In our life quest to visit all 50 states, we also want to visit all 50 state capitals. This was the main reason for coming to Honolulu. While Honolulu is well known for Waikiki Beach, it is a large city with over a million people living in the metropolitan area. Once you get away from the ocean, driving around Honolulu is like being in many other large cities....traffic, congestion, people, etc. I don't mean that as a criticism, but more as an observation. We love visiting big cities and seeing the diversity of cultures, food, and architecture, and Honolulu has been great. However, if you're wanting a tropical beach vacation, different places on Oahu or the other islands are where you want to be.
After the capitol, the other reason we wanted to come here was to visit Pearl Harbor and see the USS Arizona Memorial. The Pearl Harbor National Memorial is jointly administered by the National Park Service and the US Navy. Pearl Harbor is still an active military base and remains the headquarters for the Navy's Pacific Fleet.
The USS Arizona Memorial is both a monument and a graveyard to the 1,177 sailors who were killed in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Active duty naval personnel pilot the boat from the visitor center across the harbor to the Arizona. It is a very somber and moving memorial and a reminder of the devastation that occurred here. In addition to the sailors who died in the atack whose remains are forever entombed on the ship, a number of survivors chose to have a burial at sea and have their remains interred here with their shipmates.
After visiting the memorial, we took a shuttle bus to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum located on Ford Island. We had the added bonus of meeting our long-time college friends Kim and Mark who live in Honolulu. We haven't seen them since graduating over 30 years ago. Mark retired from the Navy and now works at the Aviaton Museum managing their capital projects. Kim is the associate minister at First United Methodist Church in Honolulu. We were so fortunate that Mark was able to give us not only a great behind the scenes tour of the museum, but they also drove us to other spots on Ford Island that most of the public don't get to see since military ID is needed to be on this part of the base.
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| USS Utah |
We were able to see the USS Utah Memorial where part of the ship is still exposed above the water. We saw bullet strafing in the concrete next to the float plane ramp and the original memorial marker that still stands even after the current Arizona memorial was constructed. We drove past some of the houses where active duty families live, with a blue sign identifying the current residents and a black and white sign that identifies the residents from December 1941.
After our visit, we went to a local brewery with Kim, Mark, and their daughter Ashleigh to catch up on the past 30 years. It was a wonderful conclusion to a great day of learning and reflection.
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| With our friends Kim and Mark |
After the capitol, the other reason we wanted to come here was to visit Pearl Harbor and see the USS Arizona Memorial. The Pearl Harbor National Memorial is jointly administered by the National Park Service and the US Navy. Pearl Harbor is still an active military base and remains the headquarters for the Navy's Pacific Fleet.
The USS Arizona Memorial is both a monument and a graveyard to the 1,177 sailors who were killed in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Active duty naval personnel pilot the boat from the visitor center across the harbor to the Arizona. It is a very somber and moving memorial and a reminder of the devastation that occurred here. In addition to the sailors who died in the atack whose remains are forever entombed on the ship, a number of survivors chose to have a burial at sea and have their remains interred here with their shipmates.
After visiting the memorial, we took a shuttle bus to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum located on Ford Island. We had the added bonus of meeting our long-time college friends Kim and Mark who live in Honolulu. We haven't seen them since graduating over 30 years ago. Mark retired from the Navy and now works at the Aviaton Museum managing their capital projects. Kim is the associate minister at First United Methodist Church in Honolulu. We were so fortunate that Mark was able to give us not only a great behind the scenes tour of the museum, but they also drove us to other spots on Ford Island that most of the public don't get to see since military ID is needed to be on this part of the base.
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