Oahu, by Patrick

Hello friends! Yes, my wife is a MUCH better blogger than me, but I would like to add a few of my own thoughts about our island hopping adventure (specifically Oahu in this post). Hawaii, overall, is simply amazing and each island we visited brought a different level of experience, and I would not change anything if we could (except I would likely avoid American Airlines, if possible). Kim's blog will provide more photographic and video documentation, but I will gladly share a few thoughts.

Waikiki was fun, although I felt like I was in California. We did not have enough time to experience much in Oahu, besides Pearl Harbor and our mandatory Hawaiian luau. Like Kim said, we visited Cheeseburger in Paradise, where we enjoyed great burgers and our first Mai Tais of the trip. At that moment, we discovered how much better pineapple is in Hawaii than Texas. We ventured around a few areas within and adjacent to Waikiki Beach, but did not go to far off that general path.

The primary reason for our visit to Oahu was to experience Pearl Harbor. I am embarrassed by my knowledge of American history, and was especially embarrassed by my knowledge of the Pacific War. I decided that I wanted to visit Pearl Harbor with a decent background about the time before the Day of Infamy and the war in the Pacific that continued for years after the terrible and, might I add, quite unnecessary attack on Pearl Harbor. I read a "War Stories" book by Oliver North that covered many of the most known experiences during the war and some lesser known facts. Everything in the book is based on documents prepared by brave members of our Armed Forces. The experience was quite somber, as everyone described it, but I do believe that my recently learned knowledge of the historical significance of the harbor tremendously helped my overall experience. It still pains me to know what our brave men and women (yes women, maybe not soldiers, but very important figures in the Pacific War) experienced for several years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That attack served as a lesson that the U.S. military is one of resilience and unbelievable strategy. In addition to walking on the impressive memorial prepared for the one thousand plus men who lost their lives on the USS Arizona, we also toured a Pacific War submarine, the Bowfin. The Arizona still had oil surfacing and forming a sheen on the water. Kim and I both were sporting our polarized sun glasses and we could see down a little deeper than people without the necessary attire. The wall of names of those who died was chilling and both of us stared in silence as we focused closely on the terrible event that sunk the huge ship. The Bowfin tour was also quite memorable as I did read up on some of the submarine war patrols in my book. Just knowing that Kim's grandfather experienced multiple war patrols makes me even more proud to be part of the family. It takes a special person to work on the war sub, and I know for sure that I could not do it. Overall, the experience was amazing in a somber sort of way, but worth every minute of it.

Kim provided a nice description of our luau and that was a nice break from the more powerful Pearl Harbor experience. The staff really brought out the Hawaiian culture and tradition. The dancers were quite talented and the food was excellent. I would highly recommend this luau to anyone visiting Oahu.

Well, that is it for now. I hope to chime in with a Kauai description soon. Kauai was my favorite island, but the other islands were excellent as well.