Gayapolis
Gay Travel: Wild and Wonderful Waikiki
Published on: June 21, 2012
The only state not located in North America, Hawaii is a bit like the one family member who escaped a small hometown and became famous. What other state’s name is uttered like a sigh of pleasure? Go ahead, try saying “New Jersey” and see if you get that same lilting lift you get when you say “Hawaii.”
Ever since its admission to the United States in 1959, Hawaii has been synonymous with paradise in the American imagination. With 750 miles of coastline, Hawaii is the only true island state, completely surrounded by water (unlike Rhode “Island,” for example).
If you grew up with television, you probably first saw Hawaii on “Hawaii Five-O” – or “The Brady Bunch.” Or maybe you saw the famous onscreen beach clinch in “From Here to Eternity.” Or else you heard Don Ho, the exemplar of breezy island kitsch, singing “Tiny Bubbles.” Elvis Presley loved Hawaii, the locale for his three Hawaiian movies and his massively popular television special, “Elvis, Aloha from Hawaii.” Bette Midler, who plays the ukulele and sang Hawaiian ditties, was born in Hawaii, as was Nicole Kidman – and of course, Barack Obama, who became the first Hawaiian-born President of the United States.
Click here for gay travel resources in Hawaii.
