{"id":496,"date":"2008-01-11T12:43:21","date_gmt":"2008-01-11T18:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/hawaii-vacation-megans-offbeat-shopping-guide\/"},"modified":"2016-12-17T22:45:56","modified_gmt":"2016-12-18T04:45:56","slug":"hawaii-vacation-megans-offbeat-shopping-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2008\/01\/hawaii-vacation-megans-offbeat-shopping-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii vacation: Megan’s offbeat shopping guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Big_island\"<\/a>
\nBy Megan Douglas<\/em><\/p>\n

As crazy as it might sound, Hawaii was never on my list of places to go. Well, at least places to go while I am (relatively) young. I like exciting and exotic locations. I liked being on Aitutaki<\/strong> and seeing only six other people who weren’t native to the island. But my sister called and said that if I wanted to go with her on a Hawaii vacation<\/a><\/strong>, she would pick up the hotel<\/a><\/strong> tab. In exchange, I would use my airline status to get us better seats. Sounded like a deal to me — so good, in fact, that we did it twice this year — once to the Big Island<\/strong><\/a> and once to Maui<\/a><\/strong>. It was on these trips that I was introduced to a new concept, hippie shopping.<\/p>\n

I love to shop while traveling. I am not a big shopper during my normal life, but get me on vacation and I am always looking for something interesting to buy. However, spend any time in Hawaii and you’ll find yourself looking at the exact same products over and over again. The last thing I want to buy is something I have seen in four shops already.<\/p>\n

I was lamenting this fact to my masseuse on the Big Island, and she mentioned that there was a great hippie town on the way to Volcanoes National Park<\/a><\/strong> (hippie was her description, not mine). It happens to be that my sister and I are suckers for a hippie town (we know all the words to the entire "Hair" soundtrack) so we jumped in the rental car<\/a><\/strong> and headed out.<\/p>\n

On the Big Island we found ourselves in Hawi.<\/strong> It was a hot day, so we immediately zeroed in on the ice cream shop, got a scoop from the friendly locals and sat outside to enjoy a local musician who was sitting on the steps of the shop playing guitar. With a view of Maui<\/strong> (which is only about 20 miles away), guitar music and a delicious scoop of ice cream, we decided that hippie shopping was our kind of pastime.<\/p>\n

Many shops in Hawi<\/strong> were quaintly located in someone’s home, and the entire shopping district was only about a block or two long. It was here that I found a beautiful necklace — an ocean-blue cat’s eye stone that the local artist had set in a handmade silver setting. Not only have I gotten compliments on it every time I wear it, but it was priced to move at only $40. I can’t help but think of the Hawaiian waters every time I wear it.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Our second trip to Hawaii landed us on Maui. We asked a local woman how best to spend a leisurely day. Her response was music to our ears: "Most shops in Maui carry items made in China, but sold in Hawaii. However, there are a couple hippie towns that have hand-crafted goods made by locals." She circled two towns on our map, Paia<\/strong> and Makawao,<\/strong> and we were on our way.<\/p>\n

Paia isn’t an unfamiliar stop for visitors to Maui — it’s common to
\npick up provisions there for the trip to Hana.<\/strong> But it’sworth a stop
\nfor more than just snacks. We found stores with handmade clothing, art
\ngalleries and beautiful jewelry. My sister bought a gorgeous string of
\npearls and got to meet the artist who was in the store at the time. I
\nbought several beaded rings. Then we had a great meal at Caf\u00e9 Mambo<\/strong><\/a>
\nwhich was one of the best meals we had on the island.<\/p>\n

Makawao<\/strong> is a cowboy town at a delightful elevation with a wonderful
\nscenic drive to get there. Sadly, we didn’t actually see any cowboys,
\nbut we did see a gallery with live glassblowing. We sat and watched
\nthem create a beautiful vase, left a donation for the artists, and
\nheaded out to the many other art galleries located in Makawao. On the
\nway back to Wailea,<\/strong> we were treated to a beautiful bird’s-eye view of
\nisland as we wound our way back down.<\/p>\n

\nIf youare looking to bring home something a little different on your
\ntrip to Hawaii, I highly recommend finding the local hippie town. It’s
\na great place to find local artists with work inspired by the islands,
\nmade in the islands.<\/p>\n

Related Orbitz resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n