CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 That's a "thanks, but no thanks" excursion for me! But I'm glad you all enjoyed it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Cool! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 151 Posted July 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 That looks cool :) Just look at that scenery! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk That's a "thanks, but no thanks" excursion for me! But I'm glad you all enjoyed it. Cool! This certainly was a "cool" excursion in more ways than one... Not only was the "cool" factor in place, but that water 20 minutes off shore was cool as well... Guys have a way of knowing these things... If you know what I mean :bugeyes: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ajcjmom 8 Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Swimming with sharks is on DH's bucket list. That does look like a lot of fun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 151 Posted July 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 When we left off, we had just come back in from shark diving and we were starved... At least 3 of were. While we were gone, Claudine had gotten up the courage to venture out of the marina with the Jeep to forage for some food. For me and the 2 girls however, we were ready to eat some of the sharks that we had just dived with. We all got back in the Jeep and headed to the "spawling" metropolis of Haleiwa. Its a quaint little burg on the North Shore that is probably dripping with history. A lot of the buildings "downtown" date back to the early 1900's. It didn't take us long to find this place...talk about a "hole in the wall"... However this turned out to be one of the best places we ate at during our trip. We actually made a special trip later on in the week to come back and eat here. This is what I had... on both visits. It was the Bar-B-Que plate. Being from a state that prides itself on BBQ, I will have to say, that I would rate this right up there at the top. As you can see, they were not stingy at all with portions. I think this was a $9 plate Ashleigh had a teriyaki chicken sandwich and Jessie, a plain hamburger. I was clearly the winner of this food choice competition. We bummed around the village for a little bit and soon about a block up the way we ran into this Oahu institution.... This is one of those places that everyone tells you "if you don't do anything else while you are here, you have to do this". It was Matsumoto's Shaved Ice. Everywhere you turn, there is a shaved ice stand somewhere. I really don't know what the big deal is... we called them showballs or snowcones when I was growing up. However, I will have to say, it was pretty darn tasty. I thinks I had a pina colada will sweetened condensed milk drizzled over the top. You could also get it with ice cream and/or beans, but I passed. I have to admit that I failed royally and did not get a picture of the product or inside the place, but I will tell you not to let the sign fool you. It says that its a grocery store, but you better not need bread, milk or toilet paper when you go here, because all they sell here is shaved ice and souvenirs with their name printed on it. Folks, let me tell you that this place is a GOLD MINE x5.... Its an old building, sell shaved ice with some flavored syrup poured over the top, and the line snakes out of the building and down the street. There can't be a lot of overhead here.... The next day or so was spent hanging out around the pools just doing what any successful vacation calls for.... nothing. Oh, I forgot to mention one thing.... Notice the that Jessie has a colored band around her wrist above... Well it looks as though the freeloading message has made it all the way across the pond. In the early days, some of the freeloaders who we have come to love at the Fort must have vacationed in Hawaii, and decided to pull some of their old tricks. In order to get pool or beach towels, you have to show your KTA (Key to AulanI) to get a band and then get your towels. For each day, there would be a different color. I guess the locals thought if they paid the $35/day to park, then that would entitle them to use the water features and beach at Aulani... How about an early morning shot... I can't remember if I posted this one or not A TR can't go without a sunset pic or two.... How about some other random shots around the place at night... A place to get your "drink on". This is sort of open to the outside as well... A couple more outside evening shots Next up, we head over to Pearl Harbor... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Awesome, gorgeous nighttime shots! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
