Monday, December 30, 2013

Oahu, Hawaii day 8

Double Digits . . . TEN . . . 10 years old . . . how oh how did we get to this point?  It seems like yesterday this was my baby boy . . .
 
It is so hard for me to grasp that for almost 10 full years I have done this solo.  There have been many tears of sorrow and joy shed but we have both survived!  So on with an awesome day for the birthday boy!  I mean how lucky is he to spend his birthday in Hawaii . . . at Pearl Harbor . . . a place he has read about for years!  He is beyond words so excited.  Exactly six months ago we were in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.  I had every alarm set on my phone and watch to remind me to buy tickets to Pearl Harbor.  I discovered that 40 of the 100 tickets are pre-sold online for a $1.50 service fee.  They go fast and not many people buy them ahead of time.  I bought four and was back to enjoying Alaska.
Sidenote:  Of course I was worried we would get stuck in some traffic jam or some unnamed politician would decide to visit today and close it down to all us hard working tax payers (including Colin) so went back online and bought tickets for the day we actually left Hawaii just in case.  Yes, I do think like this!
 . . .anyway let the celebration begin.  We left early to beat the crowds even though we had tickets already.  We still needed to pick them up and also get tickets for the USS Missouri, USS Bowfin, and the Pacific Aviation Museum.  Well, I sure was not expecting the line to buy the other tickets to take over an hour.  I finally got to the front to buy our tickets and headed on my way . . . I realized they only charged us for 3 tickets not 4.  There was NO WAY that I was getting back in the line for them to fix their mistake so just turned around and went right back to the guy.  They were super nice and apologized but the person that was next in line was not so nice.  I was like oh well.  Since I was not expecting the ticket line to take so long, I made the decision to trade our 11:30 USS Arizona tickets for 1:15pm tickets.  This would give us time to visit the other three sites and end our day at the USS Arizona.  All seemed too perfect and off we went.  First stop was the USS Missouri . . .
 I'm always amazed at the quantity of food that is required to prepare for only one day of meals!
I quickly crossed the street to look at the USS Oklahoma Memorial . . .
Since these stops were located on an active Naval Base, bus transportation from site to site was provided.  As we drove around Ford Island I could not help to notice how nice and beautiful the military housing appeared.  Can you imagine having the privilege to live on such a historic place?  Next stop was the Pacific Aviation Museum.  We were hungry so had a light lunch in the restaurant which was crowded but yummy!  We sat next to the flight simulators and Colin was so eager to give it a try.  I bought him a ticket and off he went!
It was well worth the $10 . . . for almost 25 minutes you were able to fly and enjoy.  We explored the museum . . .
. . . and walked outside to Hangar 79 where they are actively restoring old aircraft.  It was really cool to watch them working on the planes.  Colin wanted to do the flight simulator again so I happily bought another ticket; it was his birthday after all.  Since he was a return customer this time his mission was taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier at various times of the day . . .
. . . he loved it even more!  The cool part about these simulators was they were actual aircraft . . . pretty cool to know someone used these for flying in real life.  As we left we saw the control tower that was in the movies Tora, Tora, Tora and Pearl Harbor . . .
We caught the shuttle bus back to the visitor's center and did the tour of the USS Bowfin . . .
 
 
. . . it was almost our report time for the boat shuttle to the USS Arizona so we made our way to that area.  As we approach I hear a lady yelling something but clearly heard, "no more tours today."  My heart sank and went closer to ask what she said.  Due to the high winds all tours after 1:00pm (our tour was at 1:15pm) will not take place.  I felt terrible since I had traded our earlier ticket for the later ticket . . . I was sick and so mad at myself . . . I will admit it hurt.  I went to the ticket desk and pleaded my case.  Since I had a prior reservation they would honor my ticket and gave me a ticket for tomorrow at 11:00am . . . I was feeling so much better but what if?  I knew I had my back up plan for the day we left but sort of kept that to myself.  At this point, I was going to do whatever I could to make the birthday boy happy . . . so off to the gift shop we went!  He found two books, a model, and poster and had a smile as big as can be, but I could see his disappointment too.
Since we finished earlier than expected we drove by Iolani Palace where the former Hawaiian monarchy lived . . .
 I loved the colorful artwork on the entrance gates . . .
. . . and crossed the street to see the King Kamehameha statue . . .
Our hotel looked close on the map but well let's just say that every time I have driven back to the hotel, I miss the turn . . . today was no exception.  We headed to the room to relax before our big evening at the Hale Koa Luau.  It was totally packed but we had a lot of fun wandering around enjoying all the pre-show activities.
I was surprised that the picky ten year old ate or tried most of the food . . .
Since the Hale Koa is a military resort (non military can attend if not sold out), the ending of the Luau is very patriotic with the singing of God Bless the USA . . . gets me every time . . . every.single.time.  They had some mention of recognizing those who did not return and for the first time I realized Colin got it . . . it hurt deep down inside but know it was special for Colin to be able to stand and honor Sean too.  It was a super day with many, many great memories from our past and present . . . here's to Colin and many, many more years!  I hope you have the best memories possible of turning 10!

1 comment:

  1. It gets me, too, Heidi...every.single.time.

    Laurel
    xoxoxox

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