Oahu - Dole Pineapple Plantation

http://www.dole-plantation.com/

The coolest thing about the Dole Pineapple Plantation was probably just seeing how pineapples grow.

Even having heard that you can cut the top off of a pineapple and plant it and it will grow, I guess I envisioned something like a palm tree, but they are shrubs. In fact, the pineapple fruit is described as coalesced berries, and I had never thought of it like that.

The building and grounds are attractively laid out. We ended up spending a lot of time in the gift shop, which I know sounds lame, but everything was really visually engaging, and they had a much wider variety of merchandise than we had expected.

There are four main attractions. One is the Pineapple Express, a train that circles the fields. Although the main pineapple production no longer occurs on Oahu, there is enough of the old operation still set up that you get a good idea of the growth and harvesting process.
 
Back at the building there is also a restaurant, the Plantation Grille. While there are many different things you can eat there, the main attraction is the Dole Whip, pineapple flavored soft serve. It is very good, though the fresh pineapple flavor may actually be more chemical in nature. It is also available in Disneyland outside the Enchanted Tiki Room.

We did spend some time exploring the Plantation Garden, but we did all go into the World's Largest Maze.

The reason for this is we'd heard bad things about people getting lost and wandering around forever getting dehydrated. That could have been exaggeration, because some people are pretty wimpy, but we did have a bus to catch. In retrospect, I feel like we should have tried it.

I have mentioned some of the transportation issues with relying on buses, and this is one of the key places where that is not your best bet. There is a bus that goes past it, but it seems to circle the entire island, and to get off schedule a lot. Even if it is on schedule, it was not a frequent service line. So, consider a different mode of getting there.