Hawaii - Oahu Part 1
Editor’s Note: Our hero apologizes for not updating his blog every day during this trip. This entry will encompass our hero’s first 5 days on the island of Oahu.
Growing up, I thought of Hawaii as paradise. It was this obscure place in the South Pacific where people went to get married, newlyweds went to celebrate their marriage and surfers dominated the waters. As a single man who had never surfed before – I wasn’t quite sure what I would do in “paradise.” In my first 5 days on Oahu – the island that is home to Honolulu, I found many different adventures to explore.
After a 9 hour flight from Chicago, we arrived in Honolulu. Our hotel was on Waikiki, a beach region east of Honolulu. It provided a beautiful view of downtown Honolulu at sunset. 
Our first order of business was to take a walk down to Waikiki beach. Once there we stopped to take a picture in front of a statue of Duke Kahanamoku.
Duke is a local surfing legend here in Oahu, known for his swimming prowess where he won 5 Olympic medals in 3 different Olympics and as a surfer who dominated the beaches of Waikiki. August 24th was also Duke's 116th birthday. Duke fest was rampant on the beaches of Waikiki.
It serves as the final resting place for over 1,100 bodies.
Our next stop was the punchbowl, which is another graveyard. The most common translation of the Punchbowl's Hawaiian name, "Puowaina," is "Hill of Sacrifice." This translation closely relates to the history of the crater. The first known use was as an altar where Hawaiians offered human sacrifices to pagan gods and killed violators of the many taboos. Now, it is the National Cemetery of the Pacific. This memorial has the names of thousands of soldiers who were lost at sea during World War II, Vietnam and Korea.
Growing up, I thought of Hawaii as paradise. It was this obscure place in the South Pacific where people went to get married, newlyweds went to celebrate their marriage and surfers dominated the waters. As a single man who had never surfed before – I wasn’t quite sure what I would do in “paradise.” In my first 5 days on Oahu – the island that is home to Honolulu, I found many different adventures to explore.
After a 9 hour flight from Chicago, we arrived in Honolulu. Our hotel was on Waikiki, a beach region east of Honolulu. It provided a beautiful view of downtown Honolulu at sunset.
Our first order of business was to take a walk down to Waikiki beach. Once there we stopped to take a picture in front of a statue of Duke Kahanamoku.
Duke is a local surfing legend here in Oahu, known for his swimming prowess where he won 5 Olympic medals in 3 different Olympics and as a surfer who dominated the beaches of Waikiki. August 24th was also Duke's 116th birthday. Duke fest was rampant on the beaches of Waikiki.
Thursday provided us the opportunity to visit the USS Arizona memorial. This ship was sunk at Pearl Harbror on December 7th, 1941.
It serves as the final resting place for over 1,100 bodies.
As I visited, I could only imagine what happened in this place over 55 years ago and it was very eerie to be standing over the final resting place for so many men.
Our next stop was the punchbowl, which is another graveyard. The most common translation of the Punchbowl's Hawaiian name, "Puowaina," is "Hill of Sacrifice." This translation closely relates to the history of the crater. The first known use was as an altar where Hawaiians offered human sacrifices to pagan gods and killed violators of the many taboos. Now, it is the National Cemetery of the Pacific. This memorial has the names of thousands of soldiers who were lost at sea during World War II, Vietnam and Korea.
It is a very peaceful place where the trees leaves are shaped liked halos.
It also provided a beautiful view of Diamond Head.
After such a long day of travel and a full day of activities – we spent the rest of the day at the pool.
Friday morning, my nephews, my mom and I went snorkeling in Hanamura Bay. Unfortunately, I didn’t take my camera so I don’t have any pictures but it was a wonderful place to snorkel even for a beginner.
Friday morning, my nephews, my mom and I went snorkeling in Hanamura Bay. Unfortunately, I didn’t take my camera so I don’t have any pictures but it was a wonderful place to snorkel even for a beginner.
After our snorkeling adventure we headed towards the North Shore
the island and stopped at the Dole Plantation, home to Dole pineapples
and the world’s largest maze as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records
The soggy conditions did not deter my nephews who completed the maze in 23 minutes, just 16 minutes behind the world record holder. The trip provided us the opportunity to eat a pineapple split, a enormous desert served in a half of a pineapple that featured pineapple whip, chocolate sauce, carmel sauce and crushed pineapples. It also provides us a beautiful sunset on Hawaii’s north shore.
Labels: Hawaii
posted by Chris at 1:59 PM
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