Hawaiian Memories

Hawaiian Memories was Originally Posted on April 18, 2010 by lavarock

As I surfed TV channels, I came across “Blue Hawaii” starring Elvis. The initial scenes were filmed on Oahu and Diamond head and Waikiki are obvious. Some of the scenes were filmed at Hanauma Bay and the International Marketplace.

Also used as a filming location is the Coco Palms Hotel on Kauai. This hotel has been closed since the Iniki hurricane in 1992 which devistated the hotel and a lot of Kauai. My friends, Tom and Lampy, owned a B&B just up the road from the hotel and housed emergency personnel after the hurricane. That B&B was the place where my Sister and I stayed when we made our first visit to Hawaii. On subsequent visits I often stayed with Tom And Lampy. When they built their new B&B (now run by a new owner) and seen at http://greenacrescottages.com where I still run the website and took many of the photos.

While staying at the new B&B, Lampy held a Holloween party and the guest performer was Larry Rivera. I mentined him is a blog way bag (or maybe it was a trip report). Anyway, Larry still holds weddings at the Coco Palms and he was personally visited by Elvis during the movie. Some of the background of the part Elvis plays in the movie may be based upon Larry as he was playing at Coco Palms where Elvis stayed and filmed part of the movie. http://www.cocopalms.com/

During the party, Larry told a scary story and I played a part. Not a big production mind you because it was a home based party, but still

I enjoy watching these old movies because over my 14 trips to Hawaii as I moved here, I visited many of the locations and have photos to show it. Once i took photos of a near beach near a water spout on Oahu. On the way home I happed to open a magazine and saw the same beach. It is called “Eterity Beach” and will be quite familiar to anyone who has seen the old movie “From Here To Eternity”. http://www.lotsafunmaps.com/Oahu/Eternity_Beach_and_Halona_Blowhole.html

One of my first favorite movies was “Donovans Reef” starring John Wayne and Lee Marvin. That was filmed on Kauai also. When I happened to visit a site up the canyon something seemed oddly familiar. A year later I realized the movie and found the same scene as in my photo.

I watched “Throw Mama From The Train” and the last scene is the Na pali coast, exactly as in a photo of mine. In fact, where Billy Crystal goes out into the water, my friend Gary waded out and was aproached by giant turtles! They had a neat swim together.

It is very easy to drive around the islands and take photos, only to find the same photo on a calendar or in a film. Hopefully you can visit soon.