Our “Adios Alaska, Aloha Aulani” Hawaii Trip Report – May 2017 - w/ pics - Completed 6/26

disneyfaninaz

It takes faith, trust & pixie dust!
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Aloha and :welcome: to my newest trip report!

Well, the laundry :laundy: is not completely done yet, but the swim suits have finally dried out! We just returned Wednesday night from a week long stay in Oahu.

Cast of Characters:

Me ::MinnieMo: 50-something, Disney lover, trip planner and Band Mom.

DH ::MickeyMo: 50-something, loving, Semi-retired, Disney enduring husband!

DD pluto:: 16 year old uber Disney Parks and DCL fan, marching band member, world traveler.

Background:

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away – well, way back in 2007, my DH wanted to plan a trip to Hawaii for the summer of 2008. We started doing research, but got side tracked when our neighbors booked a 2008 Spring Break Cruise to the Western Caribbean with the Disney Cruise Line. Well, long story short, we ended up going on that DCL cruise instead of Hawaii; I battled and beat breast cancer; and we took 4 more DCL cruises over the next 9 years. Needless to say, we never quite got back to planning for Hawaii.

That being said, back in March of 2016, DCL came out with their summer of 2017 cruises. Our cruise buddies (neighbors) were interested in the 9 night Alaska Cruise which included Icy Strait and Hubbard Glacier. Two places we hadn’t been to on our last Alaskan cruise and it was later in July closer to bear season. We went to Alaska in 2014 but it was the end of May and way too early for bears. I told everybody that our DD would most likely have band camp that week, but since school started a week later, maybe band camp would move too. DH said he wanted to book it anyway. This was going to be our first Gold Castaway cruise so I was up at O’dark 30 calling Florida to make my reservation on opening day.

Well, as the summer came, DD went to band camp and I asked the band director when the band camp was going to be for next year, since they book the camp a year ahead. Unfortunately, her camp would be the same week as the cruise. As this is her senior year and last band camp, she did not want to miss camp, so we eventually cancelled the cruise and said Adios to Alaska and Aloha to Oahu and Aulani instead.

Plans:

When:

We planned this trip after school ended in May and before our DD goes to Europe with the Ambassador of Music program in June.

Where:

We spent a week on Oahu. We decided not to jump islands this trip. Hopefully, we can go back and see more of Hawaii in the future. Our original plan was to spend 4 nights in Waikiki and 3 nights at Aulani. Fortunately, I was able to take advantage of a 25% off deal if we stayed 4 nights at Aulani. Since the 4th night was essentially free, we dropped a night at Waikiki saving some money! So we now have 3 nights in Waikiki and 4 nights at Aulani. We booked a standard ocean view 2 queen room. In addition, to the 25% off, we also received a free character breakfast and $50 resort credit for each night.

What:

The one thing that DH wanted to do most was to visit Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona & USS Missouri and all places entailed with the attack on Pearl Harbor. No problem. I am more a scenery person and wanted to see the beauty of the island and take lots of pictures. DD wanted to swim underneath a waterfall.

Fortunately, we were able to find tours with Discover Hawaii Tours that covered all of our wants. We are taking an island circle tour the first full day on the island and an all-day Pearl Harbor tour on the second. The tour will pick us up in front of our hotel in Waikiki so no other transportation is required. I was also able to take advantage of holiday sales and saved 20% on the tour price.

We also plan to wander around Waikiki and visit the Bishop Museum.

How:

We decided not to rent a car. I found great flat rates with Charley’s Taxi to get from the airport to Waikiki, Waikiki to Aulani and from Aulani back to the airport

Fortunately, Hawaiian Airlines offers a non-stop flight from Phoenix to Honolulu.

Next: The day has finally arrived.
 
Excited to follow your report!!
 


