I've been in Hawaii for three whole days now, and man there's a lot to go through. I figured I should start writing it all down while it's fresh in memory. So without further ado!
Friday, January 14
Travel day. My first flight was five hours from Philadelphia to Phoenix. It actually ended up pretty good; I didn't have an assigned seat immediately, so when I brought this up to the counter, they gave me an exit row seat. Plenty of room to stretch out and enjoy the flight, as you can see below. On the way into Phoenix, I was also treated to some spectacular views of what are probably either the Superstition Mountains or the McDowells.
The second leg of my flight took me to Honolulu. It was a bit more cramped and seven hours in coach isn't exactly fun, but it was certainly tolerable with plenty to listen to and a few hundred games of Bubble Blast. When I arrived at the baggage claim and waited for all the luggage to empty out of the chute, my bag was nowhere to be found! I eventually did find it, however, near the baggage services counter.
I was a bit worried about this in the first place. You see, I had tried to reopen the ancient suitcase that morning in order to put a few extra things in it, but the zipper had jammed. Looking closely at the zipper revealed that it had skipped a tooth - in other words, the zipper was jammed.
It was hopelessly jammed. I decided just to leave it closed and I could exacto it open once I arrived at my hotel. Unfortunately, however, it seemed the TSA baggage handlers were feeling inquisitive - the zipper had been forced and the whole bag was unable to close. I approached the desk to ask for some duct tape or something to patch the thing up, resigned to purchase a new piece of luggage in Hawaii. The second I pointed out my bag, to my surprise, the guy at the desk pulled out a new piece of Eddy Bauer luggage to replace it. Free bag to replace one I was going to toss anyway, score.
Anyway, Honolulu airport is basically open air, very few outer walls. I was pretty impressed by the 78*F weather, so I took a picture inside the airport.
I headed to my hotel, accompanied by the fireworks being lit off of the Embassy Hotel. I ordered some room service for dinner and rolled into bed for the night around 10pm Hawaii Standard Time. Keep in mind, that's about 3am my own time! Below is the view from the balcony of my hotel room.
Saturday, January 15
I woke up at about six in the morning and was ready to go by seven. I waited around for a little while and headed over to the USS Arizona Memorial. Admission is completely free and the site is absolutely beautiful. It's a fitting tribute to the hardships that befell Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. There were plaques representing each of the ships which were sunk on that morning, along with a list of their crews, "On Eternal Watch." There were several museum ships in the harbor as well, including the USS Bowfin, shown below with a couple of the aforementioned plaques.
A few more images I took while on land.
The USS Arizona's anchor.
Visible from across the harbor, the Sea-Based X-Band Radar.
BB-63 (USS Missouri) and the USS Arizona Memorial. The Missouri was the setting of the end of World War II, where the Japanese signed a surrender agreement. It has since become a museum ship.
A beautiful day.
Bell and plaque from the USS Arizona.
Draft of FDR's speech announcing the declaration of war on Japan.
Model of the USS Arizona.
The National Park Service provides tickets for exhibitions of the memorial at half hour increments. I managed to get to the park early, so I got an eight o'clock showing. To begin, everyone's herded into a movie theater to watch a short film about the Pearl Harbor attack and the history of the monument and locale. It was informative and quite stirring to learn much more about the attack that brought the United States into World War II.
Next, everyone's herded onto a Navy vessel (a tiny little shuttle boat) over to the memorial. The USS Arizona Memorial is understated but powerful. It consists of a single corridor which spans over the center of the ship without actually touching it. Windows allow park-goers to look down at the ship, permanently left where it sank nearly seventy years ago.
Commemorative plaque.
Those lost.
The USS Arizona leaks oil into the harbor.
The decapitated super structure of the Arizona. It was cut off and salvaged.
View from the inside of the memorial.
View from the boat back to shore.
External view of the monument.
I was done at the Arizona by about ten in the morning, so I decided to head back to the hotel. After a short trip to the beach, I relaxed in my hotel room until a couple of my coworkers (Randy and Becky) told me to meet them for dinner. After trudging over to the Embassy Suites across town, the three of us waited awhile for a table at a place called the Ocean House Restaurant. I had a variety plate that featured shrimp, scallops, and mahi mahi.
After dinner, Randy and I decided to have a day of it tomorrow, planning to head over to Diamond Head and hike up to the top. I ended up falling asleep around ten again after an hour or two just spent relaxing.
Sunday, January 16
Biiig day! I got up and ready, and went down to find Randy in the lobby. We decided just to hoof it to the crater, which was a little over a mile, as shown below.
It wasn't too far of a hike, and climbing up Diamond Head wasn't too rough. The trail was winding and never really all that steep, and getting to the top was pretty rewarding in the view that it provided. Essentially, the hike goes from the crater itself up one of the sides and through to the outside. Toward the end, there are about ninety-nine steps that you get to climb up at once; definitely rough on the calves! Anyway, here are some views.
Early in the morning, before we entered the crater.
Partway up the inside of the crater wall, looking back at the visitor's center. It's weird because once you go through a tunnel to the park itself, you're completely surrounded by the mountain.
View from the top, toward the ocean.
View from the top, toward the ocean.
View from the top, toward Waikiki Beach. You can see my hotel!
View from the top, inland.
View from the top, inland.
Going down was a lot easier than going up, that was for certain. On the way down I utilized Yelp, the most useful application ever, to find a good place for breakfast. Thus, Randy and I headed for Bogart's Cafe, a great little hole in the wall that apparently only accepts cash. I got a delicious breakfast burrito; Randy went with an egg-white omelet. Even he had to admit that we never would have found this wonderful place without Yelp.
We reconvened an hour or so later, deciding to head to the Sony Open for [to be continued!]
