz Luhrmann ("Moulin Rouge") captures the the glamor and excess of the time and includes a shot of Times Square during the roaring Twenties.

But what set Twitter users mad and first reported in the U.K.'s Daily Mail aflame was the clear misspelling of the Broadway review Ziegfeld Follies. The shot of Times Square shows a billboard featuring "Zeigfeld Follies." One viewer wrote: "A budget of $127,000,000 and it seems no one was paid to check the spelling of "Ziegfeld Follies" in the Great Gatsby trailer. #whoopsadaisy."

With a scheduled December 2012 release, that should give the digital special effects crew an opportunity to correct the error.

The Zeigfeld Follies were a series of lavish Broadway productions. Like variety programs, the Follies were adapted into a 1936 film starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. The Broadway productions were known for the lovely Ziegeld girls.

"The Great Gatsby," published in 1925, follows Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) as he moves to Long Island and becomes transfixed by the lavish lifestyle of his mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). The pair form an unlikely friendship which leads to Gatsby enlisting the help of Nick in winning back his old flame, Nick's cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan). The film also stars Isla Fisher and Joel Edgerton.

The film was previously adapted for the big screen in 1974 starring Robert Redford (Gatsby), Mia Farrow (Daisy) and Sam Waterston (Nick). 2000 television adaptation featured Mira Sorvino (Daisy), Toby Stephens (Gatsby), Paul Rudd (Nick).

A party capturing the debauchery of the 1920s. (photo: Warner Bros.)

"The Great Gatsby" movie poster.

Do Overhead Bins Attack?

A few days after a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Honolulu, one statement keeps popping up into my mind: "Do not fight the overhead bin?"

As passengers boarded the flight, the gate agent kept on repeating the statement. He cautioned do not fight the overhead bin or it will break. I just kept thinking "Do overhead bins fight back?"

Crystal Lagoon at San Alfonso Mar Resort: World's Largest Pool

(photos: Crystal Lagoons Corp)

Begs the question why build the world's larges pool when the world's largest ocean is just steps away? The Crystal Lagoon at the San Alfonso del Mar resort on the Pacific Coast in the city of Algarrobo, Chile holds the Guinness record as the world's largest outdoor pool. It stretches more than half a mile, equivalent to 20 Olympic-size swimming pools, and is filled with 66 million gallons of clear seawater.

Opened in 2006, construction took nearly five years and cost $1.2 billion. At its deepest, the pool also holds the world record at 115 feet to the bottom and covers 20 acres. Heated to 26 degrees celsius, it costs about $3 million annually to upkeep.

A computer-controlled suction and filtration system is used to pull water from the ocean and pump it into the pool. The nearly crystal clear lagoon provides ideal conditions for bathing and practicing sports with its consistent quality of water. That predictability and its beautiful look makes it popular despite being located next to the ocean.

Visit crystal-lagoons.com for more information about the Crystal Lagoons Corporation. Visit sanalfonso.cl for more information about the San Alfonso Del Mar resort.

(photos: Crystal Lagoons Corp)