BigWeather's Blog

We awoke fairly early, around 7a.  Rather than eat at the resort we hopped in the Jeep and drove into Lihue, the main city on Kauai, and ate breakfast fairly near to the airport / heliport at Daddy O’s.  It was an unassuming place, located in a strip mall next to a laundromat.  It definitely seemed to be filled with locals — always a good sign.

I had three eggs over medium, bacon, two mini-pancakes, and white toast.  Michelle had the same but with wheat toast.  Genetta opted for the French toast while Addison skipped breakfast (as he only ate two meals a day).  Quite tasty!

We drove the short distance to the airport, peeling away from the main terminal to the general aviation area.  Blue Hawaiian had a nice building with a large front desk, gift store on the right, and briefing area on the left.  We checked in, after which I asked when they’d be weighing us (I had been dieting for months to ensure I was well below the weight limit).  The receptionist said “We already did, it is under the mat you’re standing on.”  Tricky!

As we were checking in they announced that the flight scheduled for thirty minutes before ours (so, around 10:30a) was cancelled due to the poor conditions as it had been pissing rain all morning and there was a lot of fog and low clouds (which is fog, haha) making helicopter flights hazardous.  After we browsed the gift area we sat in the briefing area, hopeful that it wouldn’t be for nought.  We’d planed for it, however, by having some slack in our schedule so that we could reschedule for later in the day or on subsequent days.

We put on some safety gear and sat through a safety video.  There were quite a few details, I hoped that I wouldn’t forget anything.  They decided our flight was a go!  We headed out the back of the building and onto the tarmac, standing in our designated spots awaiting signals to advance to the chopper (blades already whirring!) one-at-a-time.  As we boarded an attendant assisted us with buckling.  Though the chopper seated five and the pilot we got to go with just the four of us (and the pilot, of course!).  Michelle and I sat in front (Michelle between myself and the pilot) while the kids were in the back, all optimally positioned to distribute our weight.

The pilot introduced himself, he was a chopper pilot in the Army and from Washington state.  He reminded us to not fiddle with the safety gear or the buckles and certainly not any of the controls or it’d be an immediate return to the airport.  We donned headsets and were given a mic we could use to ask questions.  The chopper’s blades were noisy but not too bad with the headset and the motion slightly rocked the cockpit.  Finally receiving clearance he played the Hawaii Five-O theme song (Michelle grinning broadly at that) as we lifted up and away from the airport.

Wow!  Over the next forty-five minutes or so we made a clockwise circuit around the island.  Starting out we passed over Lihue’s harbor and Huleia Stream (the river in the opening sequence of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” as well as the backdrop for some scenes of “Jurassic Park”) and skirted the north side of the mountain ridge just south of Lihue.  Here the land was lush, green, and relatively flat with many farms and ranches.

We quickly left that behind and entered the canyon and gulch area that covers most of south Kauai.  Historically, the terrain held resistance groups seeking to challenge the powers of the day.  At the head of one of the canyons lay the gorgeous Manawaiopuna Falls, also known as Jurassic Falls as it was used in the beginning of the movie “Jurassic Park” when the “guests” arrive via helicopter.

The next canyon over, Waimeia Canyon, was absolutely spectacular.  Here the vegetation thinned a bit, revealing rugged red striations.  At the head of the various smaller canyons feeding into the main canyon were waterfalls including the spectacular Waipo’o Falls.

Heading north and west the land beyond the canyon sloped gently to the sea and we could see the island of Ni’ihau beyond, the island where the Japanese Zero landed during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Turning north along the coast we soon entered the crown jewel of Kauai (and heck, of Hawaii), the Na Pali (Napali) Coast.

Here jagged ridges lined the shore, harboring lush valleys with waterfalls.  Sheer cliffs, arches, and sea caves dotted the shore along with small secluded beaches.  The water itself was a variety of the most amazing shades of blue.  Thankfully the cloud deck lifted a bit and we were able to enjoy some spectacular views.  Unfortunately many of the photos reflected us on the cockpit glass but we still managed to get some great photographs.

Continuing our journey around the island, next up was Hanalei Bay and then a jaunt into the very rugged interior (80% of Kauai is rugged wilderness).  Our pilot expertly dropped us into an extinct volcano’s caldera where waterfalls poured in from all sides.  Sadly the clouds were thickest here (not uncommon) but it was still quite the treat.  Exiting the caldera we flew south and back to Lihue airport.

After landing and return to Blue Hawaiian’s office we browsed the gift shop while waiting for the video from the flight to be offloaded onto a USB drive for us to take home with us.  Michelle bought a t-shirt and we also picked up a magnet.

Headed back out to Daddy O’s as it was near the airport.  I had the Big Teri burger (Swiss, teriyaki sauce, and mayo) with waffle fries and mac salad.  It was OK, a bit well done and salty though.  Genetta had fried chicken, Addison chicken and waffles with waffle fries, and I don’t recall what Michelle had.

We decided to drive along the east and north shore of Kauai to Hanalei Bay.  There is no road all the way around Kauai due to the Napali coast being impassable (and even if it were possible to make it passable the desire to maintain one of the most beautiful coasts in the world would hopefully win out) — the road ends at Hanalei Bay.

