Pearl Harbor

Yesterday we hopped on a commuter plane and flew to Oahu so we could visit Pearl Harbor.  We flew out of a little tiny airport just a few minutes north of our hotel.  It was such a tiny airport that they had an honor system parking fee!  The trip to Honolulu went off without a hitch.  We took a taxi to Pearl Harbor and arrived about 9:30 or so.  We walked right up to the ticket desk and got tickets to visit the USS Arizona at noon!  This was a HUGE relief to us because we had read that often time you must wait in line for hours to get tickets, and when they run out of tickets, you’re out of luck…you don’t get to go see the memorial.  So we were so pleased to arrive fairly late in the morning and get tickets a) without a wait and b) to a show early enough that our flight home wasn’t in question.  Pearl Harbor is a National Park, with a few other things to see besides the USS Arizona.  We went on a tour of the USS Bowfin, a submarine that was launched exactly one year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and dubbed the “Pearl Harbor Avenger.”  It was interesting.  Very tight quarters – I don’t think I could last a day on a sub, let alone a couple of years.  We then toured the Bowfin Museum and had lunch prior to our Noon appointment with the USS Arizona.  At noon they led us into a theater and showed us a 15 minute film the park service had put together on the attack on Pearl Harbor.  They included good background as to why the Japanese attacked, how the planes were able to go undetected, and the aftermath.  We then hopped on a boat and were driven over to the USS Arizona Memorial.  The memorial straddles the center of the remains of the USS Arizona so we were able to look out either side and see portions of the submerged vessel. 

On one side we saw the oil still escaping from the Arizona as we’ve heard about so many times. 

The most striking thing for me was to look up and see the US Flag flying right above the memorial at half staff – it was beautiful and shows that even after 70 years we haven’t forgotten what happened that day. 

Here are a couple of other pictures we took:

We left Pearl Harbor around 2:00 or so and headed back to the airport a little bit earlier than scheduled.  We checked in with Island Air and he said we could hop on the next flight (2:30 instead of 4:30!) if we hurried “Chop Chop”.  So, in Amazing Race fashion we hustled over to the not too pleased gate attendant who nodded and let us through.  How nice to not have to waste 2 hours waiting for a plane in an airport!  The flight home was uneventful (30 minutes) until we landed, on one wheel, then the other three, as one passenger put it.  You know it wasn’t a good landing when you look up and see the flight attendant rolling her eyes and shaking her head, with a little bit of gratitude mixed in!    I think the traveling must have taken it out of us because we went to dinner, and then bed at 7:30 HST, which is why we’re awake at midnight Hawaii time!

View from Kapalua Airport on Maui

It actually worked out nicely that we were too pooped to leave the hotel.  We sat on our balcony and saw a very active whale mama and her cub (and an escort too, I think)!  We even saw one of the whales jump out of the water partially – how cool is that, right from our balcony (with binoculars of course)!!!

Tomorrow we plan to be beach bums again.  We may head north a few miles to a beach that won best beach in America back in 2006.  It’s said to be good for surfing.  There is a high wind advisory for tomorrow, with trade winds expected to be 20 – 30 miles an hour with gusts of 55, so the waves should be really big tomorrow!