Congrats on your successful battle!!!! You and your family definitely deserve an amazing trip My mom only ever talked about traveling to one place--Hawaii. I was determined to take my folks for their 50th anniversary. My dad passed away just before their 47th. I could never convince her to just go with me, and then she passed away in 2015 after very bravely fighting cancer for a long time. When we get there this summer, I will definitely be remembering them in a special way. Look forward to hearing about your trip too!
 


Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

:welcome:Thanks!

Congrats on your successful battle!!!! You and your family definitely deserve an amazing trip My mom only ever talked about traveling to one place--Hawaii. I was determined to take my folks for their 50th anniversary. My dad passed away just before their 47th. I could never convince her to just go with me, and then she passed away in 2015 after very bravely fighting cancer for a long time. When we get there this summer, I will definitely be remembering them in a special way. Look forward to hearing about your trip too!

:hug: Thanks! I was very fortunate and have been free from cancer for almost 9 years now. I hope you find a meaningful way to honor your parents. I believe in doing things now while we can, and not putting them off. You never know what life will bring.
 
Before I begin my report, I’m not big on sharing photos of my family and I don’t always remember to take photos of food or drinks either. But I hope you enjoy the pictures I do share and they are helpful in planning your future trip to Hawaii. I also have to credit DD and DH ahead of time for some of the photos shown.


Day 1 – May 24th, 2017 – Travel

Our neighbor generously volunteered to take us to the airport at 5:45 AM on a Wednesday morning to catch our 8:00 AM flight to Honolulu. I checked in and paid our luggage fees 24 hours in advance, so checking in at the airport kiosks was a breeze. We were able to print our boarding passes and our luggage tags with no problem. We then proceeded to our gate where we grabbed a few things from Starbucks and visited the restrooms before boarding our flight.

We were fed breakfast on the flight and treated to a rum punch that was very good. While a relatively long flight at 6 hours and 40 minutes, we arrived pretty much on time in Honolulu. The views coming into the island were amazing. I loved the color of the water. It was a beautiful day in Hawaii!


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I even caught my first glimpse of Aulani from the air. Kind of hard to see, but it’s there, trust me!

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We landed and taxied what seemed like forever before we reached our gate. After we gathered our checked bags, we called Charley’s taxi and was told by dispatch to exit baggage claim and proceed left to a small parking lot where our taxi would meet us. I received a text specifying the number of our taxi, as there were already several Charley’s taxis there. Easy peasy!

We then proceeded with a flat fee of $29 to the Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk Hotel. It was a great deal as I think the meter read closer to $40 by the time we arrived. The lobby of the hotel was totally open. From what I could tell, there was no way to close it off. Cool!


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The hotel offered refreshingly cold fruit infused water to drink in the lobby.


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We checked in to the hotel and were given complimentary glasses of our first POG (Passion, Orange and Guava juices). Mmmm, good!

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Our room wasn’t ready so we checked our bags with bell services and grabbed a bite to eat at the Beach Walk Café, which was literally next door. DD had a very good Panini and some macaroons. One was Kona coffee flavored.

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We then walked just up the street to the Ft. DeRussy U.S. Army Museum. It was a museum housed in the old Battery Randolph building within a very pretty little park alongside the beachfront. It was free of charge with donations accepted. It was an interesting museum on army life prior to the attack on Pearl and beyond from the Army’s prospective.

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Following the museum we walked down to the beach. Hawaii was experiencing what was called King Tide. The tide was much higher than normal and much of the beach disappeared under water late in the afternoon.

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We then proceeded to explore the Beach Walk, which was directly behind our hotel. It is full of restaurants and small boutique type stores. We found the Honolulu Cookie Company (delicious cookies)

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There was a little park with some kind of memorial water feature that kids would cool off in,

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and the ABC Store, which by the way are everywhere! DD bought her first flower hair clip that all the girls seem to wear in Hawaii. We also got some bottled water for our tour the next day.

We went back to the hotel and checked on our room, which was ready, so we went up and called to have our bags brought up. We were at the end of the 8th floor with a partial ocean view. We had a balcony on both sides of our room with great views to the beach and to the west. The room was very spacious.


