I'm out here in Hawaii for a 2.5-week stint for work - not too shabby, eh? Salem, my cousin who lives in DC, joined me for a week and left yesterday. Sigh. She and I had such a lovely time.
Because I forgot my camera-computer connector wire (there must be a more technical term for it, but hey, I'm on vacation today :)), I'm unable to load my pictures to my computer or post them. So in the mean time, I thought I'd highlight Salem's and my adventures using pictures from the web (they're probably better than my own anyway!!).
Friday
I had the day off work, but a colleague needed to borrow my rental car, so Salem and I spent the day at Waikiki Beach, just across from our hotel. We each bought a raft for $1.99 and agreed that the extra .60 was a small price to pay for the ABC Store staff to pump it full of air. Glorious rafts!
We floated to our hearts' content and then made our way to the Marriott pool where we spent the rest of the day.
(Side note: the ABC Store is more ubiquitous in Hawaii than any other store.
As Salem put it, "ABC Stores have out-Starbucked Starbucks! There're literally 2 on every block!" And she's right. They have everything for the weary traveler - sushi, Cheerios, gummy bears (Haribo, natch), towels, bathing suits, t-shirts, sunscreen, macadamia nuts, and naturally, many Hawaiian shirts. When I asked a friend where Hawaiians go on vacation, since they live in paradise, he said without pause, "Vegas. They even have an ABC Store in Vegas so Hawaiians will feel more at home." OMG.)
Saturday
We spent the morning at Pearl Harbor, a definite highlight of the trip and an experience of a lifetime. (Sidenote: I realized that I've had an amazing summer, having seen the Panama Canal AND Pearl Harbor within weeks of each other!) The museum and memorial tour are free, but when you arrive, they give you a ticket with a number on it. You then wait until your number is called (along with about 75 others) when you then watch a 15-minute video outlining the events preceding and including the attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. You then board a ferry to go out to the USS Arizona memorial.
You can see in the below picture what it was like that day, when the Japanese orchestrated an unprovoked attack on the US military stationed at Pearl Harbor. There were several ships lined up along Battleship Row (visible in the bottom right of the picture). 3 of the ships were so badly bombed that they were never to sail again, including the USS Arizona which took only 9 minutes to sink, taking with it some 1800 men. The US Navy decided to leave the USS Arizona where it lay, allowing it to be a tomb for those soldiers, and it still lies there today.
The memorial was quite moving - very simple and elegant. There are several parts of the ship still above water and some are visible just underneath the surface, as you can see in the below picture.
Salem and I were both glad that we'd waited the 2.5 hours to go to the memorial. We both reminisced about our grandfather and how he would've enjoyed the opportunity to see such an important relic of our nation's history.
After Pearl Harbor, we decided to drive to Oahu's famed North Shore. Our first stop was Haleiwa, home of Matsumoto's Shave Ice. (Yes, it's shave ice, not shaved ice...I know, it bugged us, too. :))
There was a huge line, so naturally, I had to have some! I figured that anything lots of tourists are dying to have is something I must try, too.
It was pretty yummy.We then drove to Waimea Beach, which we'd heard was a great swimming beach...and it was! A very strong current, but there were super cute families to watch and we had a great time.
Later, we learned that Waimea is the world's most famous surfing spot and that in the winter, the waves get to be over 20 feet high!
We decided we liked it better in the summer!
Sunday
We ventured northeast on the Pali Highway to Kailua where we were to have brunch at Boots and Kimo's, a small eatery famous for its macadamia nut pancakes.
Salem and I weren't so sure about the macadamia nut pancakes, so we ordered omelettes instead. But when we took one look at the "mac stack," we had to try them! So we split a side order of the DIVINE macadamia nut pancakes.
The sauce was like cake batter and was so scrumptious that I've sworn off syrup for life!We then made our way to Hanauma Bay, a volcanic crater turned nature preserve where amateur snorkelers go to come face to face with fish, eels, and other reef-dwellers.
Salem and I didn't snorkel; it's just not my thing, and while I was a bit envious of the people emerging from the sea with big grins on their faces after having seen a "HUGE YELLOW FISH!" I decided that I was just gonna have to be okay with not doing that. Breathing underwater's just not my thing.When the weekend was all said and done, we realized that we'd driven almost 3/4 around Oahu in 2 days - not a huge task because the island isn't that large, but it was a lovely journey.
God bless America, and aloha from Oah'u!
1 comment:
FUN! I am jealous...
I saw a documentry on Hawaii and they mentioned Matsumoto's Shave Ice in it saying it was like HUGE there and you MUST get some...so glad you did. FUN!
Hope to see you this week too!
A
Post a Comment