Day trip to Oahu

As a history teacher it would have been absolutely horrific to go all the way to Hawaii and not visit Pearl Harbor.  So we jumped on the first plane out of Maui to Oahu, and would later jump on the last plane from Oahu to Maui that same day.  There are different packages with different companies that will take care of all the logistics for you, but we found it to be a little bit cheaper to plan on our own.  And we would rent a car which would give us a little more freedom.

   As can be expected Pearl Harbor was amazing.  They have a good set up where you can get your ticket to go out and see the USS Arizona and while you are waiting you can visit the USS Bowfin, a retired submarine that you can walk through.  However I have trouble finding words to explain the emotion and the awe that I felt in the USS Arizona memorial.

  It is required to be silent, but as everyone exits the ferry that brought us to the memorial, rather than taking your time and looking out the sides we walked straight through (there will be plenty of time to look at the rest while waiting for the ferry).  If you race to the end you will be in the room with all the names of the sailors who lost their lives that day, and you will be the only one in the room.  It will have a much more powerful affect.

While trying to keep busy the rest of the day we visited the Dole Pineapple Plantation.  Which was fun, and seemed to be great if you had any kids, we just didn't have any.  If you were to be on the island, we were told the views on the North end of the island are amazing and have excellent snorkeling.  However with our flight to catch (an some wild fires that got out of control) we were not able to make it up that way.