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We had reservations at Duke’s Canoe Club at 4:45 PM for dinner. We walked along Kalakua Blvd. which is Waikiki’s main street to get to the Outrigger Waikiki which houses the restaurant. Kalakua Blvd. has almost every designer brand store you can possible think of to shop at. It’s almost like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills! We found a sidewalk full of surf boards locked up and walked to the beach.

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Duke’s can also be accessed beach side. We were hungry as our internal clocks told us it was 7:45 at night. We checked in and after a short wait we were seated right next to the hotel beach side pool rather than on the beach, which was a bit of a disappointment. The food was good. I had Baby Back Pork Ribs and took advantage of their salad bar, which had a large variety of salads, fresh fruits and vegetables. Personally, I preferred Jake’s in Del Mar over Duke’s (owned by the same company). But in Hawaii . . .

After dinner we walked a short way down to see the Duke Statue on Waikiki Beach

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and then headed back to our hotel. When we reached our room, the sun was just starting to set.

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We attended the guest reception with free drinks and munchies which was held at the pool on the 4th floor of the resort. They also had a live band that was pretty good. I ordered drinks while DH and DD swam. For a free drink, the bartender was very generous with the liquor. My Mai Tai was very strong.

DH watched the finale of Survivor and we called it a night.

Next: Our tour of the island.
 
Amazing photos! I saw some clips from Hawaii News Now about those Kings Tides in Waikiki. I guess they were thinking they could go up and over onto the road at some points, must have been cool to see in person!
and Honolulu Cookie Company is our favorite! I LOVE the mac nut with white chocolate, so yummy!
 
Before I begin my report, I’m not big on sharing photos of my family and I don’t always remember to take photos of food or drinks either. But I hope you enjoy the pictures I do share and they are helpful in planning your future trip to Hawaii. I also have to credit DD and DH ahead of time for some of the photos shown.


Day 1 – May 24th, 2017 – Travel

Our neighbor generously volunteered to take us to the airport at 5:45 AM on a Wednesday morning to catch our 8:00 AM flight to Honolulu. I checked in and paid our luggage fees 24 hours in advance, so checking in at the airport kiosks was a breeze. We were able to print our boarding passes and our luggage tags with no problem. We then proceeded to our gate where we grabbed a few things from Starbucks and visited the restrooms before boarding our flight.

We were fed breakfast on the flight and treated to a rum punch that was very good. While a relatively long flight at 6 hours and 40 minutes, we arrived pretty much on time in Honolulu. The views coming into the island were amazing. I loved the color of the water. It was a beautiful day in Hawaii!


20170524_141403.jpg


20170524_141543.jpg


20170524_141858.jpg


I even caught my first glimpse of Aulani from the air. Kind of hard to see, but it’s there, trust me!

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We landed and taxied what seemed like forever before we reached our gate. After we gathered our checked bags, we called Charley’s taxi and was told by dispatch to exit baggage claim and proceed left to a small parking lot where our taxi would meet us. I received a text specifying the number of our taxi, as there were already several Charley’s taxis there. Easy peasy!

We then proceeded with a flat fee of $29 to the Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach Walk Hotel. It was a great deal as I think the meter read closer to $40 by the time we arrived. The lobby of the hotel was totally open. From what I could tell, there was no way to close it off. Cool!


20170524_123904.jpg


The hotel offered refreshingly cold fruit infused water to drink in the lobby.


20170524_124053.jpg


We checked in to the hotel and were given complimentary glasses of our first POG (Passion, Orange and Guava juices). Mmmm, good!

20170524_124502.jpg


Our room wasn’t ready so we checked our bags with bell services and grabbed a bite to eat at the Beach Walk Café, which was literally next door. DD had a very good Panini and some macaroons. One was Kona coffee flavored.