disney4dan 68 Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Great looking place. I love night time on vacation, the smell of restaurants, exotic plants, all good stuff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Wow that place is beautiful at night. I showed INC and she said it reminds her of the JW Marriott Desert Ridge...which is high praise from her. I'm heading back over to the DVC resale site now..... Oh...also wanted to add that the BBQ looks just like the pulled pork by niece's MIL makes....and she is born and raised Hawaiian. She makes an island pork that looks just like that. She told us it is a traditional Hawaiian meal. Must be wild pigs roaming the islands? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beckers 1,136 Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 The sharks? That would be a hellllllll no from me :)The rainbow and sun set pics are beautiful!!! And the one night pic of the pool, the water almost looks fake! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 I don't think I could do the sharks, but very cool!Your BBQ looks yummy. Love the rainbow and night pics. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 151 Posted July 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Awesome, gorgeous nighttime shots! I'm still figuring out how to work all of the bells and whistles on this camera... When I bought this one just recently, I wanted one that would take great pictures in low lighting. I think I found a winner. Great looking place. I love night time on vacation, the smell of restaurants, exotic plants, all good stuff This place takes on a whole new atmosphere at night... During the day people are running all over the place, but when the sun goes down, it seems get an all laid back feeling. Wow that place is beautiful at night. I showed INC and she said it reminds her of the JW Marriott Desert Ridge...which is high praise from her. I'm heading back over to the DVC resale site now..... Oh...also wanted to add that the BBQ looks just like the pulled pork by niece's MIL makes....and she is born and raised Hawaiian. She makes an island pork that looks just like that. She told us it is a traditional Hawaiian meal. Must be wild pigs roaming the islands? Believe it or not, it takes on sort of a "Fort" feel at night... you know when everything gets quiet and peaceful and the soft glow of awning lights, well its kind of the same thing, but just different. Anyway, go ahead and look into those points. And heck, even if you don't buy, you can rent points and use them just as if you were an owner. As for that pork and the wild pigs running around the island... I would be that pig running around the island. I ate more pork that week than I do in 3 months total. I guess they slow cook it and make sure to leave enough fat in the meat to give it flavor and keep it juicy. The sharks? That would be a hellllllll no from me :)The rainbow and sun set pics are beautiful!!! And the one night pic of the pool, the water almost looks fake! Oh come on! You have a perfectly good aluminum cage between you and them...Also on a couple of sides there is plexiglass attached to the cage walls. It was weird about that rainbow. I went back and looked at the picture and as dark as it is, it looks like it was taken in late afternoon, but it was taken about 8:00 in the morning. I hate taking pics with lots of folks I don't know... so sometimes, I will either get up way early, or come out way late when I know the crowds won't be there. For these pics, a storm was brewing and it was lightning, so the lifeguards cleared the pools. Perfect picture taking scenario! I don't think I could do the sharks, but very cool!Your BBQ looks yummy.Love the rainbow and night pics. As much as you like to go, and being a teacher to boot, you could do this for the kids... I bet Z would love to go once he gets a little older. I have to say, that is some of the best I have had... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 151 Posted July 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Might as well venture over to Pearl Harbor.... Like I mentioned before, when we were planning our trip, we each got a chance to choose 1 thing that we would like to do... Mine was to visit Pearl Harbor. And when I say Pearl Harbor, I mean all of it. Of course they have the Arizona Memorial, but they also have the USS Bowfin submarine, the USS Missouri battleship and the WWII Aviation Museum. And those things are RIGHT UP MY ALLEY. My girls absolutely refuse to visit old ships, planes or submarines, because I have to stop and read all of the materials, examine all of the gauges, and watch all of the videos that explain what is displayed. So anyway, since we were not sure if we would ever get back, we wanted the girls to at least go and see the Arizona Memorial, and go out on it if possible... I think the first things that I mentioned when I started this report was that I am so laid back... and with that comes a certain amount of procrastination (don't tell Claudine I just admitted it). There are only so many spots available per day for the trip out to the Memorial. If all you want to do is to see the Memorial, then the trip is free. If you want a narrated tour, then it costs $7 (its one of those walkman self-guided tours). But if you want to go you have to either reserve as spot ahead of time on the website or get there really early in the day to snag one of the 300 or so walk-up tickets. Just before we left home, I tried to snag 3 of the free tickets, but they were all sold out. The ticket I purchased was a Pearl Harbor Passport and it entitles you to visit all the attractions (the Memorial, the sub, ship and plane museum) and it can be used 2 times within a 7 day period. Also, it costs $65, so there were a unlimited supply of those. Long story longer, I checked one more time after we arrived in Hawaii to see if any tickets had opened up, and luckily, the Park Service just changed the rules and now opens up an additional 300 tickets per day within a 24 hour period. So I scored 3 additional passes so that we all could go. So the plan would be that we would all go to the Memorial one day, then I would return and use my pass on another day when I was by myself and take in the other exhibits. We leave Aulani and head toward Pearl. We get there, pick up our walkmans and begin