Hawaii - Day 6

I just noticed that the dates on the top of my blog are the current date, not our trip day. So just ignore it!

Wednesday, December 1st we went to Pearl Harbor to visit the Arizona Memorial. It is remarkable when you consider the ship went down 69 years ago.

The memorial sits above the mid-section of the ship. In the center of the memorial, there is an open area where you can actually view the ship. 1177 sailors died and are entombed in the ship. Several of the visitors were dropping flowers from lei's into the water above the ship. It was very moving.

This is a listing of the names of all who died there on December 7, 1941.

It's hard to believe after 69 years, but the ship is still leaking oil.

The memorial grounds were interesting, too. This is one of the guns on display there. I don't look too comfortable, do I?

Hawaii - Day 5

Today we went to the National Cemetery of the Pacific. It's in the "Punchbowl" overlooking Honolulu--an extinct volcano. It is very impressive. Jay is standing in front of one of the maps showing the campaigns in the Pacific during WWII.




This is the entry to the cemetery and the Memorial Walk. It's quite impressive. I was a little intimidated by the steps up to this statue after having walked up Diamond Head but it wasn't too bad and well worth it to view all the memorials. We met one of the cemetery custodians who told us he came to Hawaii on a two-week vacation six years ago! He cashed in his return ticket and decided to stay. I can understand that!

Hawaii Day 4

MAUI!

Today we flew to Maui and spent a day exploring the west end of the island. First we headed up the coast to Lahaina. It was a really interesting place. It used to be a rough and tumble whaling village and now is a tourist town with lots of history to explore. This is just one of the beautiful scenes along the way.


One of the most remarkable sights was the banyan tree outside the Heritage Museum which is housed in the old courthouse. What looks like several trees is really just one which rooted in several places. It's hard to describe but was an awesome sight.

More pictures along the way.

I really enjoyed Lahaina and if I had known what was ahead, I probably would have stayed there. We decided to drive from West Maui around to the Upcountry. There was a note in the travel guide that you should check with your rental car company before attempting this road and we found out why. It was a beautiful drive, basically up a mountain, but a rough road at times and often a one-lane road (which can be exciting around hairpin curves with traffic coming toward you) and several one-lane bridges. Oh, and did I mention the falling rocks all along the road? But after we "made it" we ended up in a little artsy town called Paia where we had dinner before flying back. We ate at Charley's and then did a little shopping. I bought a dress to wear to the Luau Thursday night and Jay got a hawaiian shirt!

We flew back to Honolulu and got to the hotel around 9:30 p.m. So that's my excuse for not blogging yesterday. So I'm a day behind but I'm going to close now and will try to catch up tomorrow!

Hawaii- Day 3

Today was quite a day! But first I should tell you about last night's Luau. We had a really good time and met some interesting people--a young couple from Russia (they life in Chicago now) and also a couple from Australia who had been traveling for some time. They went to several American cities and took a cruise from Florida through the Panama Canal. The food was ok (nothing to write home about) but the entertainment was great! We had a good enough time that we decided to go to the Luau here at the Hale Koa Thursday night before we board our plane home.

This morning we went to Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. That was an experience as well. The church was beautiful with a marble altar but unfortunately there was a screen blocking it from the "new" altar facing the people--well, sort of. The pews were arranged so the people faced each other with the altar at one end and the ambo at the other. A little strange. The priest paced back and forth between the two as he gave his homily. Also most of the kneelers had been removed with just a few left (so I guess taking them out must have been controversial and the result was a compromise.)

Our Lady of Peace

We walked around downtown for a while and saw the Queen's Palace (from the outside--it was closed since it was Sunday) and the State Capitol which had a statue of St. Damien outside. He really is revered here--there was a side altar in the church with one of his relics displayed.

After lunch, we walked on the beach for a while and then I got the bright idea to hike Diamond Head (an extinct crater). I had no idea what I was in for. Jay made the climb easily but I really struggled--but I made it. These pictures don't do justice to the challenge, but the view from the top made it all worth it.

This is me going back down. You wouldn't want to see the expression on my face going up.

Well, here I am climbing up (thank heavens for the railing)!

After burning about 10,000 calories today I felt entitled to a hot fudge sundae after dinner so I indulged myself. Then Jay and I took a walk along the beach before coming back to our room.

Tomorrow we go to Maui. We probably won't get back until 10 p.m. or so but if I'm not too tired, I'll blog about that experience! Talk to you then.

Hawaii Day 2

This is our hotel lobby. It's kind of interesting, because it's actually outdoors!

Here's a couple of pictures taken from our hotel balcony this morning.

Obviously, this one looks toward the beach and the ocean.

This view is of downtown Waikiki.

Today we walked over to the Hilton Hawaiian Village to find a restaurant for breakfast (the one in our hotel was way too busy). So we ate at CJ's NY Deli. It was really good. We walked back to our hotel along the beach and decided to go out to Hickam AFB (near the airport and Pearl Harbor). We had fun shopping in the BX and had lunch there too.

Tonight we are going to a luau and will post any pictures tomorrow.

Hawaii Day 1

We made it! We got up at 5:30 a.m. and made it to the airport for an 8:40 a.m. flight. Parking was a bit of a problem, since the off-airport lot we planned to use was full, and so was our alternative. So we went to the airport to use their more expensive lot. But I guess $10 a day isn't too bad.

We flew from Albuquerque to Salt Lake City where it was 15 degrees. Brr. Here's a couple of views from our airplane.




We were too tired to have dinner where I'd planned so we ate at the hotel. It was really good and I even had chocolate mousse cake for dessert! Then we took a walk along the beach and saw some singers and dancers (hula) putting on a show. People were all waiting for the fireworks but we decided to go back to the hotel, since it was about 11 p.m. NM time.

Here's the nighttime view from our hotel balcony.

Ashley's Latest

Ashley just sent me this via picture text, and I had to share it. It's her latest project for art class. I'm so glad she decided to pursue a degree in the arts (interior design). Her work just gets better and better.