Michelle Obama, the former first lady, said before she visited Hawaii, her idea of the island state came only from the iconic 1972 "Brady Bunch" episode in which the sitcom family vacations in Hawaii. After visiting with Barack Obama, she realized that for those who grow up in Hawaii, it's just like any other family-centered community. 

She made the comments Monday night on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” while promoting her new book “The Light We Carry.”  

What You Need To Know

  • Michelle Obama said before visiting Hawaii she thought it would be "leis on the beach in Waikiki and some hula dancing" 

  • After she and Barack Obama had started dating, she visited Hawaii for the first time with him

  • Instead of drinking mai tais and taking long walks on the beach, she said they spent every day with his grandparents in their apartment

  • She said Barack Obama was showing her that “family was important. That he showed up for his family. And he continued to show up for our family in the same way.”  

She said the first time they came to Hawaii was for Christmas, after she and Barack Obama officially started dating. Michelle Obama said she was a second-year associate at a law firm in Chicago. 

"He wanted me to come home and meet his family," said Michelle Obama. 

She described winters in Chicago as "deadly, dreary," so she was eager to take the trip to Hawaii. 

“I had never been to Hawaii, so I had an image of what it would be,” said Michelle Obama. “The only image I had, though, was of the ‘Brady Bunch’ visit to Hawaii.”

She said her vision of Hawaii was "leis on the beach in Waikiki and some hula dancing."

"I'm thinking we're going to have mai tais and long walks on the beach," she added. 

However, she said since Barack Obama grew up there; the visit was just about going home. 

"We drive in from the airport from the highway. I don’t see a beach anywhere. I don't see Greg Brady," she said about arriving on the islands. "I see nothing that I was expecting." 

“We drive up to Toot and Gramps’ apartment building,” she said, referring to Barack Obama’s grandparents, Madelyn Dunham and Stanley Dunham. “Which is just like my grandparents’ apartment building.”

She described it as a lovely and sweet apartment.

"It looks like a regular apartment. No Hawaii anywhere in sight. And we do what you do when you visit grandparents — '60 Minutes' is on. Gramps made tuna with sweet pickles and we had sandwiches on TV trays," said Michelle Obama. 

The second day, she said they did the same thing again. The third day was the same thing, plus jigsaw puzzles.    

Michelle Obama said she was wondering "where’s the romantic stuff?"

She said she thought "at that young age," that romance and love were mai tais and sunsets on the beach, but Barack Obama was showing her that "family was important. That he showed up for his family. And he continued to show up for our family in the same way."  

She said it is now a tradition for the Obamas to spend Christmas in Hawaii. Since Barack Obama’s grandparents are now dead, she said it has become a tradition to spend the holidays with about five or six family friends. 

While Barack Obama was president, the former first family would spend Christmas at a beach house in Kailua. Now, a beachfront estate in Waimanalo is said to be used by the Obamas during the holidays. 

Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.