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We then walked just up the street to the Ft. DeRussy U.S. Army Museum. It was a museum housed in the old Battery Randolph building within a very pretty little park alongside the beachfront. It was free of charge with donations accepted. It was an interesting museum on army life prior to the attack on Pearl and beyond from the Army’s prospective.

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Following the museum we walked down to the beach. Hawaii was experiencing what was called King Tide. The tide was much higher than normal and much of the beach disappeared under water late in the afternoon.

20170524_134842.jpg


20170524_135007.jpg


We then proceeded to explore the Beach Walk, which was directly behind our hotel. It is full of restaurants and small boutique type stores. We found the Honolulu Cookie Company (delicious cookies)

20170524_142534.jpg


There was a little park with some kind of memorial water feature that kids would cool off in,

20170524_143939.jpg


and the ABC Store, which by the way are everywhere! DD bought her first flower hair clip that all the girls seem to wear in Hawaii. We also got some bottled water for our tour the next day.

We went back to the hotel and checked on our room, which was ready, so we went up and called to have our bags brought up. We were at the end of the 8th floor with a partial ocean view. We had a balcony on both sides of our room with great views to the beach and to the west. The room was very spacious.


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20170524_151358.jpg


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We had reservations at Duke’s Canoe Club at 4:45 PM for dinner. We walked along Kalakua Blvd. which is Waikiki’s main street to get to the Outrigger Waikiki which houses the restaurant. Kalakua Blvd. has almost every designer brand store you can possible think of to shop at. It’s almost like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills! We found a sidewalk full of surf boards locked up and walked to the beach.

20170524_162432.jpg


Duke’s can also be accessed beach side. We were hungry as our internal clocks told us it was 7:45 at night. We checked in and after a short wait we were seated right next to the hotel beach side pool rather than on the beach, which was a bit of a disappointment. The food was good. I had Baby Back Pork Ribs and took advantage of their salad bar, which had a large variety of salads, fresh fruits and vegetables. Personally, I preferred Jake’s in Del Mar over Duke’s (owned by the same company). But in Hawaii . . .

After dinner we walked a short way down to see the Duke Statue on Waikiki Beach

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and then headed back to our hotel. When we reached our room, the sun was just starting to set.

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We attended the guest reception with free drinks and munchies which was held at the pool on the 4th floor of the resort. They also had a live band that was pretty good. I ordered drinks while DH and DD swam. For a free drink, the bartender was very generous with the liquor. My Mai Tai was very strong.

DH watched the finale of Survivor and we called it a night.

Next: Our tour of the island.
How funny you mentioned Jakes in Del Mar! I got engaged there. It's one of my favorite places!
 
Day 2 - Thursday, May 25th, 2017 – Island Tour

We started our day with Embassy Suites’ infamous made to order breakfasts. The breakfast lay out was pretty extensive and a good way to start the morning. They even offered POG at the drink station.

As I mentioned before, I found Discover Hawaii Tours on Trip Advisor. They had an Ultimate Circle Island Eco-Adventure Tour which included a stop and swim at a waterfall.

Our tour guide, Paolo, picked us up right in front of the Embassy Suites at 8:00 AM. We picked up a few more people for a total of 11 on this tour. That was a great number because we didn’t have to wait for too many people to return after our stops.

The first thing Paolo did was give all the ladies crowns woven from palm fronds that he weaved himself. He then gave us all chocolate covered macadamia nuts. Yum! We received a vocabulary lesson as we left Waikiki. We learned that the Hawaiian language only has 12 letters in its alphabet. 5 of those are vowels. The Hawaiian language is also very literal. Meaning if there is a water way, then the Hawaiian word “wai ala” would mean “water way.”

Our first stop was the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout. This was the sight of King Kamehameha’s last battle to unite the Hawaiian Islands, making him the King of the Hawaiian Islands. To me, it just had a stunning view! It was also very windy up there. Anyway, the first things we see are hens with their chicks and roosters everywhere. There were even some resident cats in the parking lot.

