Hawaiian history and culture...and lots of beach time

Visiting Pearl Harbor has been on my bucket list for a long time. Despite being something most people do when on Oahu, my interest went beyond for a few different reasons. I have been a massive history buff since high school. Earlier, if I really think about it...if memory serves, I was rather obsessed with reading a series of biographies at the elementary school library when I was a youngster. But it was when I found myself reading countless books about the Titanic (continually assuring my mother that no, I wasn't reading these books because I had a paper to write upon the topic...she was so baffled) that I started realizing how much I enjoyed history. I went on to major in and then earn a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Utah. So yes, Pearl Harbor is going to appeal to me just from a historical standpoint. But if I delve a little further...I also tend to be most interested in World Wars and shipwrecks. (Bryan claims I am a little morbid.) And then lastly, my grandfather James Dalton, served in the navy during WWII aboard the USS Savo Island, an aircraft carrier fighting the Japanese in the Pacific. Can you understand why visiting Pearl Harbor would hold such an appeal for me?

I dropped Bryan off at work Wednesday morning and made my way to Pearl Harbor. I parked the car,  walked inside and immediately got the chills. I cannot count how many times this happened throughout the day...realizing I was covered in chills. I was downright giddy. I spent the entire day there and visited everything I could to really savor the whole experience. It was so fascinating and I couldn't stop smiling. And yet, the experience was also incredibly sobering to the point that many times I found myself wiping away tears. 

I toured the USS Bowfin, a submarine fighting in the Pacific from 1943-1945. I've read a lot of books about submarines and have decided that while fascinating, I'm not sure my claustrophobia would allow me to travel aboard one for very long. Even taking the tour made me shudder a bit thinking about what it would be like to live in such close quarters under the sea for long stretches at a time. 

At the appointed time on my ticket, I boarded the ferry that would take me out to the USS Arizona, the sunken battleship which is the most visited of all the sites at Pearl Harbor. Once there they asked us to be respectful seeing as this is obviously the final resting place of over 1000 sailors. We were asked to silence our phones and not text...pictures were fine but to remember why we were there. And people were doing exactly that. Talking quietly, taking loads of pictures, but generally doing so with reverence. And then I saw two guys with their hats off and in their hands, holding them in such a way that it was clear they had done so because of where we were. We had not been asked to remove our hats, and there were certainly a lot of them seeing as it was a very hot and sunny day. But these two guys had decided on their own to go one step beyond what was asked. For some reason it made me quite emotional. I was just so touched at their level of respect. This small moment was a highlight of the day for me.

After a quick lunch from one of the little deli shops, I took a bus over to Ford Island to tour the USS Missouri. Exploring that enormous ship was night and day different from climbing around in the USS Bowfin submarine that morning. The USS Missouri is probably most famous for being the site where the Japanese surrender was signed effectively ending the war.

After spending as much time as I could there, even meandering through the gift shops and picking up a WWII version of Monopoly (I'm such a geek), it was time to pick up Bryan from work. I felt a little bad that while he was spending his days in a stuffy classroom, I was adventuring all over the island. But it was certainly nice that each evening we were able to have dinner together and often we would then walk over to Waikiki beach outside our hotel. Swimming in the ocean while the sun sets is a whole other level of awesome.

On Thursday I debated checking out the Polynesian Cultural Center. I knew there was no way I'd be able to see it all as I'd have to leave to pick up Bryan from work and would therefore miss all the evening shows and luaus. I had scored a free ticket to get in, however, so I decided maybe it was worth it even if I could only stay for a few hours seeing as I wasn't paying the full (expensive) price of admission. And I'm so glad I did! What I did see and experience was nothing short of amazing. Someday I'll have to go back and spend the whole day.

Bryan finished teaching his class Friday afternoon and expressed interest in a beach that had some stronger waves than the gentle ones we were getting at Waikiki. I suggested Pounders Beach up near the temple in La'ie. Although I'd driven up that way multiple times, it would be his first time seeing the more relaxed north shore. We had dinner at a hamburger joint that had been recommended and was frequented by BYU-Hawaii students and then had a great time chasing the waves.

Up next: our last day...boy was it one to remember! Teaser: Stairs of Doom