We first stopped at a McDonald’s hoping to score some sweet tea but no luck there, grrrr!  We had parked in a grocery store adjacent to the McDonald’s, reachable via a small foot bridge over a charming tropical stream so there was that, at least.  After McDonald’s we drove a way farther up the coast looking for a pineapple farm but had no luck finding it.

Next up was Kilauea Lighthouse on a rocky promontory on the northeast coast of the island.  Sadly it was closed to visitors that day but we did get to enjoy some distant views of it and the blue ocean beyond.  During the winter months it was allegedly a great place to view humpbacks but none to be seen in May.  Instead we were treated to flocks of white birds, so that was nice.  I strained my eyes looking for seals or turtles along the rocky shore far below but to no avail.

A few more miles down the road we stopped at Anini Beach, a pretty nice beach frequented by locals and notable for the many large trees growing all the way to the water.  Given the very rough surf that the north-facing shores of Kauai receive in the winter those are very hardy trees!  Thereafter the road took a few tight turns (including one that afforded a gorgeous view of the Hanalei River valley and some of its taro — a sweet root vegetable — farms) and descended to the small town of Hanalei and its famous bay.

Normally the bay would be a gorgeous blue but sadly the clouds that had been lingering all day lowered a bit and started spitting rain.  Unfortunately the pier out into the bay was also closed so we gave up on seeing many sights and checked out some of the shopping in town.  The small strip mall had a number of clothing, surf, and souvenir shops (including one selling small tiki figures) but nothing really jumped out at us so we left empty-handed.  Unfortunately Addision had wanted to stop at a juice stand at the shopping center but by the time we got back to it around 3p it had closed.  We hopped back in the car and headed back east then south towards Lihue.  Along the way we passed many white sheets with congratulatory messages for graduating seniors, a neat custom.

About halfway back to Lihue we stopped at a juice stand (Kalalea Juice Hale) for shaved ice and smoothies.  Michelle and Genetta had strawberry smoothies while I had a blueberry and strawberry shaved ice.  As with most places in Hawaii seating was outside.  We enjoyed our treats and the positively Indiana Jones-esque jagged peaks behind the place.  Literally.  The peaks, the Anahola Mountains, contains a particularly striking one called Kalalea (or King Kong’s Profile) that was used for the fade-in of the Paramount logo in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”!  Some roosters and chickens pecked through a garbage can looking for leftovers and eventually even hopped on the picnic table we were sitting at.  That was our signal that it was time to go!

In Lihue we stopped at a SafeWay for groceries.  Even it being a chain store in the United States it had some odd things that we don’t see back home — a Chinese product called Lei Hang powder that I still have no idea what it was as well as some pinkish… stuff.  Hard pass!

For dinner we stopped at the Garden Island Grille in Koloa around 6p.  We entered from the back, passing by a guy cleaning some stuff off.  There was a Hawaiian lady playing keyboard and singing with an Aloha sign behind her.  She played some covers and a bit of her own material.  It wasn’t bad but I’m not a huge fan of Hawaiian music.  Addison and I had kalua pork nachos.  I didn’t think they were that bad but Addison did not care for the cheese as it was a sauce and not melted.  I can’t recall what Genetta and Michelle had.

We returned to the room right at 7:30p.  Big night for TV as it was the finale for “Game of Thrones”.  We were sure we were too late but it turned out that John Oliver was still on.  After catching the end of that we watched the finale until 9:30p.  Addison had gone down to the beach earlier and I set out to meet him after the finale.  I met him returning, however, so we walked back together and we all turned in early due to a very early morning wake up the next day (Monday).

Despite waking up at 4:45a, finishing packing, and checking out of the room by 5:45 we almost missed our bus.  Luckily we caught it and were at the airport by 6:45a.  Check-in was quick, mainly due to not only the boarding pass process but also weighing the luggage being completely automated.  Maybe our Robot Overlords aren’t so bad after all!  That done, Michelle and I had Starbucks — Michelle a sausage, egg, and cheese and myself a chocolate croissant with water.  Not bad!  While we waited for our flight I banged out a bit of the blog offline in good ol’ Notepad.

Boarding commenced at around 8:40a and, in a further display of efficiency, we were in the air at 9a.  We flew Hawaiian Airlines, founded in 1929 and pretty much THE airline for flying within Hawaii.  We were treated to a beautiful view of Oahu and Diamond Head as we took off.  The plane itself was a bit no frills (fiberglass-like seats instead of the normal cushioned affair, for example) but was clean and the staff friendly, maybe even a bit cheeky.  I asked for apple juice but they only had orange passion fruit.  I asked them to just give me water instead, but Genetta got coffee and it looked yummy.  I changed my mind (for the second time!) and the steward says “Sir, you have trouble making decisions!”  Haha!

To pass the time during the brief flight I read the Hawaiian Airlines’ magazine and an article about foil surfing and how it was really catching on and revolutionizing the sport.  Landed at 9:42a (I said it was a brief flight!) to beautiful jagged vegetative peak and sparkling ocean.  The airport was quite dinky compared to Honolulu.  We gathered our luggage and went out to meet the friendly Alamo lady.  We got suckered… er, persuaded… to upgrade to a Jeep, a silver Sahara Wrangler.