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We were able to get out, walk up to the lookout and take some photos for about 10 minutes.

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We then proceeded to head towards the Waimea Valley. We drove the H3. Paolo told us how the highway took 32 years to build. We had incredible views towards the coast.

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Paolo also showed us the Stairway to Heaven, an illegal to climb, almost vertical 4000 step staircase up the mountain. We were going too fast to get a good picture of it, but it looked scary! We passed by old sugar cane and pineapple fields. Both crops are no longer commercially grown in Hawaii. We passed by the Dole Plantation, which is strictly a tourist attraction now.

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We passed by some coffee bean farms and then went through the small surf community of Hale’iwa for a bathroom break. We finally arrived at the Waimea Bay and Waimea Valley and Botanical Garden.

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The word Waimea means reddish brown water. When we arrived, Paolo gave us about an hour and a half to walk through the garden and swim at the waterfall before lunch. A golf cart shuttle is available for a nominal fee to be taken up to the waterfall. DH and DD opted to do this so they could save time and have as much time at the waterfall as possible. I wanted to walk through the garden with Paolo and meet them up there. Paolo pointed out a few of the plants and flowers in the garden and then found some Kukui nuts on the ground and broke them open for us to try. They were very good and buttery flavored. Almost like an American walnut.

Plantains.

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Apple Bananas.

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Orange Coconuts

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Various Flowers.

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We then arrived at the waterfall.

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The garden requires all who swim in the fresh water pond to wear life jackets and provides them at no charge. There are also changing rooms and covered seating available.

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After DD’s swim in the water, she dried off and we headed back towards the entrance where our lunch awaited us.

We saw birds. A Shama Thrush.

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Red Crested Cardinal.

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Pihake (Peacock)

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Junglefowl

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This little guy wanted to have lunch with us.

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I loved all the different colors of the flowers and animals. Coming from Arizona, most of our birds are brown and dessert color for obvious reasons.

To be continued. . .
 
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Day 2 – Continued.

We had a tent set up for our group. DH and I had a shrimp salad, while DD had a fish sandwich. We also got water and more chocolate covered macadamia nuts for dessert.

Upon leaving the garden, Paolo pointed out the Halo O Lono Heiau. Basically a reproduction of a temple dedicated to the god Lono, the deity of agriculture and fertility, peace and music. We would hear about these temples often in Hawaiian stories.

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After leaving Waimea Valley we headed towards the North Shore. We stopped briefly at one of the many scenic beaches for pictures, but because of the high tides, it wasn’t safe to get in the water.

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The sand was courser than I am used to.

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After the beach, Paolo took us to a fruit stand where we got to try Banana Lumpia, a deep fried banana. We also tried pineapple with Li hing, a red powder sprinkled on the pineapple. I didn’t like that so much. DD got a bag of fruit, that included lychee and dragon fruit. She tried it, but she’ll try almost anything.

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After the fruit stand, we continued around the North Shore. We passed the Polynesian Cultural Center.

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We passed where the opening scene of “Fantasy Island” was filmed.

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Because of the King Tide, the water was lapping onto the highway in many spots.

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We passed by the infamous Turtle Bay. Our next stop was a Macademia Nut farm outlet where they served Macadamia nut Kona coffee and flavored macadamia nuts. We bought some Kona flavored and Cinnamon Sugar roasted macadamia nuts. The outlet just happened to be across the street from the Kualoa Ranch where Jurassic Park and Jurassic World were filmed.

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After the nut farm, we proceeded to the Byodo-In Temple. It is located at the back of the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. The cemetery was lovely. The temple was a gift from Japan and was built, dissembled and reassembled where it stands. It was truly beautiful. You can gong the bell for good luck before entering the temple.

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The only things disturbing the peace were these bullfrogs.

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After a brief stop at the temple we headed around the Southeastern part of the island where the volcano craters are. We drove by Waimanalo Beach and stopped at Makapu’u Point and learned the story behind Rabbit Island.

