Pearl Harbor & the USS Arizona Memorial
This is the most popular tourist destination in Hawaii, so everyone's advice is to get here first thing in the morning at 7:30am. We arrive at 7:25am, and there were several tour buses in front of us! We eventually board the boat around the 45 minute mark and cross Pearl Harbor on a beautiful morning. Arriving at the memorial is both awe inspiring and moving...a small chill runs up our backs when we contemplate the amount of lives lost and utter devastation to the Pacific Fleet. As we glance out from the memorial on to the waters of Pearl Harbor, someone drops lei flowers which create a small chain along the water's surface. We also note that small drops of oil also continue to ooze from the ship, a reminder of the watery grave that lies beneath us...
An important note: the USS Arizona was only one of 18 ships that sunk in the Pearl Harbor attack – however, since the forward ammo magazine was hit, half of the 2350 casualties were from this single battleship
Sam Choy's with Elden
After returning back to shore, we meet up with a friend mine, Elden. Elden and I marched in the San Francisco Renegades this past season – yes, he commuted from Hawaii to San Francisco almost every weekend during the summer! We head to a local joint called Sam Choy's and I order a local breakfast specialty: loco moco. This local cuisine consists of a hamburger patty topped with a fried egg, a scoop of rice on the side and gravy all around. Not entirely bizarre, as many Asian cultures will utilize fried eggs outside of breakfast, but it's good and yummy! We chat and catch up on this season...wow, we had a great show at the Labor Day championships in Rochester, NY and we both can't believe it's done! Afterwards, we bid Elden a fond farewell and aloha – he will be sorely missed!
Iolani Palace
The Iolani Palace was the residence of the Hawaiian royalty when it was still a kingdom – the only site in the US! Unfortunately, history is not so kind...the last queen of Hawaii was imprisoned here until the forced dissolution of the monarchy in the late 1800s. The building was restored and it's simply amazing at the level of technology (i.e. electric lights and functioning water closets/toilets) for a 19th-century building...they truly lived like kings and queens!
We then traverse the Ko'olau Range to the windward side of Oahu and stop by the largest cultural attraction in Hawaii: the Polynesian Cultural Center. The center consists of seven villages that recreate the cultural environment of the seven main Polynesian societies: Tonga, Marquesas, Tahiti, Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, and Aotearoa (New Zealand Maori). True, there has been some criticism on some of the participant's heritage and how this is somewhat stagey...but most participants possess the authentic cultural lineage and attend nearby BYU-Hawaii. On the positive side, the visitor learns the subtle differences between the Polynesian cultures and we are provided opportunities to interact with the hosts and jump in on some of the fun activities. A must for everyone at least once...
Afterwards, we gather at the dinner tent for a luau buffet dinner...the kailua pig is slowly roasted throughout the day and then presented and carved for us. Even the side dishes are close to the real thing as the taro root is purple! During dinner, the hosts present a hula show in various forms. Once dinner is over, we head to the theater for the Horizons evening show...this is where the seven cultures present a stage show that is very well done. Though a bit commercial, this experience is a nice immersion into the Hawaiian and Polynesian cultures...
>> Al