Bob and Theresa: Honolulu - Our First Hawaiian Island

We arrived in Honolulu early on a Tuesday morning. By 8 AM the gangway was secure and we were free to go "on liberty!"
Bob and Theresa had been to Oahu several times previously and felt comfortable acting as tour guides. Bob had found an Enterprise car rental agency about 3/4 mile walk from where the ship docked and when we were cleared to go on liberty, he power walked to fetch the car.
Of course, a pretty large group of other folks had the same idea, so by about 9AM, Bob had the car and was headed to pick up the other three near the ship.

The view from our balcony did not disappoint! The sun rising behind Diamond Head was truly breathtaking!

The skies were overcast and they predicted rain in Honolulu - a rare event!

The view of Diamond Head as the dawn settled in an dthe ship approached the pier

The ship docked at Pier 1, right next to Aloha Tower, once the tallest structure in Honolulu

The ship from Aloha Tower. Theresa is on our balcony waving! See her?

The skyline of Honolulu

This bronze statue has greeted many visitors to Hawaii!

The Coast Guard base is very near downtown, and the pier

Our first stop was Punchbowl, so named for its shape. Now a National Cemetery

This is the view as you make that last turn and enter the cemetery

The frieze at the top of the steps acknowledges the sacrifice of those buried here

All of the graves are marked with flat, flush fit stones, so no rows of headstones here

If you turn left as you enter, you can follow a road up behind the main pavilion where in turn there a path up to the rim

That path is lined with dozens of memorials placed there to honor certain groups who paid the ultimate price for freedom

Military Chaplains - The priest who accompanied us on the ship had been an Air Force Chaplain for 30 years

In memory of the Marines who served in Korea

In honor of the Coast Guard sailors who have died in service to the country

At the rim, there is a beautiful view of Honolulu

The leeward shore (Oahu sits at an angle, so the residents speak of the windward and leeward shores) is arid and it is not unusual to see cactus

Within the pavilion are mosaics that tell the story of the battles in the Pacific ocean, bitth World War II and after

This small chapel is used for interment services

The next stop was Ford Island. Since Bob has an ID card, we could drive on the island and go directly to USS Missouri Museum

The Mighty Mo is an impressive ship from any angle

This view, taken later, is from the USS Arizona Memorial

These big guns can deliver a potent 1,800 pound projectile over 24 miles!

This view from the bridge going to Ford Island shows the Arizona Memorial and Missouri

The gangway leading up to Missouri is heavy duty to handle the crowds. This is a very popular tour!

While USS Missouri saw some action in WW-II, she is best remembered as the ship on which the unconditional surrender by Japan was accepted by the Allied Forces

At the entrance

This line of flags was fluttering in the bright sunlight

"The Kiss"

"The Golden Anniversary Kiss"

On the forecastle (called the focsl by sailors)

The Surrender Memorial

The Captain's small boat is called the "Gig"

Not all threats are looming ships or airplanes. Sometimes they are explosive packed small craft as we learned when USS Cole was nearly sunk by such a boat in the middle east. So these .50 cal machine guns can be handy to blow these boats out of the water.

Mike ponders the surrender

The Captain of such a ship has great responsibility but also meets with many people, both crew and visiting dignitaries. Hence his quarters as spacious. As it happens though, s/he seldom spends time in the "in port" cabin. S/he is usually found in the small, spartan "at sea" cabin a few steps from the bridge.

The snack shop is known by sailors as the "gedunk"

The library

The mess decks

In the machine shops on board, the "snipes" can fabricate just about anything needed to keep the ship fighting

The crew's berthing spaces. Sailors will happily point out that the dimensions of their "rack" is very nearly exactly the same as the dimensions of a Nay coffin!

They can do major dental surgery on board

The Executive Officer or XO takes over command if the Captain is put out of action. His stateroom is very nice also and is well away from the CO's cabin (so a single blow won't likely kill both).

The XO's sleeping quarters

Who eats the best on a Navy ship (other than the Captain's Stewards)? The Chief Petty Officers!

The Chiefs coffee mug rack . . . and woe to the person who uses one of these cups without permission of the owner!

The Chow Line

The bakery

The officers eat in a separate dining room called the wardroom.

The projectiles hurled by the 16" guns weigh as much as a Volkswagen!

The inside of one of the 16" gun mounts (sorry about the reflections from the plexiglass shields). Not very spacious when you figure all that is going on in there

The Missouri is moored just aft of the Arizona Memorial

The memorial to the sailors who died when USS Oklahoma capsized is simple - a concrete pier for each - but powerful

Naval Station Pearl Harbor is a busy, active port

These three amphibious assault ships were tied up nearby

This is an aircraft carrier but is specifically fitted to handle rotor craft and vertical take off jets.

The AV-8B takes off and lands vertically

The V-22 also takes off vertically with a contingent of Marines and their gear but then transitions to horizontal flight, getting the Marines to the fight more quickly and at longer ranges than a helicopter

The WW-II Valor in the Pacific National Monument tells the story of the attack on Pearl Harbor as well as the rest of the war in the Pacific. A little known story is how USS Ward sunk a Japanese mini-submarine off the mouth of Pearl Harbor before the attack from the air.

The buildup and progress of the war is detailed in this wonderful memorial. The audio guides, narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis (father Tony Curtis served in the Pacific Fleet in WW-II) was invaluable!

A detailed model of USS Arizona

An detailed model of Akagi, one of the four Japanese carriers that attacked Oahu December 7, 1941

Akagi was a strange looking carrier due to the fact that she was built in the 20's and no one quite knew where these new-fangled airplanes were going to look like from one year to the next!

A great model of the Japanese torpedo bomber that did such great damage at Pearl Harbor

Bells from Arizona

USS Bowfin, a WW-II submarine was open for tours but we don't bend as well as we used to, so we settled for photos.

Finally, after a short movie about the attack, we get to go to the Arizona Memorial

The small craft, operated by the US Navy, had ceased operating due to high winds. But just before our scheduled time came, the winds died down and we got to go!

This model in the museum shows how the memorial sits astride the sunken hull of Arizona. As the few remaining surviving crew members of Arizona die, they are eligible to have their cremains interred in the ship by Navy divers

The Memorial is somber and simple

A beautiful rainbow shown over the barbette where one of her 14" gun mounts sat

The Mighty Mo from Arizona

A small monument to those surviving crew members who have been interred after death

A wall lists the names of those who died aboard Arizona that Sunday morning

After 20 minutes or so, back to the boat

Back ashore with Arizona and Missouri behind us

We wanted to see some really quality Hawaiian dancing but were surprised at the cost of luaus! $100 or more per person for an hour show and some shredded pork!

On Tripadvisor, we learned that right across the street from the Hyatt Regency is a free hula show. Reviews said it was really good! We snagged some good seats and settled in. This man opened the show with the blowing of the conch shell.

Then we were treated to about 5-10 minutes of wonderful soothing Hawaiian music

And then the dancing began

This guy was one of the best we've ever seen!

His dance partner was also very good

They did dancing with several different items or "props"

including these slatted sticks that were struck together and on the dancers shoulders in time with the beat

The absolutely wonderful show lasted exactly an hour. We figure we had $400 in our pockets to go eat!

After the show, we walked the 5 blocks to the Cheesecake Factory. After being told it would be 45 minutes, Bob asked if we could sit at the bar and eat. She said sure, so Bob hovered and pounced when four seats came open after about 5 minutes! We had a great meal, used some gift cards we had, and headed back to the ship.