Pearl Harbor and Luau

Friday was another good day. The weather was the same as each proceeding day; high of about 82 and a low of 70. A bit more pleasant than at home where a winter vortex has brought frigid temperatures. I think we got lucky in choosing to be here now!

Today is Malcolm's Birthday!!!!!!!!   What a wonderful place to celebrate!!!

Today's itinerary contained two items--a quick tour of Pearl Harbor and a trip to Germaine's Luau. 

The trip to Pearl Harbor started off with some anxiety. When we made the reservation, they told us the pickup would be about a block away from the hotel. So we went there a bit early so that we'd not miss the bus. 

About 20 minutes later, suspecting something was amiss, we called the tour and asked about the bus. We were told that the bus came to our hotel, waited a few minutes, and then left.

But, they agreed to have another bus come and pick us up and then rendezvous with the original bus. In a few minutes, that worked out and we joined the original bus. The trip to Pearl Harbor was otherwise uneventful.

Once at the memorial, we watched the video everyone sees and then boarded the shuttle boat to the Arizona memorial

. It was a solemn place, with folks talking in hushed tones, much like at a funeral. The back wall of the memorial contained a white granite wall of the names of the 1,177 men who went down with the ship. It has the same effect as the Vietnam memorial; sadness over the loss of life, gratitude that we are still here, and appreciation for their sacrifice. VERY EMOTIONAL!

The memorial straddles the ship, and several pieces of the Arizona come up out of the bay and are very observable. In fact, oil sheens on the surface of the water punctuate that, 73 years later, the ship is alive and wanting to be seen. Amazing to us.

Back at the main area, we walked through the museum much too fast. Our tour did not allow enough time to see it all, but we did the best we could do with the allowed time.  Next time, we'll not do a tour.

The bus ride back to the hotel was uneventful.  Our driver/tour guide was interesting, but not terrific.

From the hotel, we walked down the main drag, window shopping and just taking in the beauty along the way. We came along on an old hotel (name now forgotten) that opened in 1901. The oldest hotel on the island. Beautiful. We walked up the grand staircase and went out on a balcony overlooking the main entrance to the hotel and watched a Japanese bride and groom, just married and decked out in their wedding dress and tux, accompanied by photographers and handlers, climb into a stretched limo and leave. Quite a sight.

Back at the hotel, it was time to get ready for the bus ride to Germaine's Luau. We read a lot of reviews of the various luau, and picked Germaine's as the best rated. All I have to say that if Germaine's is the best, we're glad we didn't pick one that was worse!

From what people had told me, the food at luaus is not good. But the reviews of Germaine's indicated that the food was good. Well , the reviews were either wrong, or we came on a bad night, or the reviewers like crap!!!!  Nothing was good. A couple of things were OK. The rest were simply not good to us. The beef and barbecue were awful. Long rice was revolting. Poi was indescribably bad.  The drinks were OK, but not good.

Having said that, the entertainment was very good. The dancers were great, the women were beautiful and graceful, and the men were great dancers.  We both enjoyed the entertainment.

Back to the hotel, we arrived pretty much bushed and too tired to blog. We did do some packing and straightening out in preparation for our departure tomorrow to the Pride of America and our cruise.  Having a great time and excited about our cruise.  This will be Malcolm's first cruise.  On to the next adventure!!    Aloha!!!!