our audio tour and look at some of the exhibits around the visitor's center. With the Memorial tour, there is a film that explains exactly what happened on Dec 7 and what lead up to all of the events. Now they are very serious about the tour that we were about to take. Before we go into the theater to see the film, a park ranger addresses the crowd. He tells us that we are getting ready to enter a live memorial and would be visiting the tomb of over 1000 men who died aboard the ship that fateful morning. They told us that there was to be no texting or talking on the phone, and to keep voice conversation to very low levels. It really set the mood of what we were about to see. We finally go in to see the film and when it was finished we headed out to catch the boat over to the Memorial. However, it would not be in the cards for us today to go over, due to high winds in the harbor that what the Navy thought would be unsafe. So we just continued to look at the remainder of the items we missed just before going in to watch the film. Oh well, at least the girls got to see the Memorial from afar, and got to see the film and listen to the address from the Park Ranger. This was our view from the visitor's center. The "Mighty Mo" is just to the left of the Memorial This is a zoomed in pic of the Memorial, however the blue plaques that the man is reading is called the "Circle of Remembrance" All of the names listed on those blue plaques are the civilians and other military personnel who died on land the day of the attack. They were the doctors and nurses, the airmen and support staff as well as the people who lived around the area. This is the anchor that was recovered from the Arizona The Bell from the Arizona Pearl Harbor is still a very active Naval Base. This ship was in port the day we all visited the park After we left and were talking about our visit on our way to the next destination, Claudine and I realized that the girls got a lot more out of this visit that we thought they would. Kids will really surprise you sometime. I'm gonna skip ahead a little while we are on the subject of Pearl Harbor, because just because we couldn't make it out to the Memorial this day, I still have another day that I can come back to try again. It was Saturday morning when I returned to the Memorial. I left Aulani at a little before 7:00 AM so that I could make sure that I had plenty of time to do and see as much as I could. I knew when I left that I stood a good chance that I would make it out fairly early. The girls had plans at 9:00 AM to all get spa treatments and massages at 9:30 that morning, so I knew that I had all the time that I wanted to study, read and absorb all the history that I could take in. When I arrived at the visitor's center I snagged the 7:45 tour. What was weird was that I was on my way out to the Memorial on the boat at precisely 7:55 AM, the time the actual attack occurred back in 1941. As I rode out, I kept picturing in my mind, the movie Pearl Harbor with Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett. I understand that Hollywood changed some of events around to make their picture, but it allowed me to see in my mind what things might have looked like. This is boat that took us out to the Memorial. Navy Sailors actually pilot the boat out to the Memorial Our approach... If the engines were not running on this boat, you could have heard a pin drop. I think we were all pondering what we were about to see. The 2 smaller white things out in the water are mooring quays. These are what they used to tie the ships to when they were in port. The one to the left of the Memorial was for the USS West Virginia and the other was for the USS Vestal. Both of these ships were sunk during the attack. However if I remember correctly, all of the ships that were sunk with the exception of the Arizona, the Utah and the Oklahoma were repaired and went on to fight the war. Once onboard the Memorial you could have heard a pin drop. All you heard was the water lapping against the side of the wreck and the ropes from the flagpole flapping in the breeze. I would be telling a lie if I told you that I didn't get a little choked up once I walked out into the middle of that thing. You basically walk down the left side of the Memorial, enter the Shrine Room at the other end (this lists all of the men who died aboard her that morning), then walk back along the other side to wait for the boat back across. This is what I saw This is the Number 2 Gun Turrent This is a cutout in the middle of the Memorial The Memorial does not touch the wreck in any way, but straddles it. This diagram gives you a better idea of how we were oriented over the wreck This is a diagram that shows a better outline of the entire wreck Looking up The Shrine Room As you leave the Shrine Room you walk along the other side of the Memorial and look out across the stern, or back of the ship. As you go along, drops of oil still seep from the wreck. They say that these are the tears of the men who are entombed inside the ship. This was the most moving part for me... This diagram shows the location of all of the ships that were in port the day of the attack. If I remember right, this was the entire Pacific Fleet, with the exception of a couple of aircraft carriers, which were out of port that day delivering aircraft. All of the ship in red are the ones that were sunk, the one in orange sustained heavy damage and the one in yellow moderate If you look closely, you can see a lot of ships in white that did not get damaged. This