As one would expect, we woke up early our first morning in Hawaii.... like 4:00 early. It was 9:00 central time and we were awake. So, we hung out around the room, took our time getting ready and then walked across the street to a hotel I remembered from my 2003 trip to Hawaii and were the first to enjoy the breakfast buffet. Being first has its advantages, like seeing the beach before the people converged from the best seat in the house!
After breakfast, we caught the 6:40 AM bus to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. It is a Hawaii must see. The men that were on the USS Arizona when Pearl Harbor was attacked not only lost their lives, but are forever entombed inside their ship that went down that morning. The memorial below was built on top of the ship. Portions of it are above water and it still leaks oil regularly. Those are the "black tears" of the nearly 1000 men still inside.
After leaving Pearl Harbor our tour guide took us around downtown including a trip to Punchbowl, the cemetery that houses 37,000 members of our armed forces. The whole thing is inside a large punchbowl shaped crater atop a mountain. It is an unbelievable sight. The cemetery is now full and only accepts spouses of soldiers which are buried in a plot above their spouse. Thousands of unknown soldiers are also buried here.
After our guided tour, we enjoyed a short walk on the beach, lunch at a sports bar with the second half of the Texas Tech game, shaved ice and then headed for the airport to fly to Kauai. We had googled Da Kine Bail Bonds, home of Dog the Bounty Hunter before our trip and since it was on the way to the airport, we paid our cab driver to make a pit stop.
After breakfast, we caught the 6:40 AM bus to visit Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. It is a Hawaii must see. The men that were on the USS Arizona when Pearl Harbor was attacked not only lost their lives, but are forever entombed inside their ship that went down that morning. The memorial below was built on top of the ship. Portions of it are above water and it still leaks oil regularly. Those are the "black tears" of the nearly 1000 men still inside.
After leaving Pearl Harbor our tour guide took us around downtown including a trip to Punchbowl, the cemetery that houses 37,000 members of our armed forces. The whole thing is inside a large punchbowl shaped crater atop a mountain. It is an unbelievable sight. The cemetery is now full and only accepts spouses of soldiers which are buried in a plot above their spouse. Thousands of unknown soldiers are also buried here.
After our guided tour, we enjoyed a short walk on the beach, lunch at a sports bar with the second half of the Texas Tech game, shaved ice and then headed for the airport to fly to Kauai. We had googled Da Kine Bail Bonds, home of Dog the Bounty Hunter before our trip and since it was on the way to the airport, we paid our cab driver to make a pit stop. The office was closed and no celebrities could be found; however, Marcus did meet a bondsmen with the group who plays World of Warcraft, the online game Marcus plays. Marcus and Travis exchanged character names and plan to meet up online soon. We were able to see the alley where they often film and Marcus bought a Dog souvenir shirt.
After Da Kine, we headed to the airport and awaited our short little flight to Kauai. It was about 30 minutes from gate to gate. The company-paid portion of the trip began and we were greeted with leis, luggage assistance, and shuttled transportation. We arrived at our hotel after a very long day and enjoyed room service and an early departure to bed!
After Da Kine, we headed to the airport and awaited our short little flight to Kauai. It was about 30 minutes from gate to gate. The company-paid portion of the trip began and we were greeted with leis, luggage assistance, and shuttled transportation. We arrived at our hotel after a very long day and enjoyed room service and an early departure to bed!
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