Oahu Day 6

Today was Nick's last day on the island before heading home, but we squeezed in a few more things before he went.

We had the morning to ourselves which we spent organizing our next few days on Oahu. With Sarah and Nick gone and graduation over, mom and dad are going to be helping Hannah prep to move so Allan and I will have more free time.

Around lunchtime, we made our way to mom and dad's hotel and got in the car to head over to Pearl Harbor. Once we got there we made our way to a small museum until our ticket time at 2pm. The museum was nice with some large models, maps, and displays that provided a lot of context into Japan and the Unites States' roles in the war up to the point of the attack on Pearl Harbor as well as some background on the war in general.

Once 2pm came around, we were ushered into a small auditorium where a park ranger explained how our visit would work. He also took the time to remind us that we were visiting a memorial site, and a grave site and to be respectful while visiting. He then told us a story about an Arizona survivor who held onto a lot of anger until meeting one of the Japanese bombers who told him they didn't know that America hadn't formally entered the war yet. There was reconciliation and the two men would honor their comrades at subsequent remembrance ceremonies. There's a lot more to that story, but the park ranger told it in a way that left the entire room silent and somber, and ready to go to the Arizona Memorial with an open mind and heart.

We took a boat over to the memorial because it is situated above the sunken USS Arizona. A rather angry navy guy was a bit aggressive with enforcing the rules, so I think we were all glad to get off the ferry. We didn't have very long to walk around the memorial, and luckily it isn't very big. There are some diagrams that help identify the different sections of the ship that are above water and easier to see. Some signs also give information about how many remain trapped inside. The very back wall opposite the entrance is a memorial name wall with all the names of people who died in the attack and men who survived, but had their ashes placed with their fallen comrades in the ship. It's a solemn place, but also an interesting one because it is so rare to be near a sunken ship. The USS Arizona still leaks oil, and it's the full fuel tanks when it was attacked that partially contributed to it being blown up so aggressively.

We were ushered back onto the next boat when the next group arrived and driven back to shore. We walked around some of the displays outside looking out onto the harbor before heading back to the car. With dad's military ID we were able to take Allan to Ford Island in the middle of the harbor which was also a location for the bombing. From Ford Island we visited the USS Oklahoma memorial and the USS Utah ship remains. The Utah remains are visible above the water and the Oklahoma is a memorial with white and black pillars to remember those lost. On Ford Island you can also get a close up view of the Arizona Memorial. When we went to look at the Arizona, it started to pour with rain, so we didn't really linger there at all.

After Ford Island we made our way to Pearl City to go to Big City Diner. We also stopped at the Leonard's Malasada truck to get some malasadas (portuguese donuts). We got some original, but also haupia filled, chocolate filled, custard filled, cinnamon sugar, and lihing powdered. I was looking forward to those after dinner. Big City Diner has some great local food. Allan got a loco moco here (rice with a hamburger patty, grave, and fried egg) and I got kimchee fried rice which was huge! And incredibly delicious. Another big reason we like Big City Diner is the super garlicky garlic fries.

We enjoyed our meal, and then had to head back to the hotel so that Nick could shower and finish getting ready for his flight. Allan and I said goodbye to him, but we would be seeing him in a couple of weeks when we came to get Freya, so it wasn't a very big goodbye. Allan and I then walked back to our hotel with our malasadas which I am looking forward to having for breakfast in the morning and fried rice for lunch! Before heading to bed, we decided to have a late night hot tub on the rooftop pool deck. It was totally dead and really nice to have it all to ourselves.Læs mere