Day 7, Aug. 13 - Tuesday

Today was another full day driving around Oahu. We started out at the U.S. Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. By the way, if you ever go, be prepared to get lost because the memorial is not signed well on the Navy Base. Also, go early and be prepared for a long line. But, it's OK because it goes pretty fast and you will still get in at a good time. The Memorial itself was quite moving. We started with a film that showed the time leading up to, during, and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It also showed what happened to the Arizona and other ships in the attack. It was a powerful and educational film. Then, we took a ferry out to the Memorial, itself. You are actually standing over the U.S. Arizona, which is still just below the surface of the water in the harbor. Over a thousand sailors lie just below our feet. Their bodies were never recovered. In the shrine room of the Memorial are all the names of those that died on Dec. 7, 1941 as well as some that survived but wanted to be interred with their shipmates after they died, later.

Once we saw the Memorial, we went on to the Dole Plantation, about 25 minutes north. I was kind of hoping for a tour or film about growing Pineapples or something but we did get to go through the biggest maze in the world, shaped like a pineapple of course.

It was a kitschy fun time. Afterward, we had some fresh pineapple, looked around the gift shop, and then headed on. We decided to go back to the North Shore for lunch because Andy wanted more Shave Ice from Matsumoto's Grocery Store. He'd heard it was a famous place for it but it was closed last night. So, we got some really good pizza from Pizza Bob's, then headed to Matsumoto's. Andy was right. The line was out the door for Shave Ice and there were people all around the store enjoying their frozen treat. I, for one, am not a big Shave Ice person. I prefer the iced cream. So, I went to a great ice cream shop a couple doors down from Pizza Bob's, called Flavormania Exotic Gourmet Ice Cream. It was great - much better than frozen water with sugar syrup on it. Once we had our treats, we went back south and then up the west coast of the Island. It's sure nice that these are small islands so that it doesn't take much time to get from one end to the other. We found a lovely beach almost to the end of the road in Makaha and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, looking for seashells, and seeing lovely schools of translucent fish through our snorkel goggles. It was a real joy spending the afternoon without a care in the world.

For dinner, we came back to Waikiki to the House Without a Key. We loved it so much the first time that we had to go back. I just love the Hawaiian musicians and the beautiful hula dancer. It makes a great ambiance. Then, we topped the night off again at the Cold Stone Creamery. I was good, tonight, though. I had a salad for dinner and Raspberry sorbet with strawberries. No Cholesterol in that! Tonight, we packed because tomorrow we are off to Kauai! We'll miss Oahu but we are really looking forward to the peace and tranquility of the Garden Island.

 

 

Writing by Jenny Wood ~ Web Design by Andy Wood