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Take the 4:20 on the Pineapple Express at Dole's Hawaii Plantation

May 26, 2010 at 2:20 PM | by | Comment (1)

Sure, Hawaii has breathtaking beaches and lush landscapes, but after some time it all begins to blend together. You can only take so much beauty before you need something to break up your relaxation, and that’s why we recently made a stop into the Dole Plantation on Oahu. Of course it’s a tourist trap filled with novelties, magnets, and collectible thimbles, but it’s one of the best darn tourist trap that we’ve ever been to.

Back in the good old days, the Dole folks actually used the land in and around the plantation to grow their cash crop and ran a little fruit stand, but now most of their pineapple bucks come from places like Costa Rica. However, that means they can now devote all the extra volcanic farm land to selling souvenirs—we’ll freely admit that we bought a shirt that says “Hug a Pineapple” and it would definitely make the tacky t-shirt list.

Just one of the like million varieties of pineapple at the plantation...

Besides a plethora of pineapple-related foodstuffs, the highlight of our visit was the train ride. It’s pretty much a mini locomotive that takes you through farmland that looks as if it’s maintained solely for the sake of the train ride. The best part was that we took the 4:20 tour on the Pineapple Express—we kid you not—and we would have snapped a picture but there was no sign with the schedule of times.

Seriously, the place is a decent distraction from an otherwise beach filled vacation. The place is pretty much on the way between Waikiki and the North Shore, so you might as well swing in for a bit. Even if you don’t cough up any valuable vacation funds for a tour of the world’s largest maze or pineapple garden you can always just peruse the massive gift shop. If you do visit we recommend at least grabbing a pineapple ice cream float—in a collectible pineapple glass of course.

Related Stories:
· Dole Plantation [Official Site]
· LOST Isn't Over Yet; You Can Still Visit Their Filming Locations in Hawaii [Jaunted]
· Tourist Traps coverage [Jaunted]

[Photos: Jaunted]

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Dole Plantation

Love it there, and the Dole Whips are awesome. For those interested in checking it out, here are some of the images from my visit there:

More of Dan Dawson's images of the Dole Plantation are on Flickr

2009-10-16_Oahu_61 2009-10-16_Oahu_55 2009-10-16_Oahu_49 2009-10-16_Oahu_50 2009-10-16_Oahu_40

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