A few things stood out.  First, everything was so very green!  Trees were everywhere, often festooned with large orange flowers.  There were lines of jagged cloud-shrouded peaks in most directions.  Kauai was also much more rural than the part of Oahu that we had visited.  And chickens!  Chickens *everywhere*.  In ditches, along the road, crossing the road, standing on benches, checking out trashcans.  We had heard about this Kauai peculiarity but it had to be seen to be believed.

After heading west-southwest on “highway” 50 we turned due south on Maluhia Road.  This stretch was remarkable as decades ago someone had planted rows on beautiful trees on either side.  This formed an Oak Alley-like arbor corridor that was quite the treat to drive through.

Addison convinced us to take a pass on a Mexican food truck and another Mexican establishment called Da Crack in favor of a place called Tortilla Republic in Poipu.  We arrived about 11a and opened the joint.  Addison had nachos with beef, Genetta the breakfast quesadilla, Michelle carnitas tacos and rice and beans, and myself carnitas street tacos (three of ’em).  It was on the whole quite unremarkable.

It was quick, at least, allowing us to arrive at our resort, the Grand Hyatt Kauai, at 12p.  The lobby surely impressed!  Open air looking through a courtyard with parrots out past a performance stage, palms, and the expansive ocean beyond.  Really swanky.  As our room was not yet ready they “gave” us one with a King and Queen rather than two Queens.  Same view too.

Pleasantly surprised so far, we did discover that we had a LONG walk to our rooms — nearly half a mile.  Kauai does not permit building up so a large-ish resort like the Hyatt has to sprawl, and how!  We dallied — and rested after the long walk — until about 2p.  Genetta, Michelle, and I then headed to the resorts’ swimming area.  It was amazing!  Multiple pools connected by a (very) lazy river complete with nooks in the rock.  There were also a couple of hot tubs, a pretty long slide with a loop, and, at the bottom nearest the ocean, a large saltwater lagoon that was wonderful.  Genetta and I floated down the lazy river together while Michelle stayed in the lagoon.  Once we were done with the river we joined her for a bit and enjoyed the partly cloudy afternoon.

We returned to the room between 4p and 5p.  While the ladies showered Addison and I walked down to Poipu Beach a little over a mile to the west.  It had a sandy stretch, a nice lagoon sheltered by a rocky breakwater, a rocky area with tidal pools, and the omnipresent stands of palms.  Chickens were of course also present, strutting about like they owned the place!  As we were leaving the beach we passed two built dudes narrowly avoiding a throw-down.

Just across the street from the beach was a nice natural area with a couple of pools.  We didn’t know it until a few days later but the site was an important native archaeological site — Kaneiolouma Heiau.  Heiau meaning a temple.  The site was used for religious purposes centuries before Europeans “discovered” Kauai.  As we headed back to the resort we passed a surf shop as well as some beautifully tended gardens with abundant blossoms.

We made it back to the room at 6p and showered before heading to Bubba’s Burgers in Poipu.  While we awaited our food I snuck out and caught the beautiful sunset around 7p (so much earlier than at home due to being so much close to the equator).  I had a teriyaki burger (with onions, mayo, and cheese) while the rest had more boring burgers.  We had fries and onion rings with them as well.  I thought it was a decent meal but Michelle was not as impressed.

Afterwards we got some shave ice from Uncle’s Shave Ice and Smoothies.  Michelle had strawberry, Genetta cherry, and myself green apple over vanilla ice cream — yummy!  Addison got two scoops of banana fudge in a waffle cone from the adjacent Lappert’s (the same chain we had in Waikiki).

We returned back to the room around 8p and watched a few minutes of The Empire Strikes Back before I headed out with Addison around 9p to watch him swim.  It wasn’t as fun as during the day as the slide was turned off and the lazy river didn’t really run.  Despite that and a bit of rain I think he still had some fun.  On our way back to the room we saw a creepy guy looking for something on the beach so we took care to avoid that situation.  Once back to the room I worked on summarizing the day in the blog (for eventual fleshing out) and was in bed by 11:30p.

Unfortunately I awoke about 3:30a not feeling well and unable to return to sleep.  Finally decided to just blog at 4:15a, lasting until 6a before finally managing to go back to sleep for a tiny bit after taking some pictures at dawn.

All four of us went down for breakfast around 8a.  Addison, Genetta, and myself had the full breakfast (including loco moco and French toast!) while Michelle opted for the continental buffet.  The waitress was very nice and talkative compared to the day before and the chocolate donuts were better as well.  We burned our two remaining breakfast certificates on two full buffets.

About 10a I went down to the “super pool” with Genetta then all four of us headed to the bay (protected from the rest of the ocean by a breakwater.  Unfortunately, Genetta hurt her ankle on some coral and headed in; I proceeded to the barrier and stood on it before heading in.  Michelle and Genetta stayed out of the water while Addison and I “swam” in the shallow lagoon, mostly walking through it, past a small island, and disrupting the schools of small fish that lived there.

