The BIG Change

Friday morning, we packed up. We didn’t have this cabin for our whole stay on Oahu, but we had enjoyed living on the beach for a few days. Today we headed to a place that wasn’t in any of the tour books Wendy had read about. Some of our friends on facebook told us about called Tropical Farms.

It is a small plantation with lots of flowers, fruits, nuts, coffee, etc. They have a shop you can go to and buy stuff. The best part of it is the Ali tour. The guy who took us around was actually from Samoa, and he was really funny. He did a great job of touring us. It only lasted about an hour, but there was a lot packed in the tour that you think of when you think about Hawaii and tropical islands. The guy showed us lots of plants and fruits and stuff, how to open a coconut, he gave us a fresh coconut to eat and drink, how to start a fire with friction, we went on a short boat tour, and ate fresh fruit right off the trees. It was was great. On the boat tour he pointed out to us where a lot of well known hollywood stuff happened. The lake we were in was the same one where the boat landed on the old TV show Fantasy Island. So if you get the chance, like my friends, I recommend this too.

Ali tour
Ali tour
Jason drinking a fresh coconut
Jason drinking a fresh coconut
Tourguide posign
Tour guide posing

After the tour, we headed down to Honolulu. There’s not much great about Honolulu. If you’ve ever been to a large city, well, you’ve been to Honolulu. We did our best to avoid it most of the time. Today we were going to the Pearl Harbor Memorial which was near Honolulu. Admission to it is free, but you have to secure a ticket from the counter. It is a very popular place. One thing about Hawaii, there are a lot of Japanese tourists there.

Even at Pearl Harbor, there were as many Japanese as there were Americans. Something just didn’t feel right about having them there, I mean, they are the ones that attacked us while they told us they were wanting peace. Anyway, I didn’t like them being there.

There was a short film about the history of the Pearl Harbor attack. It was really good. We then took a boat ride out to the USS Arizona Memorial. The boat was piloted by US Marines who were in their service uniforms. Before we went out, we were told to remember that this is a memorial, it’s the final resting place for many brave men. We were asked to keep a reverent attitude. I felt humbled going out there.

I can’t say the same about the Japanese tourists. They were posing for pictures with big smiles on their faces while we were on the memorial. The memorial was very nice. It rests on top of the USS Arizona, which was one of the battleships we lost during the attack on Pearl Harbor in WW II. You can still see oil coming out from the engine compartment as little oil slicks on the water. I thought it was cool to see it. You aren’t given much time on the memorial before the boat heads back. Overall it was a great experience.

USS Arizona Memorial
USS Arizona Memorial
Oil coming up from the engine compartment
Oil coming up from the engine compartment
Names of those who died at Pearl Harbor
Names of those who died at Pearl Harbor
Jason looking out over the USS Arizona Memorial
Jason looking out over the USS Arizona Memorial

That night we stayed at a hotel off the main strip in Waikiki. It was a dated hotel, but it was a place to stay. That night we went walking on the strip. It wasn’t overly crowded, but very touristy. It was hard to find a place to eat as everything had a long wait time to get in. We found a restaurant with no line called Senor Frogs. Not the kind of place we would normally go to, but we were hungry. The food was good. Thankfully they had outdoor dining because inside was a mad house.

Jason at Waikiki
Jason at Waikiki
Surfboard on Honolulu FD Truck. And its a tiller.
Surfboard on Honolulu FD Truck. And its a tiller.

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