Kailua Beach by Way of the Pali

Thirty minutes from Honolulu via the Pali Highway. Stop at the Nu'uanu Pali Lookout at 1,200 feet in the Ko'olau Range gap — windward coast spread below like a green quilt, Kailua Bay, Kaneohe Bay, Chinaman's Hat (Mokoli'i). Wind at the lookout averages 40 mph. Locals dare tourists to lean into it. The railings are solid.

The lookout is also where Kamehameha I's warriors drove defending O'ahu forces over the cliff in 1795 — the battle that unified the Hawaiian Islands. The cliff is a thousand feet. Bones at the base confirmed oral histories. The beauty and the violence occupy the same view.

Kailua Beach: two-mile crescent of powder sand and turquoise water voted best in America often enough that the ranking is basically fact. Calm water, kayak rentals, the Mokulua Islands offshore — paddleable twin volcanic islets with tiny beaches and nesting seabirds who regard your arrival with territorial suspicion. Park at Kailua Beach Park (free, fills by 10 AM). Buzz's Lanikai for lunch — a steakhouse serving the windward side since 1962 with the confidence of a restaurant that doesn't need a renovation.