After we got settled in our hotel, a perusal of the available tourist literature quickly cleared up the confusion.
Ok. are you ready?
The archipelago of Hawaii is the 50th state of the United States of America; its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oahu, which is also it's major city.
This state encompasses nearly the entirety of the volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, which is made up of hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles (2,400 km). At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight "main islands" are (from the northwest to southeast) Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui, and Hawaii. The last is by far the largest, and is often called the "Big Island" to avoid confusion with the state as a whole.
Glad we got that sorted; now are you ready for some trivia?
Hawaii is the only state of the United States that
- is not located in North America
- is completely surrounded by water
- has a royal palace
- does not have a straight line in its state boundary (must be the trivial of all trivia)
