Oahu- day2 (Dec. 7)

While driving around that first day in Honolulu and Waikiki, we found a local radio station that played a lot of Christmas music, KSSK 92.3 fm. While listening, it was mentioned that the next day (tue. Dec. 7th) was the 69th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Right then, we decided we needed to go. We figured it would be busy, so we knew we should get there earlier, rather than later.

In the lobby of the hotel, this huge ginger bread scene was on display. Wow.
We drove over to the Arizona Memorial, and it was packed! We parked quite a ways away. Once we got to the entrance, it wasn't too busy. Most people there earlier than us were seated for a program/ceremony that was in progress. We asked for tickets, and there were still some available- except they were for about three and a half hours later. (I think it was about 8:45am, and our time was 12:15pm.) So, we walked back to the car and decided to do a few other things to pass the time.

We headed out to Pali Lookout. Not a whole lot of traffic heading up there, which was good. Got to the parking lot, and there weren't very many people there. One obvious change from the last time we were there, was having to pay to park. Lame. Then, as we walk over to the lookout, I begin to notice it's not windy... at all! Still an incredible view though.

Look at how calm Anna's hair is. Anna said that the evening time would be better for wind. We would have to come back. We'll see.

We thought we should probably get some lunch before our AZ Mem. tour and stuff, so we found "Hank's Haute Dogs" in Honolulu. This place was on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. We got them to-go so we wouldn't risk missing our time slot back at the tour, and on the road we went.

We made it back with about 20 minutes to spare, and got our grub on. I chose the Chicago Dog.

Anna got the "Fat Boy". (There might be a pun in there.) She really wanted to try the "hawaiian" but it wasn't on the menu at the location we went to. Bummer. With almost every meal we ate on the whole trip, we split what we ordered. So we each ate half. They were good, and hit the spot.

Once we got to the tour area, we discovered they were about 30-45 minutes behind schedule, so we walked around a bit. We took this picture with the Arizona Memorial in the back ground. There were plenty of Pearl Harbor attack survivors with their families. We even got to sit next to one while we watched the video presentation. Really nice guy.

Every anniversary, they put the names of those who died due to the attack, in a basket. Next to it is a basket of flowers. You can take a name and a flower, take a moment to think about that person, and toss the flower in the water in remembrance.

Anna did one. It was a pretty emotional visit. It just seemed to all mean more when it's the anniversary of the day those people died.

The flag at half mast took on more meaning as well.

She did her best at forming a "69" for the 69th anniversary.

We were pretty close to where mom grew up, and even found the house. We didn't take a picture because there were people out front, but it was fun to see again. Fond memories there. We also ended up passing by the Leonard Jr.'s, so we stopped to pick up some hot malasadas. They were good, but not like how I remembered them. Anna really liked them. She doesn't remember ever having them when the whole family came. We must not have gotten any that trip.

We drove around the area a bit. We visited the Pearl Ridge Mall. We ate dinner at Zippy's, but I guess we didn't take any pictures. We split a Zip pack, and a small bowl of chili. Man, was it GOOD! Even better than I remember from the last time. Anna even agreed. It was getting late into the evening, so we started making our way back to Waikiki and our hotel. We stopped at a Times Market and as we were looking to park, we spotted a pick-up truck with something on the tailgate. We got closer, and it was a huge dead wild boar! Still bloody and everything. Anna had to have a picture.

So I took one too.

We had a really fun second day. We had also stopped at a couple frozen yogurt places as well. One at Pearl Ridge Mall, and another in Aiea/Pearl Ridge area. Most places had Taro, my favorite flavor, and usually something else a bit more "island". All good though.

At the memorial site, they just opened a newly built museum area and a refurbished theatre. They've done a really good job with all of the displays. It was cool to spend a bunch of hours there learning about that day and time in history.

Our hotel was really close to the International Market Place, so once we got back, we walked all through there preparing for our shopping at the stadium the next day. Lots of street performers in that area too.

Good times.