Since my 2 vacations in Hawaii the idea of living there is never far from my mind. Lately I’ve been missing Hawaii even more because there’s a great show about Hawaiian Real Estate on HGTV.
Hawaii is known to be an expensive place to live. As an island everything has to be brought in from the mainland. One of the largest and oldest cattle ranches in the United States is located on the Big Island. Known as the Parker Ranch is was founded in 1847, almost 30 years before most of the southwestern ranches on the mainland.
The ranch is a working cattle ranch even today and is now run by a charitable trust. The Ranch owns approximately 26,000 head of cattle, mostly Angus and Charolais breeds, with 17,000 pastured on the Ranch at any given time. The rest are in pasture or feedlots on the mainland. With about 300 breeding bulls, the cowherd is divided into two breeding seasons, winter and summer, with about 50% of the herd in each season.
When we visited the Big Island we drove past sections of the Parker Ranch but we didn’t take time for the tours.
One night we stopped at a local grocery and bought a steak to grill. Since we were on vacation I didn’t hesitate to buy it but I did notice it was expensive. It surprised me since we’d just heard about how big the Parker Ranch was and how much cattle was raised there.
Never being shy, we asked about the high price of beef and milk and were told that the Parker Ranch sends just about all of it’s beef cattle to the mainland for slaughter and then the butchered meat is shipped back. That extra step is the added cost but I will tell you it was one of the best steaks I have had in a long time. Well worth the extra money.
Back to the show, Hawaii Life, I was surprised that they show case many affordable homes less than $500,000. It looks like the real estate market is comparable to the Boston market. Of course , there are the million dollar homes too. 🙂
Anyway, in our meeting yesterday at work, our manager said the company is planning to expand into Hawaii. Of course that is on the drawing board and no one knows how soon it will actually happen, but maybe my dream of living there isn’t so far fetched after all!
aroundustyroads 
We went to Hawaii a couple of years ago and fell in love. The night before we were to leave to come home we were on our computers hunting jobs there and looking at places to live. My husband still talks about wanting to live there.
I just haven’t figured out which Island yet. They are each so different. I love the Big Island but when we were there places to shop were limited. Oahu is so much more urban. I haven’t been to Maui yet. That’s my next stop.
My husband’s favorite is Maui. My favorite is Oahu. We liked the Big Island but it seemed smokey and hazy most of the time we were there.
I liked the volcano and the “wildness” of the Hilo side. The Kona side was more commercial with the airport and resorts. We stayed in a time share just south of Volcano National park. We id drive a little more to the south and then you’d swing through t he lava fields to go back up the coast to Kona. Oahu was pretty but much more urban with Honolulu. Pearl Harbor was beautiful and I loved snorkeling in Hanauma Bay.
OH sure mention the steak. Now I want another one in Hawaii. I guess we will just have to go back. 🙂
We will, I’m just not sure when. I thought I’d be back by now but life just keeps getting in the way. 🙂