From the beginning of our trip planning, we knew we'd have to somehow visit the Hawaii State Capitol on this trip across the Pacific. This would be a little challenging, however, since Honolulu isn't on the Big Island. When I looked at flights between the islands, I was pleasantly surprised to see just how cheap they were. In fact, Southwest flies multiple times each day and the flights were easily booked with points. Since our Jungalow was only about half hour from the Hilo airport, we got to see both the Kona and Hilo airports during our vacation. Hilo's was really fun!
We got to Honolulu and immediately noticed how much more populated this island was compared to Big Island. In fact, the only spaces that didn't have tons of buildings seemed to be golf courses.
I was able to "check in" for our rental car beforehand. It was really slick; they said our car would be waiting for us in "810" (easy to remember since it's Russ' birthday) and the keys would be waiting for us! We had fun driving a Jeep for the day.
We had our car and were ready to go by 7:30 a.m. Our reservations at Pearl Harbor weren't until 9:00, so we had a perfect amount of time to explore the Hawaii State Capitol. I'd seen pictures of this building and it looked like a 1950s office building, so I had low expectations.
As it turned out, I was really pleasantly surprised! As most buildings in Hawaii are, this one too was open air. It was so cool that the "dome" was the blue sky and clouds!
As we worked our way up, the tile mosaic on the ground floor looked very cool.
We visited the Lieutenant Governor's office on our way to the top.
Views from the top were so pretty! We could see virtually all of Honolulu from up here.
So cool seeing the Hawaii flag flying proudly with the mountains in the background. We learned about how their flag is a merging of the American and British flags, since these two countries had the most influence on them.
Just outside the Capitol was a statue of Queen Lili'uokalani. She was the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian kingdom in the 1890s.
We also visited a couple of nearby important buildings: first, the Iolani Palace, the only official Royal Residence in the United States; and second, Washington Place. This was Queen Lili'uokalani's home and is the only official residence of a state governor in the United States that was also home to a monarch. They were both so beautiful!
Our time at the Capitol grounds had come to an end and we had reservations to make at Pearl Harbor, so off we went.
After a brief introduction, we took a ferry over to the USS Arizona.
Our guide emphasized that this is not a tourist attraction. It is a memorial. Here, 1177 crewman gave their lives. This is their final burial place.
Our guide told us to look closely at the names and notice how many shared last names. This part got me really emotional. He said there were multiple sets of brothers, some 17 and 19 years old, who died on December 7, 1941. As I looked at my boys, age 16 and 18, I honestly can't imagine what those mommas were going through. I'm having a hard time thinking about sending Calvin to college in the fall. Sending my boys off to war would have been absolutely heart-wrenching.
When our time was done at the Memorial, we headed back to the Pearl Harbor museum.
I'm not sure where Fort deRussy is, but it sounds like a cool place.
There is so much to learn at this museum about this important and fateful time in our country's history. And Russ knows so much about it, I felt like he was our personal tour guide.
I'm so glad we were able to visit Pearl Harbor during our Hawaiian vacation.
Our next stop was one of the most famous beaches in the world, Waikiki!
The kids caught some good waves on their boards.
Calvin noticed a sleeping bag in the top of this tree and decided there could be worse places to live.
Talking Tom told us all about the guy who made surfing so popular in Hawaii, Duke Kahanamoku, so we had to get our picture by his statue before we left Waikiki.
We worked up an appetite and I tried to convince the kids to get some authentic Spam at the L&L Drive-In (that wasn't a drive in at all).
We couldn't convince them. But we did get some delicious Ramen, including another Talking Tom recommendation: Saimin. The Ramen and the Plate dinners were all really good!
After lunch, we set off on our tour to East Honolulu and beyond. Our first look-out was Koko Head and it was a gorgeous panoramic view!
Then we looked over one of the best snorkeling spots, Hanauma Bay. We didn't have reservations (or time) to actually snorkel, but it was still pretty to see.
Then we saw one of the coolest things as the Halona Blowhole continually blew!
The Makapu'u Lookout was really pretty, too. (And as a side note, I'm thankful I started tagging my pictures on SnapChat so I could remember which place was which!)
The Nu-uanu Pali Lookout is supposed to be one of the best views of the Ko'olau cliffs and windward coast in all of Oahu.
As you can see, we weren't seeing much as the fog settled in. We could still feel the strong and howling winds this area is known for.
There was some cool history here with King Kamehameha the Great. Per the website, "Named 'Pali' meaning 'cliff' in Hawaiian, the Pali Lookout is the site of the Battle of Nuʻuanu, where in 1795 King Kamehameha I won the struggle that finally united Oʻahu under his rule. This fierce battle claimed hundreds of soldiers’ lives, many of which were forced off of the Pali’s sheer cliffs." We saw drawings of this battle with so many soldiers falling off the cliff to their death.
We decided we'd had enough look-outs and history lessons and wanted to find another beach. We found not one, but two! And these two, Kailua and Lanikai, are considered Oahu's most amazing sandy beaches and they have cool views of a pair of islands just a mile or so off shore.
We didn't end up swimming, but we enjoyed the views and the ocean breezes.
Our last stop was Evie's request (although I'm surprised my pineapple-loving oldest son wasn't requesting it also), the Dole Plantation!
First-things-first, we stopped in the store to get our Dole Whips -- yummy!
Then we explored some of the interesting varieties of pineapple, like these red ones called "Smooth Cayenne" pineapples.
I was amazed to learn that it takes 18 months for the fruit to ripen! Each plant produces 3 fruit harvests, at 18 months, 32 months, and 45 months. It's crazy that we can get a pineapple here in Kansas for less than $2 when they are grown so far from home and take so long to mature!
Obligatory photo-ops:
We saw the "World's Largest Maze" (according to the 2008 Guinness Book -- can't imagine anyone's trying to break this one) and some cute souvenirs in the gift shop. Evelyn brought home a pretty pineapple anklet to remember our day.
And with that, our day on Oahu was complete! We finished at the Dole Plantation and returned our rental Jeep at the airport.
I guess it wasn't totally complete. We marveled at the beauty of the Honolulu airport (that we'd completely missed that morning) and marveled at the cost of a Whopper at the Burger King ($22!). We got some more authentic Hawaiian food by means of the Chow Mein Express at the airport.
We made it back to the Jungalow after a VERY full day! I can't believe all that we did during our time on Oahu; I thank God that all went so smoothly! More adventures await at Volcanoes National Park. . .
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