We headed in about noon to change and shower before walking less than a mile to Outback.  The restaurant was quite deserted and the lunch was “ok” — Michelle had chicken tenders and broccoli, Genetta ribs and fries, Addison a ribeye (the first of which was way overcooked, the second barely knew fire), and myself the sirloin with baked potato.  The salads were excellent, though!  Headed back to the room to rest a bit.

After a short rest the ladies went shopping while Addison and I headed out to Diamond Head a couple of miles away.  The first stretch was along the beach.  It was quite hot, not North Carolina hot but with the sun beating down it was a little uncomfortable.  We passed a wedding party or two.  In a few spots the waves came right up to a walkway, requiring us to walk along and dodge the occasional over-topping wave.  At one point the waves had eroded the walkway and stairs.  Nature always wins.

We saw quite a few “surf foils”, surf boards with foils underneath which leads them to “hover” above the waves and achieve much higher speeds.  There was a competition or show going on with tents, scaffolding with lights, and a fair number of people.  Nearby was the 9′ statue of Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, bronzed and atop a rock.  Leis were draped about his arms and a trio of tiki torches surrounded him.  He was an Olympic champion from the area and the father of international surfing.

After passing the Duke there were some giant banyan trees as well as many lifeguard stations in addition to the Sea Dos we had seen before.  In short order we walked past the aquarium and a war memorial before coming upon a fountain in the middle of a roundabout with Diamond Head looming in the background.  Continuing to head east the houses got more and more opulent, closed off from us peons with artsy gates adorned with dolphins, turtles, and the like.  A security officer in a SUV rode past every fifteen minutes or so ensuring that the houses weren’t messed with.  That must cost some serious coin to maintain!

The area right around the lighthouse (built in 1917) was a bit elevated from the ocean and far more arid.  While we couldn’t access the lighthouse I was able to take pictures over the fence and just beyond it was a nice area with sparser tree coverage, brown grasses, and the blue sea beyond.  It was a quite beautiful place to spend some time resting up before the walk back.

On the way back we decided to walk along the road rather than the beach.  In addition to fast food staples like Burger King and the like (often done in a more Polynesian building style) as well as the distinctive St. Augustine church (also Polynesian-like) there was plenty of high-end shopping both facing the street and in small malls off to the side.  We crossed through Fort Derussy, a fort with a Hawaii Army museum with a primary function of catering to vacationing servicemen and servicewomen.  Though the public was welcome to use the property most of the time a sign made it quite clear that at times it would be closed for exclusive military personnel use from time to time.

We finally made it back to the resort, swinging by the ABC store looking for Gold Bond (with no luck).  Just before 7:00p we made it back to the room; I headed out almost immediately to see the sunset.  Due to the lack of clouds it was quite underwhelming (though the color was nice and golden).  I found Genetta and we hung out for a bit before Addison and Michelle showed up.  We headed towards dinner, stopping briefly to watch a Hula demonstration and show.

We decided to go to CJ’s New York Style Deli.  It was quite good!  I had the kalua pork club with macaraoni salad and a (amazing!) strawberry smoothie, Michelle had a grilled chicken with potato salad, and Genetta a kalua pork Benedict.  Addison, on his diet, had nothing.  Genetta and Michelle went on to Lappert’s for some ice cream but it wasn’t as good as the prior night, sadly.

While they were having dessert Addison and I figured out how to checkout and where to leave our keys and returned to the room before 9p.  We spent some time packing before heading to bed by midnight.

I awoke before the dawn (and apparently had just missed Michelle being up with nausea) and tried getting back to sleep without success before getting up and beginning the day.  Michelle got up shortly thereafter and all four of us headed down to the Rainbow Lanai for breakfast around 8a.  They had two breakfast buffet options, both expensive — a continental one with cereal, fruits, pastries (including chocolate donuts and raspberry croissants, yay!), and some Japanese delicacies.  As an aside, Hawaii, and Oahu in particular, sees a large number of visitors from Japan, so much that many signs at the hotel are in English and Japanese and there are tour buses and other services that cater exclusively to Japanese visitors.  Additionally, many Hawaiians are of Japanese descent.  Thus many restaurants also cater to them.  Optionally a hot buffet with eggs, sausage, bacon, “garlic chicken”, monkey bread, and Portuguese not-quite-donut-but-yet-not-quite-beignet called malassadas was available for an additional fee.  In addition to the Japanese the Portuguese have a large presence in the state.

We picked up a cab from the main lobby at about 10a. The driver, Rafael, was talkative and friendly and shared knowledge as he drove us from the hotel to Pearl Harbor. He pointed out that the clouds hanging on the mountains that form the spine of Oahu were pretty much stationary and that in Hawaii it rained by zip code, and rarely for a long time except in the winter months when the big storms roll in. He pointed to a school on a ridge overlooking Honolulu that accepted children of a certain percentage Hawaiian blood (falling over time as the population naturally mixes) for a very solid and free education. He joked that he tried blood transfusions for his kids (he himself having a Mexican father and American mother) but it didn’t take. He also mentioned that some of the earliest murals about town were at the airport (like an impressive whale breaching the surface that covered the better part of a building) but their use spread and some sections of town really cultivated them.

