One of the things we had definitely planned to do when we were in Oahu was to visit Pearl Harbor and see the Arizona memorial. We were able to do this on August 14th. Before visiting the Arizona memorial, we were ushered into a big theatre with those in our group where we saw a 30 minute film that dealt with the events leading up to World War II and what happened on the day (December 7, 1941)when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. We then made our way onto a boat which took us a short distance across the harbor to where the Arizona memorial stands. We walked around inside the memorial, taking pictures and reading some information. At the far end of the building is the room that has the wall with all the names engraved on it of those that died on the S.S. Arizona(over 1000) It was a very solemn experience seeing all the names of those that perished on that sad day. We got back on the boat, returned to shore and walked around the grounds some more. We came across some displays of torpedos, which were the type that my father-in-law worked with when he was stationed at Pearl Harbor, after the bombing incident. It was special for my husband to be in a place of which his dad had talked about and had spent much time. We were going to tour the Missouri, but upon counting the cost and both feeling tired, we decided against it. We got in the car and drove for about an hour and came to the beautiful Waimea Valley in Hale ‘iwa. The botanical gardens there were beckoning to us, and we answered the call. Cameras were pulled out, and we took our time walking through the garden, trying to capture on film some of God’s beautiful creations. Pete went ever so slightly off the path to try and get a shot of this unique purple flower. He stopped on a stone which was a little wobbly and stretched out his left hand against a tree to steady himself. Immediately, he yelled, “Ow!” and moved his hand away from the tree. Upon looking closer, we could see that this tree was covered with short, razor-like needles. We read a placard nearby the tree which informed us that the fruit on this tree was poisonous. I’m glad we didn’t eat any of it(not that we were planning to), and that Pete was not seriously hurt from touching that treacherous tree. On the way back to the hotel, we ate a nice place called Jameson’s By The Sea. We both ate light, because neither one of us felt real well, but the salad I had and clam chowder were both excellent. After dinner, we headed back to our hotel to freshen up and then began walking the crazy streets of Waikiki. The streets were crowded with people, and we saw breakdancers, the silver man(looked a lot like the guy we see in San Francisco, all painted in silver) steel drum players, guitar players and a man that was all clad in newspapers. Interesting. This walk was a reality check for us to wake us up to the fact that we’re not in our 20′s anymore. We should have hailed a cab on the way back, because Pete’s knee was killing him and my hip was aching, but we were trying to be young and tough. Ibuprofen was consumed upon the return to our hotel. Below are some pictures from this day.
The white structure in the water is the Arizona Memorial.
A remnant of the U.S.S. Arizona.
A section of the memorial wall.
This is part of that treacherous tree that Pete touched. Ouch!
This is Waihi Falls at the end of the garden path.
Waikiki night life.
