traveldk.com

Hundreds of visitors a day experience the thrill of parasailing – sitting, strapped in a harness attached to a parachute, pulled along by a boat high above the waves off Waikīkī.

One of the first shops to specialize in Hawai’i-made food gifts, from candies, preserves, and honey to coffees and flavored teas.

Two of Paul Brown’s locations – one at Victoria Ward Center in Honolulu and the other at Waikele – are probably the most comprehensive and arguably the best of the independent day spas on O’ahu.

This two-section shopping mall (connected by a monorail) is especially popular with ’tweens and teens.

Meat, two scoops of rice, and macaroni salad. Those are the three essential elements of the plate lunch. Sold on every street corner in Hawai’i, it represents the melding of cultures, and the meat comes in many varieties, from teriyaki beef to pork and variously prepared chicken.

The staple of the Hawaiian diet, poi is made by pounding to a paste the corm of the taro or kalo plant – a task that is strictly a male preserve. Traditional Hawaiians believe their culture to be descended from a kalo plant, signifying the symbolic importance of this food.

Polo came to Hawai’i with the moneyed elite, and two polo grounds continue to operate on O’ahu. Matches are held at 2pm on Sundays.

Fresh from the oven and slathered with creamy butter is the best way to enjoy this wonderful bread, brought by Hawai’i’s Portuguese immigrants. Originally baked in outdoor brick ovens, it is now available at markets throughout the islands. Every family in Hawai’i, whether of Portuguese heritage or not, has its own Portuguese bean soup recipe. Brimming with beans, meat, and vegetables, it can be a hearty meal unto itself, especially when accompanied by a thick slice of sweet bread.

Among the many traditions brought by the missionaries was quilting. Not surprisingly, Hawaiian women took to the art form and made it their own, replacing New England designs with gorgeous renderings of local flora and fauna.