Our first real day of Hawaii life was very long but very fun. We woke up at 6:30AM to the trumpet that plays daily at 6:30AM on the Air Force base. Veronica and I cooked eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast. It was a well needed big meal for our big day.
As soon as breakfast was over we all got showered and headed to the Pearl Harbor Memorial. We were a little concerned it might be really busy and that we might not get to see the Arizona Memorial, but lucky for us, it is the end of the tourist season and it was Sunday. We were able to get tickets to the next available Arizona viewing.
I don't know how to describe the Arizona Memorial. The first thing they have you do is watch a short documentary about what lead to that day December 7, 1941. It was a very somber video, it had shots of the actual day and it showed the Arizona actually being bombed. Once the video is over they take you on a short boat ride over to the actual ship that now sits at the bottom of the harbor. We got off the boat and enter into the Arizona Memorial, which first opened on April 4, 1984. The USS Arizona is very visible at the bottom and it still is leaking oil. I thought the oil was very interesting since the ship actually sank over 60 years ago. We then took the same boat back to land decided to go check out the USS Missouri, which is the last battleship ever made.
I recommend to anyone who is planning a trip to Honolulu to take the time and go see the Arizona, which is free, and to spend the money for an extended guided tour of the Missouri. Veronica, Shane, Michael, and I had a guided tour of the Missouri and it was the best $40 tour I have ever been on. Our guide, Jim, is a history teacher who does guided tours two days a week. He took us through parts of the ship that only the extended guided tour can go. I think the most interesting part of the entire tour was how steep the ladders were between floors and how short someone would have to be to get around without getting a concussion. I enjoyed learning all the interesting facts about the ship. It was crazy to know we were in a place that famous people have filmed movies like Pearl Harbor and a President has eaten dinner with sailors. Harry S. Truman was the president who was on the Missouri during his term and they used the ship to film a very short portion of the movie Pearl Harbor.
After the ship, which took all of the morning and part of the afternoon, we decided to head back to the house and go check out one of the beaches on base. Veronica and Shane took us to this beach that we could walk out several hundred yards and the water never came above our knees. It was so cool. We hung out there for a little while until we realized we all needed a nap. We all took a short nap before heading to downtown for dinner. We ate right on the water and watched the cargo ships come into the harbor. After dinner we went back to the beach, took the dogs, and watched the sunset. The dogs had a blast, it is the perfect area for dogs to run through the water and chase birds.
I don't know what tomorrow will hold for us, but I am sure we will be spending some time on the beach and enjoying the sun.
The Traditional Hawaiian lei
USS Arizona Memorial
Michael and I at the Arizona
USS Missouri
The group on Big Mo
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