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We also stopped at the Halona Blowhole where we saw Sandy Beach.

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Unfortunately, because of the high tides, the blowhole wasn’t blowing as magnificently as it usually does.

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We then stopped at Hanauma Bay where we saw our first mongooses of our trip. While there are no snakes on the islands, the mongooses were brought over to control the rats. However, mongooses and rats are not awake at the same time so that didn’t work out too well. Now they just have a lot of rats and mongooses.

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We then drove through some of the upper scale residential areas of Honolulu and back to our hotel.

It was a long day, but we learned so much about Hawaii and Paolo treated us like Ohana the entire day! Overall, it was a wonderful adventure.

After being dropped off back at our hotel, and since the Beach Walk was literally behind our hotel, we walked to Beach Walk Cheeseburgers for dinner. We went to the ABC Store and got breakfast for the next morning and then headed up to the pool to swim a bit before heading to bed. I tried to stay up and watch The Amazing Race, but I only made it half way through.

Next: Remembering a day that will live in infamy.
 
Great report! When my family first arrived here in Hawaii we stayed at the Embassy suites for a month. It was a great location with plenty of room to spread out (and for DS to do his homework after he started school). And yes, the free drinks in the afternoon were no joke. They really did a fantastic job on those bad boys. Needless to say, I'd head there every afternoon waiting for DH to finish work, he'd change and meet me and by then our son would be done homework and ready for dinner. It was a fantastic way to start our life here in hawaii. :)
 
Loved the Day 2 pictures. We did many of those same sites when we were there in May.
 
Beautiful pictures!!

:flower3: Thank you!

Great report! When my family first arrived here in Hawaii we stayed at the Embassy suites for a month. It was a great location with plenty of room to spread out (and for DS to do his homework after he started school). And yes, the free drinks in the afternoon were no joke. They really did a fantastic job on those bad boys. Needless to say, I'd head there every afternoon waiting for DH to finish work, he'd change and meet me and by then our son would be done homework and ready for dinner. It was a fantastic way to start our life here in hawaii. :)

It really was a great hotel. One of the best Embassy's we've stayed at.

Loved the Day 2 pictures. We did many of those same sites when we were there in May.

:flower3: Thank you!

WOW-that last shot of Hanauma Bay is just beautiful.

:flower3: Thank you!
 
Day 3 - Friday, May 26th, 2017 – Pearl Harbor

We had a 6:00 AM pick up time from Discover Hawaii for our Complete Pearl Harbor Experience Tour. So, we couldn’t get breakfast at the hotel, but we had visited the ABC Store across the street from our hotel the evening before and bought provisions for breakfast in our room.

We were picked up with 3 other families out front of the hotel. We were then driven to the Westin Moana Surfrider hotel, affectionately known as “The First Lady of Hawaii” as it was Waikiki’s first hotel.

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We were left off with another couple to await our tour guide for the day. The other couple was from New Jersey and had a lot in common with our DD as he used to march in an elite Drum & Bugle Corps. DD plays trumpet in her high school marching band. Anyway, about 10 minutes later, Cousin Miah showed up to take us to Pearl Harbor. We were all his cousins and he treated us like Ohana all day.

We parked at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.

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Some of the group on the bus were given pink wristbands and were sent on their way to see the USS Arizona Memorial and then join another tour group. The first thing we were told to do is to check our bags. There is a strict “No Bag” policy inside the monument grounds. This includes waist packs, small cross body bags and hip purses. Everything has to fit in your pockets. Cargo shorts were the way to go! I was able to carry a small wallet, cell phone, glasses case, a packet of Kleenex and lip balm. We also each carried a bottle of water. The largest thing I saw carried in was a cell phone sized clutch. I was able to take in my DSLR camera, but I had a small lens on it. It was $4 for the day to check your bag. We were told that we wouldn’t have access again until the end of our visit to the monument at the end of the day. Be prepared. I was a little worried about DD because she couldn’t carry her Type 1 diabetic supplies with her. Fortunately, between her being able to feel her lows and her CGM, she had no problems. We were able to get her fast acting carbs when she went low with no problem.

