Currently and A Stroll Through Our Town

Well today I had to go to a workshop on Electronic Portfolios. I was actually looking forward to it, but it turned out to be not as exciting as I would have hoped :( I am really hoping tomorrow will be much more hands on!! I will let you know what comes out of it.

I also noticed as I was sneaking a peak at my favorite blogs during class...shhh...that Farley is having her June Currently and I of course had to link up.

Yes, this summer we are stuck on the island.  I know you're very sad for me I can tell, lol!!  One thing about living on an island is that you are stuck here and have to find new things to do if you are unable to travel elsewhere.  People call it "Island Fever".  The hubs gets it pretty bad, but me, not so much. I do love to travel though. 

I have to tell you it has been pretty fun taking pictures and imagining myself as someone who has never been here before. I try to think of all of the things you would enjoy seeing.  So today I am going to take you on a stroll through my little town.   It won't take long...

This is our little town called Waialua.  It is an old Sugar Plantation and very historic.  The Sugar Mill was the main source of economy for this area until  1996 when it shut down.  Many families that live and worked here are from all over the world including China, Portugal Japan, Korea and the Phillipines.

 Lots of families moved in search of jobs and the area was not the best place to live for awhile. Some of the land was parceled out to small farmers. The area is very quaint and many young families moved here and have changed it quite a bit.  Our area is now mainly open fields and very rustic.

It is definitely a drier area of the island, but still really beautiful, especially in the winter with all the rain.  Now the old Sugar Mill area has become a marketplace for many growing businesses.

Do you like the local advertising??

Here is the Sugar Mill today.  I can actually see the smokestack as I look out my living room window right now.  We live just a few blocks away.

The Sugar Mill is now the North Shore Soap Factory.

This place is amazing!! The owners Debora and Jerry Driscoll have made this a beautiful showcase for their handmade soaps.  Everything is made right here.

This is the Chocolate and Strawberry soap. It smells so good I think they wanted to eat it!!

This is Deb the owner.  She happens to be a good friend.  Our daughters met in pre-school:)  She was kind enough to send the girls off with their favorite soaps.

My favorite products here are...

and I can't live without this.  I have one in each purse, at school, in my makeup bag....

It smells and tastes so good, my lips cannot live without it!! Click on any of the Soap Factory pics to go to their awesome store:) ( I am thinking about putting together a care package of all my favorite items for a giveaway) What do you think?

There's lots of warehouse space in this area and other shops are here...

Did you know Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee commercially?

There is also a farmers market here on Saturdays. 

 You can come and get papayas, bananas, mangoes, avocadoes, cucumbers and lots of other locally grown fruits and veggies.

The rest of our little town consists of the Elementary School, Recreation Center, library and little Shopping Center.  We also have a Middle School and High School.

I forgot to take my own pic of the school. Its just two blocks from our house, but I don't work here.

This is the sweetest little library and Saturday Story Time was always my girl's favorite

The old bank is now a screen printing shop

My girls putting on a show for me

The nearest gas station. I try to fill up elsewhere!

It's better just to walk/jog through the old Sugar Cane fields...well maybe for mom...

The population of our town is about 4,000 people. It's very quiet and definitely off the beaten path.

I think it is a wonderful place to live and a great place to visit.

We used to live across the street from this little beach park. It's so lovely here first thing in the morning.



 

I know you are waiting for some beach pictures,  but there are so many that this post would take you all day to get through!!  I am saving the beach post for later.  Our next stop will be the neighboring town of Haleiwa.  Hope you come back for more!!