is one of the many plaques displayed around the park In case you can't read the inscription, it says: "Dear Lord, Lest I continue my complacent way, help me to remember somehow out there, a man died for me today. As long as there be war I then must ask and answer, Am I worth dying for?" This was a poem that Eleanor Roosevelt carried in her wallet during WWII. Guys, I don't want to bring everyone down with what I just wrote, but this visit meant more to me than the entire trip. It really made me stop and think... Which is an amazing feat in and of itself. One thing I remember from the film, the narrator said that when Japan decided to attack Pearl Harbor, they thought the US would have no appetite for war, it would scare us off and make us pull out of our interests in the Pacific. Instead it severely backfired and it actually pulled the nation together and rallied us for the cause. The sad thing is that many men, women and children lost their lives that day, however it succeeded in pulling this nation together like no one has ever seen before. After I walked off that Memorial and stepped foot back on the boat, all I could think of was, what if something like that happened again today.... would the nation pull together just as they did back in 1941? For any of you out there who has family, friends, neighbors, or, are in the military yourself, I appreciate your service more now, than I ever did before! Okay, that is enough for tonight... I will continue with our tour hopefully tomorrow. Good Night and sleep safe, where ever you are! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DramaMama .......... Janet 75 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Thanks for all of the photos from Pearl Harbor, Duane. I would really like to visit it myself someday. I have not read that quote you shared - very thought provoking. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 I've wanted to visit Pearl Harbor since my grandmother went back in the 70's and brought back pictures and stories. Just incredible. Thanks for sharing your experience. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
red...Susan 37 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 There is a second ship that is partially above water on Ford Island from the Pearl Harbor attack. Did the tour include it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 I am speechless. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dblr....Rennie 224 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Wonderful pictures!!!!!!!Thanks so much for the Pearl Harbor pictures, I was in your boat when we went to Hawaii the only thing I HAD TO DO was see Pearl Harbor everything else was just a bonus, thanks again Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jjbescher 17 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Thank you so much for the pictures. Pearl Harbor is a MUST do for my trip in April. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jmaul 65 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Very moving. Thank you for sharing, Duane. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Better late than never! I am here. I read some of your report on my phone, but I just went back and looked at all the photos on my computer. You are doing a fantastic job! I didn't know that they had a self-serve Dole Whip machine there. That moves it higher up on my places to visit. And thanks for the light fixture photos-what a beautiful resort. Looking forward to reading more. TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
drafthorsecrazy 10 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Visiting Pearl Harbor and the memorial is a very moving experience. Thanks for bringing those memories back to me. There are no words that I can use to describe how it feels to stand on that memorial over the ship and watch the oil bubble out. Hawaii is a popular vacation destination for the Japanese. They are everywhere on the islands. Except for Pearl Harbor. Nope, not one Japanese tourist did we see . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
red...Susan 37 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 I saw many Japanese tourist there in 2002 - 2004 when I lived there. They were extremely respectful. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
drafthorsecrazy 10 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 I was there in the mid 90's I think the Japanese are very respectful in most cases. They were very obviously absent back them. I'm glade they now include the memorial as part of their tourist activities. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 How powerful and moving. Thank you for sharing your experience. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lklasing 16 Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 That is an amazing write up with wonderful pictures. Thanks so much for sharing. We did Pearl Harbor but did not know that you had to reserve ahead of time (Ray had done it several years before and they didn't have to reserve then), so we didn't get to go out. But we saw everything else, including the name of a distant cousin of Ray's, whose remains were just recovered within the past several years. Ray's brother was contacted by the government for DNA testing to confirm that he was who they thought he was, which he was. All that is to say, it is an amazing place and you did it very just service with this report. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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