We arrived at Pearl Harbor (technically World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument) just after 10:30a and proceeded to take our cameras and other stuff out of our backpack and checked the backpack. Being an active base security was a bit tighter than normal for a National Monument. We collected our tickets for the 11a tour and, as it was nearly 11a already, passed the museum to stand in line to await entrance to the theater. While we waited a park ranger (monument ranger?) talked about the site a bit.

The video wasn’t very long, at about thirty minutes, but was really well done and informative. It is extraordinary some of the luck — good and bad — that transpired that day. From mistaking the incoming Japanese planes (187 in the first wave) as an incoming delivery of B-17s from the mainland (bad, bad luck) to the US carrier fleet being out to sea delivering planes to other bases (exceptionally good luck). The US commander feared sabotage rather than a surprise attack so had parked the planes together tightly wing tip to wing tip so that they could be protected by patrols easier. Yikes! We learned that though nearly every ship in harbor was sunk that all but three (Arizona, Oklahoma, and Utah) were eventually repaired and put back into service. The Nevada actually almost made it out to sea but, badly damaged, was run aground by its captain to prevent it from sinking in the harbor’s narrow entrance and blocking access for rescue and recovery.

The Arizona was hit by an armor piercing bomb that destroyed its ammunition stores and ripped it apart, its explosion happened to be caught on video. She lost over 1,200 souls that day, the majority still on board the vessel. Oklahoma lost over 400. Today only five USS Arizona survivors remain and, like those before them, they can request to be buried on the ship. They are first cremated and Navy divers swim out on their backs, urn held above water, while full military honors including a 21 gun salute are performed. The urn is then placed in one of the turrets (#4 if I recall). Also each year on December 7th all of the victims of the attack are listed on slips of paper and visitors honor the victim in a solemn ceremony.

While the attack (both the first wave and the latter second wave) was a success with the US battleship fleet destroyed along with many planes at a cost of only 24 planes and 5 midget submarines it had crucially failed to get the carrier fleet (which would be the deciding factor just seven months later at the Battle of Midway in June 1942). Perhaps more importantly, it had the opposite effect on US morale than the Japanese expected. Rather than defeating America’s fighting spirit it galvanized support for the war and in many ways was the birth of the modern United States.

Once the movie was done we walked out to the docks and boarded a fairly small vessel. Addison and I sat in the starboard bow and Genetta and Michelle the port bow. Near us sat a park ranger who would narrate the tour and two Navy sailors that piloted the boat. As the docks at the USS Arizona were being repaired we were not able to go on to the iconic memorial that spans (but does not touch!) the wreck. The harbor tour, however, was a nice consolation prize. In addition to going by the USS Arizona we sailed past the USS Missouri (where the Japanese surrendered in Tokyo Bay in 1945) as well as some (I think) active Marine vessels parked at the adjacent shipyard. He mentioned that in addition to the other victims of the USS Utah there were the remains of a little girl who died in 1937, the daughter of a sailor who had her ashes on board for a burial at sea that sadly never happened due to the attack.

On return to the dock we visited several nice memorials made of stone and nicely manicured lawn. There was one to all of the victims of the attack as well as one listing each submarine lost during WW2 as well as their crew, listed as being “on eternal patrol”. Michelle was wearing her USS Tang shirt (the USS Tang being an interactive submarine exhibit in New Orleans’ National WW2 Museum) and we found its memorial.

About 12:30p we boarded a motor coach for a quick ride over a bridge to Ford Island, a large island in the middle of Pearl Harbor. I chatted with a guy from Washington state for a bit along the way. The coach first stopped at the USS Missouri but we had decided to skip that (as we’ve toured the USS North Carolina a couple of times) in favor of the Pacific Aviation Museum. The museum was located next to the iconic control tower seen in movies such as “Tora! Tora! Tora!” in two large hangars, 37 and 79 — both of which survived the attack on Pearl Harbor.

We entered, purchased admission, then went to the adjacent Laniakea Cafe for lunch. I had an excellent (if a tad salty) kalua pork sandwich while Michelle had chicken tenders and Genetta a grilled cheese. Addison had a burger (which he said was “OK”) and garlic fries that he found much too garlic-y.

After lunch we watched a slide show about the museum and its artifacts narrated by a docent.  Stepping through the exit doors of the auditorium and into the main part of the hangar we were greeted by a Japanese “Zero” (actually a Mitsubishi A6M) restored to look like the Zero piloted by a Japanese pilot that had to crash land his plane on the Hawaiian island of Ni’ihau during the attack.

It wasn’t his actual plane that was restored, however.  That is because the wreckage of that plane was on display nearby as it appeared shortly after US government agents were done picking apart the plane.  Early in the war the Zero was one of the most impressive fighters due to its speed and maneuverability but American aviation experts hadn’t pieced together how the Japanese pulled it off.  Being able to scavenge the wreck proved to be a great boon.  Not only was the wreck fascinating but also the circumstances of the landing on Ni’ihau.  In 1924 a military strategist posited that Ni’ihau would be a perfect launching place for a Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as it was quite flat and close enough to reach Oahu.  Note that carriers weren’t really a thing at that time, so a land-based airfield would be needed.  The government heeded his warnings and bought the land, plowing thousands of furrows in the flat portions of the island (the tractor used was even on display in the museum!) to make its use as an airfield impossible — and also prevented the injured Zero from landing intact.