Cousin Miah took us into the visitor center and gave us our tickets for the USS Arizona memorial for 9:15 AM. We then passed one of the anchors of the USS Arizona. Another one sets in front of the State Capitol in Phoenix.

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We were told to arrive at the theater and start lining up at 9:00 AM. That gave us roughly an hour and 15 minutes to tour the grounds before we had to meet at the Theater. We were then given vouchers for a hot dog or chili for lunch. We were given headsets and audio tour devices and headed into the USS Bowfin submarine. My DH is 6”2” tall and my DD and I are each 5’9”. The submarine was a tight fit for us. I can’t imagine living in those tight quarters for however long a tour lasted. It was very interesting to see the insides and learning that every lever, button and dial served a purpose.

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After touring the submarine, we headed over to the “Road to War” and “Attack” exhibit galleries.

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They were fascinating. We had heard the story leading up to the attack and the misinterpreted warning of the planes with the infamous advice “Don’t Worry About It” on both of our tours, but it was still cool to see the exhibit about it.

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After the exhibits we visited the gift store and I got stamps for my National Parks Passport book, which I had to leave in the backpack. My pockets were only so big, ha ha!

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It was then time to line up for the movie. The movie was very moving. It included actual footage of the attack and from the Japanese aircraft carriers before the attack. It is unbelievable how the U.S. feared we would be attacked by Japan, but from subs in the water or sabotage on land, never by the air. We were literally attacked with our pants down.

After the movie, we exited the theater to board a ferry to the memorial itself. We were advised to sit on the starboard side of the ferry for the best pictures. It is a very impressive sight approaching the memorial. Each of the moorings display the name of the battleship that was in that position the morning of the attack.

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Once we arrived we followed a ramp up into the memorial. We were advised to head straight to the end of the memorial where all the names of the casualties were etched in marble. There were only a couple of us in there before the rest of the ferry crowd arrived. Names of those sailors assigned to the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941, who survived and were later interned in the ship’s remains were also added. There are only 5 survivors still alive. They range from ages 95 to 102.


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We then walked around the memorial.

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To be continued. . .
 
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Day 3 continued.

After 75 years, there is still oil seeping out of the hull of the ship that you can see on the surface. They are affectionately called black tears.

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Here’s a little side story. The USS Vestal was a repair ship for the fleet. It was moored on Battleship Row to the Arizona on that fateful day. After the attack, the crew on the Vestal tried valiantly to save as many men from the Arizona as they could, even against orders, before they had to ground the Vestal to keep it from being sunk. It went on to become the most decorated service ship in the navy. My father-in-law enlisted in the Navy near the end of the war. He never saw action, but his claim to fame is that he was part of the crew that ended up sailing the USS Vestal back from Japan to Washington to be decommissioned in 1946.

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Also, after 75 years, what remains of the USS Arizona has become an artificial reef and home to many beautiful fish and other sea creatures.

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After about 15 or 20 minutes of silent and somber contemplation of the events that occurred that day and taking pictures we got in line to take the ferry back to the visitor center. Once the next ferry emptied, we boarded. We were advised to sit in the rear of the ferry on the way back in order to get a great picture of the USS Arizona and USS Missouri together. The beginning and the end!

