If there is one thing we learned in the two days our staff spent on Oahu there is plenty to see and plenty to miss if you do not have the proper tour guide. While trying to navigate the island on your own is an option, a guided tour will provide the best enjoyment and biggest bang for your buck. After all there are 81,000 visitors daily that mingle with the 903,000 residents in an island connected by three busy highways. If you self guide yourself there are plenty of things to see, but plenty to miss as well.

Once Jay had our gear organized for the week in Hawaii our journey of the Island began in one of the most popular spots for tourists, the Aloha Tower. While the area around the tower has changed over the years, this is still one of the most visited places on the island. It is a great place to take in the sights of Downtown Honolulu and look across to Sand Island from the top of the tower. Jay suggested some sights we should look for while at the top of the tower and also suggested a great place to eat inside of the marketplace right next to the tower. With everything from a Hooters to local Island favorites, this a great place to spend a few minutes browsing through on a limo tour.

With Jay's extensive knowledge of the island he made a note that there were a few things we should have the chance to see in four hours and wanted to make sure we did not miss any one of them. He continued with a guided tour of the Waikiki area of Honolulu which includes the ever popular Waikiki Beach and International Marketplace.

As Jay continued on with his tour he gave us the opportunity to see Diamond Head, one of the best known volcanic craters in the world. The 760-foot, extinct crater can be seen from the Southeast Coast of Oahu. Jay suggested a climb to the top, but after 10 hours of flying a climb to the top just looked much better from Jay's relaxing stretched Lincoln.

One of the best features Jay offered us in Day 1 was the trip the Rainforests of the Ko olau Mountains which are so lush and green we had to ask Jay if this area was actually real. We must say Jay also helped us with the Hawaiian language and pronunciation of some of the areas that we would see in our ventures. The rainforest was the highlight of the day with a trip to the top of the mountain where wind gusts of 70 mph are not uncommon. Add a little rain and this lush green area is a place like nowhere else on the Island.

As we headed back towards the Airport for our trip to the Big Island, Jay took us through Chinatown and past the Lolani Palace all worthy of stopping for and taking photos.

When we returned for round two of Oahu, Jay was promptly waiting outside the terminal for our 8am arrival and he was again full of ideas of what would make a great day trip and make our frustrations of a 10 hour flight in coach to Atlanta a few hours later completely disappear.

On this leg of the guided tour we decided to visit Pearl Harbor, the Dole Pineapple fields, the North Shore and the Macadamia Nut factory. Without a guide like Jay some of these places would remain unseen as you may need more than two days to see all of the sights we were fortunate to explore.

After arriving at Pearl Harbor, Jay showed us why it is important to have an individual tour of the island as bus and tourist groups gathered in large numbers at places like Pearl Harbor, which still remains the number one tourist attraction in all of Oahu. With Jay his lifelong dedication to this island was found in what amounted to a better tour of Pearl Harbor than the one given by the Park Service.

After taking us on the Pearl Harbor history tour, we continued to the North Shore for lunch where again Jay, who by now we are convinced knows everyone on the island stopped for lunch at the hottest roadside shrimp stand on the Island, Giovanni's. This is easily the most visited shrimp stand on the Island and has even graced the presence of Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, who are just the many who have signed the covered Ford van, which is a kitchen on wheels. Truly this is the best Shrimp Scampi on the North Shore. Just do not try the spicy shrimp here.... Hot is not the word for this shrimp. It should be advertised as mouth inferno. The service is fast, Jay knows them well enough they named a hot dog after him and even he suggests not the spicy ones. Don't forget to sign your name after you have enjoyed and relive some of the freshest shrimp at the best price in Oahu.

Perhaps the best part of the second day of the tour was the trip to the Pineapple fields, where once again Jay was a master of this place too. He told us what to get and how to make our visit here less time consuming as it was extremely busy. With the Pineapple Garden Maze a true record holder, this 1.7 mile maze contains more than 11,400 colorful Hawaiian Plants... a sight to see. Eat the Pineapple Ice Cream and take home a fresh Pineapple, you will be glad you did. Nothing better than cutting into the sweetest and juiciest pineapple once home from paradise.