Hanging above the wreckage was a reddish civilian plane flown by a father with his son on the morning of the attack.  The incoming first wave of Japanese fighters spotted the plane and fired upon it, forcing it to land at the adjacent civilian airport (now the main Honolulu airport).  One of two remaining Nakajima B5N “Kate” dive bombers was also on display — only part of the fuselage and wings and landing gear exist today — and this one was the more intact of the two!  Shame that has been lost to history.  Other craft on display was the trainer that George H. W. Bush flew, a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber (nicknamed “Slow But Deadly”), a Grumman F4F Wildcat, a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk painted in Flying Tiger regalia, and a B-24 Liberator bomber.  Today, as when I was a child, I’m astounded at the bravery of the gunners of the B-24, particularly the entirely exposed nose.  Rounding out hangar 37 were some simulators that we took a pass on in the interest of time.

We walked the short (but very hot, especially as we were on the tarmac!) distance to hangar 79 where more planes were on display, including a Republic of Korea (ROK) fighter from the Korean War and a slew of helicopters outside the hangar.  The hangar itself still bore damage from the attack, including bullet holes in the hangar’s glass panes.

Unlike hangar 37’s planes the ones in 79 weren’t WW2 but rather Cold War and beyond.  They also weren’t individually displayed with painted backdrops nor placed upon faux carrier decking and the like.  Still really impressive, they had many of the more recent fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, Grumman F-14 Tomcat, McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, and General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon.  There was also a pair of Korean War jets, the Soviet MiG-15 as well as its foil, the North American F-86 Sabre.

The hangar was also a restoration workshop and they were currently in the process of restoring a B-17 that crashed in Guadalcanal.  The pilot thought he was landing in a field but quickly discovered it to be a shallow swamp.  It was a hard landing, bending all of the props, rendering the aircraft not flight-worthy.  He destroyed the top secret bomb sight then trekked for six weeks through the jungle before getting to a friendly base.  On subsequent missions he and other pilots would often see the wreckage lying in the swampy jungle below but the US could never recover it.  Years of weather and scavengers took their toll but it was finally recovered in the 2000s by cutting it into pieces and airlifting the pieces out to a local airfield.  There the pieces sat for weeks while the government of Papua New Guinea decided whether to allow export to the United States.  Luckily for us, they did.  It is now dubbed “The Swamp Ghost” and modern Disney artists designed really neat bomber art for it.  I didn’t know this, but one of the many civilian contributions of WW2 was Disney had their artists designing much of the bomber and squadron art for the US military.  Really neat (and explains the incredible quality of much of that art)!

We headed to the gift shop where we got some magnets and post cards and Addison bought a hat.  He wanted a hoodie with the Swamp Ghost design but he preferred the old version (tan rather than blue, really showing off the art better) and that didn’t come in a size he wanted.  Oh well.  Back on the coach for the ride off of Ford Island we learned about Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility, completed in 1943 but not known to the general public until the mid-1990s.  The top secret facility, still in use today, consists of 20 12.5 million fuel storage tanks (250′ high by 100′ in diameter) encased in concrete mined into the volcanic rock of Red Hill.  Gravity-fed 2.5 mile long tunnels connected the tanks to fuel terminals for ships at the Naval base in Pearl Harbor.

A new museum covering submarines is coming in 2020, sadly too late for us on this trip.  Did get a sweet Hawaii magnet with both the map and flag on it, though.  We went through the two small buildings we skipped on the way to the theater earlier in the day.  Inside were interesting exhibits on how the war affected Hawaiians — the threat of invasion was very real, blackouts strictly enforced, martial law declared, etc. — as well as the second generation Americans of Japanese ancestry Nisei regiment that distinguished itself in action in Italy, also known as the Purple Heart Battalion.

We texted our taxi driver from earlier, Rafael, about 4p.  He finally showed up about 4:45p (Honolulu traffic is terrible) and, as traffic was heavy, opted to take us via US-92 rather than H1 (Hawaii’s interstate except, of course, intrastate).  We talked about his parents, moving to Hawaii in 1974, and the light rail system that is coming thirty years too late — built to ferry people from a town to the west into Honolulu.  Seems cheap housing was used to lure people to the new town with the expectation that jobs would follow — they never did.  He also said that for many Japanese Hawaii was a great destination — close and safe and they knew they’d be taken care of.  With China’s rise many Hawaiians figured that they’d be able to attract that tourism in the same way but it turned out that many of the things Chinese tourists valued weren’t the same.  Also, many Hawaiians retire to Las Vegas (a later tour guide would refer to it as the ninth Hawaiian island) due to cost of living being so high in Hawaii.

We arrived back at the room shortly after 5p.  Addison and I walked to the west past the Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon and the marina and across the canal that separates Honolulu from Waikiki to Ala Moana Regional Park situated across from the mall.  As we crossed over the canal and looked toward the inland mountains we saw a bit of a rainbow.  As it was getting dark we headed back to the resort.  We stopped by the ABC Store (in Hawaii that is a very, very common convenience store and NOT Alcoholic Beverage Control!) for a six-pack of bottled water as well as a solar-powered hula dancer figure at a nearby souvenir store.

