Well, I'll just say today wasn't the best day we've had. We left the ship at about 8:30 and took the shuttle to the car rental office, like we did in Hilo yesterday. We drove directly to the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. After a short wait, we viewed the movie then took the boat over to the Memorial. Nice to finally visit in person after seeing it in pictures for so many years. Very nicely done.
We then headed for the Dole Plantation. Of course we didn't go there directly, we first went in a few circles trying to find the correct road to get there. The maps they hand out to tourists are AWFUL!!! They don't give you a map of the island, it's in a book full of ads and coupons, with one section of the island on one page, another on the next. Once we finally found the correct map to the section we were in, we were in the next section! It was extremely frustrating. We arrived at the Dole Plantation with out too much difficulty. It was a MAJOR tourist attraction, which was expected. We looked at the baby pineapple, had some pineapple ice cream, then headed to the beach. The Alamo driver had told us the best beach is Lanikai Beach, so that's where we headed. It was a beautiful drive across the island on H3 thru steep mountains, then thru a tunnel to the beach area. We drove around a bit until we did finally find the beach. Half the streets don't have any signs, so regardless of how bad the map was, we didn't know what street we were on anyway! Once on the beach, the water was cold and there was a brisk wind blowing. Give me a beach in Costa Rica any day! It was beautiful, with very fine, white sand, but certainly not very relaxing.
We drove around the beach drive to Diamond Head. Finding that road was achieved by heading in the right direction and hoping we'd run into it eventually. Since there was a beach on one side of us and a mountain on the other, it was pretty certain that we would. We stopped at Sandy Beach which was full of volcanic rocks...go figure. Again the scenery was beautiful, but not very enticing for a day at the beach. It was very crowded with little parking. Continuing on, we missed the exit for Diamond Head because it was on the next section of the map....and all the street names look the same.....Kanapulaui, Kanakapalanioa, Kanakaplanionianoawena!!!!! LOL There were some beautiful homes around Diamond Head and the scenery was beautiful. Next stop Waikiki!
What a mess Waikiki is! The streets are all one way, so you have to go around in circles first trying to find where you want to be, then trying to find a parking space....with no street signs. We finally just parked in a hotel that was advertising parking for $2 an hour and walked a few blocks to the beach. It was packed, which is understandable for a Sunday. The water was calmer, the sand was nice and it was OK, but so many people! I'm glad we saw it, as I'd heard about Waikiki for years, but I don't need to go back. Hilo was much nicer. I'm sure Maui would be also, less hectic.
Back on the ship in time for dinner. We checked out the menu to see if we wanted to go to the dining room or to the BBQ on deck for sail away. We decided on the dining room, but I wanted to swim in my nice little pool first. Once again, it was warm with only 2 other swimmers, very nice. I swam 16 laps (in about 5 min), then dressed and joined Mel at dinner. After today, I am really looking forward to our upcoming 7 sea days! A lot more relaxing.
And now for the history lesson, sorry I failed to include it yesterday. Just writing about what we do is a lot easier than condensing the paragraph we are given by HAL into 2 or 3 sentences.
Hilo is the largest town on the island of Hawaii. It is the wettest city in the U.S., receiving an average rainfall of just over 127 inches. Not much is known about the area until the early 1800's when missionaries arrived, founding several churches. It's expansion was a direct result of the sugar plantations which drew a large Asian population. Two large tsunamis have hit the area, one in 1946, the other in 1960. It was the first time I had seen a sign reading "Leaving Tsunami Evacuation Area" in Hilo.
Honolulu is the capital of Hawaii, and is located on the island of Oahu. It is the largest city in the state. The Iolani Palace in Honolulu is the only royal palace in the U.S. It was used by the Hawaiian monarchy King Kalakaua and his successor Queen Liliuokalani. The monarchy was abolished in 1893 when American forces overthrew the Queen. The palace was used as the State Capitol for many years. Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Many visitors to the island come to view the memorial there, as well as the beautiful beaches.
We have had internet via Mel's cell phone for the last 2 days. That allowed me time to actually look at my blog. I can't figure out why the printing is so small after adding a picture a post. I tried making it larger without much success. I apologize if you need a magnifying glass to read it, it's beyond my control....or capabilities! Not sure how much I'll post on sea days. Guess it will depend on the activities, food and entertainment that day, if it's worthy of a post!
Our next stop is Luganville, Vanuatu, featured on season 8 of Survivor! That will be on Feb 3.
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