Touring Honolulu

We met our tour group on Friday morning and then spent our free day at the pool - until it started raining a short while before lunch time. Our planned shopping expedition (Macy's was just down the street after all, and we all know that Barb has never met a Macy's store she didn't like) was moved up, along with our lunch.

Waikiki seems to be THE shopping mecca of the Pacific, at least if you consider all of the big name shops that are on Kaleakalua Street, where the big hotels are. Famous names like Gucci, UGGS, Harry Winston and everything in between...that's because it is easy and relatively close for the Japanese tourists (who seem to have just as much money as the Chinese) to spend a few days or a week and do some shopping. The shopping streets and restaurants seemed to be crowded mainly with young Japanese families and their mostly very small children. We could live with that, but it was a different story at the hotel.

First, it seemed we couldn't go more than a few steps without a child or a stroller blocking the path; then we discovered why the resort has two pools - the infinity edge pool for adults only, and the larger pool for families. The family pool was always a bit noisy with the kids and crowded with all the families and their paraphernalia. The infinity pool was much nicer and quieter, although in both places the standard problem of getting, and KEEPING, a lounge chair was as bad as anywhere else. In fact, Larry had to abandon the pool because an older Japanese couple was trying to move our things out of the way to take over lounges we had already been using for quite some time. Overall, we would be happy when we could get to some of the quieter resorts on the other islands.

But, back to our tour. Saturday morning dawned much the same as the previous days - overcast and rainy. This didn't bode well for our tour to the Arizona Memorial, something Larry had been looking forward to for some time. But, Mother Nature would do what she wanted, and we just had to go along. It rained on the way over to Pearl Harbour and continued to drizzle while we went through the two museums on the site, one dedicated to the lead-up to the attack, and the other focusing on December 7, 1944 itself.

See the weather? Typical morning so far

The original typed and hand-corrected version of
Roosevelt's address to the nation after Pearl Harbour, when the US
officially entered World War iI

A mock-up of the memorial over the USS Arizona

After the museums, there was also a 25 minute movie presentation that included lots of footage taken on the day of the attack. The film brought home just how extensive the devastation was, and the museums gave a good idea of how the islanders of Oahu were affected for more than three years afterwards - blackouts, curfews, people having to walk around with gas masks for fear of another serious attack, and worst of all, American people of Japanese descent, and there are lots of them in Hawai'i, suddenly viewed as an enemy, even though they were born and lived their whole lives as Americans. It was a very scary time that most people don't even consider when they talk about Pearl Harbour.

After the film, we boarded a ferry boat to take us to the Memorial. It isn't as large as it seems from the photos, and groups are held pretty much to a 15-minute schedule to keep it from becoming overcrowded. Because of all the rain we had had over the past few days, the water was a bit murky so the actual remains of the ship couldn't be seen very clearly. At least, though, the weather had cleared, as you can see from the photos:

The USS Missouri, last of the big battleships
and the site where the Japanese signed their
formal surrender in September, 1945

One of the turret rings toward the
aft of the ship. All of the above water
superstructure was removed when
the memorial was built; everything else was
left exactly as it was.

There is a viewing area in the middle of the memorial. When the
water is clear it is easier to see this part of the ship. Visitors
can strip the flowers from leis and drop them in as a remembrance,
and you can also see the slick of oil that is still seeping from
the ship. It is in danger of becoming an environmental hazard
and is very closely monitored.

The memorial wall. Each side wall also has a
'Tree of Life' statue carved on it.

We didn't realize that anyone who had served on the Arizona could have their ashes interred in the ship with their crewmates. After the funeral and burial ceremony, a diver takes the ashes to a particular spot on the ship where a hatch is located and the urn is dropped in. There is a plaque on the memorial explaining this, and one of the divers is quoted as saying that when she drops an urn into the ship, she can almost feel the Arizona and the crew still on board taking one of their own back.

Back on the mainland, we took a quick walk down to where the Arizona's anchor is displayed.

Only having two hours for the tour wasn't anywhere near enough time, so Larry would like to do a full tour, including the Missouri and Ford Island exhibits, on another trip to Hawai'i.

Next up was a city tour of Honolulu including a trip to the Punchbowl, another old crater where the National Cemetery of the Pacific is located. This is the main military cemetery for this area, and it is now pretty much full. Buried here are senior Senator Ken Inouye, who seemed to represent Hawai'i in the Senate for millennia, and Hawaii's first astronaut, Col. Onizuka, who unfortunately perished in the Challenger disaster in 1986.

Overlooking Honolulu with Diamond Head in the background

Grave markers. They were originally crosses
made of native wood but were changed to
these marble markers

Back in the city, we now visited a couple of historical sites - the Iolani Palace, where the Kings of Hawaii had their residence when it was still a kingdom, and the statue of King Kamehameha I.

After the tour, it was back to the hotel for some more relax time. If it seems that we've had a lot of spare time so far, it certainly hasn't been unwelcome. The rain was being brought in by the remnants of Tropical Storm Jimena, and at the same time the weather system was blocking the trade winds that usually waft across the islands, keeping the humidity down. The days so far have been very hot and sticky, and that's more draining than anything else.

The family pool overlooking the beach and Diamond Head

Gardens between the hotel and Royal Hawaiian Plaza

The lily pond with family pool area beyond

At the infinity pool a little after sunrise

In the evening we went to an Italian restaurant at the Royal Hawaiian Plaza right across from the hotel, and then headed back to finish our packing for Sunday morning's flight to The Big Island of Hawai'i.