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Upon arriving back at the visitor center, DH went to get our hot dogs, while DD and I went into the snack store to get chips and drinks. We ate our food and then met Cousin Miah at 10:15 at the appointed place. Cousin Miah took us over the Admiral Clarey Bridge to Ford Island. Our next stop was the USS Missouri, or “Mighty Mo.” Cousin Miah told us that we could take the shuttle to the Aviation Museum after touring the USS Missouri and then take the shuttle back to the Visitor Center to be picked up by him at 3:15. On the way to the Missouri, Cousin Miah told us how he was in the service and was asked to be an extra in the movie “Pearl Harbor” with Ben Affleck. He pointed out the flight tower that was used in the movie, but wasn’t completed until 1942. By the way, it was meant to be a romance set during the events of Pearl Harbor, not to be an accurate accounting of events: because, by all accounts, the movie was pretty darn inaccurate.

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Cousin Miah dropped us off at the USS Oklahoma Memorial. It was breathtaking, representing the “Manning the Rail” tradition. The USS Oklahoma was one of the first ships sunk and suffered the 2nd highest number of casualties after the Arizona. Some men were able to swim to shore through the gas and oil burning on the water and made it to the spot of the memorial where many of them died. Ironically enough, all but 2 ships sunk or damaged that day were raised, repaired and either put back into commission or salvaged for parts and decommissioned. The Oklahoma was raised, but too badly damaged to repair and was used for salvage and later decommissioned. The USS Utah and USS Arizona are the only ships still in the harbor.

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Cousin Miah then took us onboard the USS Missouri where we met our tour guide Thomas. He was a young man, but very knowledgeable and obviously very enthusiastic about his job. He told us about how many museums vied for the right to have the USS Missouri after its final decommission following the Gulf War. However, Pearl Harbor got it because of its significance to the end of World War II. At one end of the harbor you have the beginning of WWII (the attack of the USS Arizona) and the end of the war, the signing of surrender papers by Japan in 1945, within sight of each other. He told us about the signing ceremony and how the Japanese delegates came on board expecting to be executed. But, of course, were not.

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After viewing a few of the rooms of the Missouri which was left as it would have looked in the 1990s, complete with old IBM Selectric typewriters, we took the shuttle back to the Pacific Aviation Museum. We were supposed to be given a 90 minute tour at the aviation museum, but we only had 60 minutes before we had to meet Cousin Miah, so we listened in for about 20 minutes and then explored on our own. The hangars are original and still have the bullet holes and broken windows from the attack. The USS Missouri and Aviation Museum are both found on Ford Island. There was a very funny story about how this island was utilized by the native Hawaiians before the missionaries came, but this report is G rated.

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We then took the shuttle back to the visitor center, had a snack, retrieved our backpack and met Cousin Miah. He then proceeded to take us to the Punchbowl, which is the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. This is a beautiful cemetery. While we could only drive through, Miah told us about some of the veterans represented there, including Ellison Onizuka, a native of Hawaii who was an astronaut on the Space Shuttle Challanger. To this day, astronauts display their shockas (hang ten sign) in space in his honor.

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Cousin Miah then began to tell us how the Hawaiian royalty came to an end and how, eventually, Hawaii became a State. It wasn’t a very pretty story and the U.S. did not do right by the Hawaiians if you ask me. Cousin Miah took us by the Queens Hospital, the first missionary settlement in Honolulu,

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the State Capitol building,

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the statue of King Kamehameha,

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and the Iolani Palace. The palace was built by King Kamehameha V and Queen Emma was imprisoned there prior to the US annexing Hawaii as a territory. Sanford Dole (yes, the pineapple Dole) appointed himself President of the territory after a successful coup.

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We were then dropped off at our hotel at about 4:30 PM.

DH wanted to check out how high the tide was so we walked down to the beach. It was visibly higher than the previous day when we were there. Many of the hotels had put sand bags in front of their building along the beach and the Hawaiian Village cancelled their Friday night firework display because of the King Tide.

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We had dinner at The Yard House on the Beach Walk. We had to wait a bit for a table. The food was good. I had a burger, DD had fish tacos. After dinner we went up to the pool at the Embassy. Being a Friday night of a 3 day weekend, the pool was packed, so DD didn’t go swimming. Instead we headed up to our room to pack up and relax.

Next: Paradise on earth!
 
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