Hawaii 2010
Banana bread and scones from Kaka'ako Kitchen for breakfast, then off to Pearl Harbor.
Sophia and her family spent about two hours at Pearl Harbor on their Chinese tour. Being far bigger geeks about this than the average tourist, and with the whole day set aside... I think we spent about six hours at Pearl Harbor.
The Arizona Memorial, packed though it is with tourists, is still a sobering memory to World War II. Tens of thousands of gallons, if not more, of fuel oil remain in the USS Arizona beneath the memorial, leaking a constant reminder of the price paid that day.
USS Bowfin, the "Avenger of Pearl", is remarkably well preserved for a World War 2 submarine that spent hours or days at a time under the water. Seeing all of the 1940s technology that actually went to war and came back is impressive. (and don't bang your head on the pipes or hatches!)
The USS Missouri bears more recent revisions, having seen active service through the Cold War and the Gulf War I, as some of her original 5" guns were removed to fit modern sensors, Tomhawk and Harpoon missiles, and Phalanx CIWS defense systems. The tour is compact yet fairly comprehensive, from the signing deck marking the end of World War 2 to the galleys and navigation rooms. The USS Oklahoma memorial is next door-- done in low-key black marble and columns of white.
Finally, the Pacific Aviation Museum, while not large, has a very good representation of aircraft throughout the Pacific theater of WW2. They have a few more aircraft outside and nearby (including an F-15 we didn't have time to check out), but we had to run to check out 'Iolani Palace and downtown Honolulu before meeting up with Clement for happy hour at Ryan's Grill. Then, all too soon, we were back at Honolulu International Airport and heading back to Los Angeles.
*sigh*
And as a side note, we arrived at 4:30am at LAX. You know you're up and at the airport waaaaay too early when the airport McDonalds is still restocking. Yeeesh. Next thing you know though, your vacation is over and all too soon you are back at work. Doh.
t'was definitely a fun trip!