Exiting the store we saw Michelle and Genetta returning from a little bit of shopping then headed as a group to Round Table Pizza for dinner.  Michelle had a spinach and pineapple pizza while Genetta and I shared a medium garbage pizza that wasn’t bad.  For appetizer we had garlic bread and it was OK, nothing Earth shattering.  Addison and Michelle went back to the room while Genetta and I had some ice cream from Lappert’s Hawaii, a fairly ubiquitous ice cream shop.  I had two scoops of Kona Coffee in a styrocone or (as the rest of the world calls it) a cake cone.  Genetta looked up styrocone as she was convinced it was a Brian-ism (and to be fair, it is…) but at least one other crazy person out there calls it the same thing.  Thank you Internet!

As soon as we got back to the room there was the boom boom boom of fireworks so Genetta and I quickly turned around to try and catch them.  We arrived in time to see the finale and that’s it.  Bummer.  Headed back to the room and to bed around 11p as we were still quite tired from the trip over.

Our latest trip, this time to Hawaii (or more correctly Hawai’i, but I’ll stick with the far easier to type version), began as all the other ones seem to — with about 30 minutes of sleep.  We’ve really got to get better at packing, we always think we’ve started early enough to get a decent night’s sleep but always, always, end up in a panic at the end as we throw stuff into suitcases and hurry out the door.  Though Hawaii should be an easier destination than say St. Lucia due to the availability of the same goods and services you’d expect elsewhere in the United States (except more expensive), there were enough annoying specialized things like prescription snorkeling masks, medicine, clip-on sunglasses, and camera stuff that it was important to have some planning in the packing process.

Anyhow, collapsed in bed at 3:30a prior to our 4a wake-up alarm.  Awake not nearly refreshed and do the final packing (and in Addison’s case, all the packing) and house prep before our taxi was set to arrive at 5:15a.  Yes, we’re old people, I still don’t really fully trust Uber or Lyft.

Maybe I should have.  The taxi driver sure seemed tired — AC blasting, a little weave-y on the road, and stopping waaaaay too early at stoplights and such.  Thankfully (maybe) once he got on the interstate he was quite the speed demon and we made it to the airport shortly after 5:30a.

I figured 5:30a on a mid-may Wednesday would be a perfectly empty time at the airport and boy was I wrong.  The line for American (and other airlines it shares the kiosks and baggage check-in with) snaked around the terminal lobby.  As we had already printed our boarding passes (thank you Michelle!) we ended up doing curb-side and that, combined with TSA pre-check (on all four of us, miraculously) got us to our gate fairly quickly.  We had just enough time for some Breuggers bagels (mine had “peppered bacon” and yes, it was nasty) before setting off to Dallas-Fort Worth at about 7:30a.

The flight was largely uneventful.  At least I think it was.  I was knocked out stone cold for the majority of it.  Unfortunately so was Addison and as a result he didn’t pop his ears properly and was in considerable pain prior to landing.  Genetta wasn’t doing great either as she had been harboring a cold for a day or so and it was really asserting itself.  It was a smaller plane, 3 seats left / 3 seats right, and felt downright cramped by the time we had taxied to the gate.  I thought we’d never stop taxiing, I was only half-joking when I suggested to Addison that maybe there had been an itinerary change and we were driving the plane to Los Angeles then flying on to Honolulu.  It didn’t help that we had a tight connection to our flight to Honolulu to add a bit to the normal travel stress.

We needn’t have worried, we disembarked at a gate in the same concourse as our departure gate.  Not to say the departure gate was near — nothing is near in DFW — but it was nice to not have to change concourses (DFW has five total, accessible via a nifty monorail called SkyLink).  Addison and I got some Chick-fil-A breakfast (mainly some sausage-type biscuits, hashbrowns, sweet teas, that sort of thing, you know, health food) and we ate at the gate quickly before boarding.  I learned a few things in that pre-boarding time.  First, that the flight from Dallas to Honolulu was a bit longer than I thought by about two hours (going from five to seven) and second, Hawaii is normally five hours behind (sharing a timezone with the Aleutians of Alaska) but doesn’t observe daylight savings time.  So tack on another hour for that and then a little extra for strong headwinds and we were looking at nearly nine hours in the air.  Addison wasn’t pleased at the nearly 100% increase in flight time that he was promised.  Ooops.

Once in the air it got a bit better.  A proper plane makes all the difference — this one a 3 left / 4 middle / 3 right and glorious in-headrest entertainment.  I watched Bohemian Rhapsody (perfectly fine, though with crappy earbuds I’m sure it lost some impact, and I’m still scratching my head over Best Actor on that one) and parts of Into the Spider-verse, Fifty First Dates (due to it being set on Oahu), Star Wars (the OG), and a couple other movies.  I just couldn’t settle on one, but jumping around as well as playing with the flight tracking app had me good to go.  Michelle watched The Boy Who Would Be King or somesuch.  The food wasn’t too bad, lunch was Asian chicken wraps with ginger soy dipping sauce, Hawaiian kettle chips, and some chocolate covered fruit and granola that was quite good.  That and some snacks (including those tasty Biscoff cookie wafer things) and drinks helped lots.

We finally landed at just after 2p Honolulu time, 8p back at home.  Right at the gate we were met by a lady that told us where to find the transportation to our hotel (as we weren’t renting a car on Oahu due to traffic and parking fees being exorbitant) as well as gave us each a welcoming lei.  No, it wasn’t free — our travel agent had said it was a fun thing to do and it kind of was.  Kind of still scratching my head how a non-airport non-traveler person was allowed in the gate area but hey Hawaii.  Our fiftieth state!

The airport was big but also had a loose vibe (in addition to strangers bearing flowers wandering around past the security checkpoint).  The bathroom stick figures wore Hawaiian shirts and dresses and the Hawaiian words for “men” (or, perhaps, “brah”) and “women” was just under the English.  Parts of it were connected by open air bridges that crossed over lush landscaping that included gorgeous (and large!) blossoms.  Baggage claim was pretty laid-back too and we soon found ourselves outside on the curb with Lady Lei and two strangers waiting for our limo van.

As a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met (or a scary murder hobo you really shouldn’t under any circumstance be talking to) and I really, really like to talk once the older of the two noticed Michelle’s Louisiana Music Factory shirt (or perhaps our WW2 Museum luggage tags) and struck up a conversation about New Orleans we were off to the races.  The were from Slidell and it was a mother and daughter on vacation in Hawaii celebrating the daughter’s graduation from the University of South Carolina.  Weeee, another connection!

We talked about our plans (they were doing Oahu then Maui) and other things as we were driven through the highly congested Honolulu streets to our hotel — the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.  Along the way we passed dockyards (cargo containers emblazoned with “Young Brothers” were everywhere), an impressive Coast Guard cutter, and many buildings with murals.  Honolulu has many impressively tall buildings and the city sprawls up the valleys and ridges of the mountains to its north.  The mountains were amazing — lush with vegetation and suitably craggy with white cloud banks stationed atop them permanently.

Unsurprisingly, we added Hawaii to our list of plates that we’ve been accumulating (in any order, no, never doing the A to Z again!) — leaving only Montana.  Some (very faint) hope of that — we did see Colorado and Washington despite being on an island thousands of miles in the middle of the Pacific!  We arrived at the resort and I stood in a quite long line to check-in while Michelle (not feeling great) and Genetta (ditto) stayed with the luggage and Addison went off exploring.  He returned with some fruit for Michelle (and his favorite Teriyaki beef jerky which he excitedly told us was quite astonishingly $6 cheaper in Hawaii) and that, combined with free water bottles handed out during the wait to check in, saw the ladies through the process and had us off to our rooms by around 4p.

We were staying in the Rainbow Tower in oceanfront room 1027.  When booking our hotels through the travel agent I had asked for oceanfront if possible and had grappled with whether it worth the increase in price.  The view from our room allayed those doubts — we had a beautiful view of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head, a volcanic cone right on the coast, beyond.  Below sprawled one of many pools on-site.  The only disappointment was that we didn’t get the two queen beds that were requested (and the reservation said they weren’t guaranteed) so we had two fulls.  Not ideal but workable.  The room itself was nice enough with a large screen TV (still unused two days later) and a decent bathroom (albeit with a funky sliding door) and a nice balcony with two chairs and a small round table.

As we were extremely hungry and tired we decided to head to dinner just shy of 5p.  We wandered down to the lobby then along the pool area replete with waterfalls and ponds filled with koi and smaller blue fish to the Tropics Bar & Grill across the way in the ground floor of an adjacent tower.  We were seated almost immediately.  The food was fairly expensive (it being Hawaii) but the servings were very generous.  Honestly it was a situation where I’d gladly pay two-thirds the price for half the food.  Michelle had fish and chips, Genetta has chicken wings, Addison had nachos with kalua pork (pork cooked in an underground oven, often see at luaus), and I had a slab of beef brisket accompanied with corn on the cob, fresh vegetables, and very tasty potato salad.  It was different, though, being more like roasted potato wedges with a herb garlic and scallion topping.  It was great.  Michelle had a sweet tea with ginger pineapple flavoring adorned with a pineapple wedge and tropical flower.

As we were wrapping up a guy wearing a leaf crown and Polynesian garb (mainly just a loincloth) ran around the resort lighting all of the tiki torches in the vicinity.  We returned to the room (via the funky elevator system where you punch in your floor in the lobby and it directs you to the correct elevator and from there it is mostly a direct trip).  Michelle and Genetta relaxed while Addison and I changed and headed back down to the beach.  We watched the sunset at around 7p and swam a bit in the fairly warm ocean water (after a brief period of adjustment).  Sadly I only had the GoPro with me (as we were swimming) so couldn’t get great shots of the spectacular sunset).  In addition to sand there were bits of coral like rock.  One nice thing was that the water was perfectly clear unlike at home.  After getting out we dried off a bit and rinsed off our feet and shoes before heading up to the room to shower.  Exhausted, we collapsed in our beds about 8p.