Traveling with the Grobmyers February 29, 2024 Day 2

 After a very long day yesterday we got a good night’s sleep and was almost ready to get going early this morning. We had grand plans we were going to drive over to Disney’s Aulani Resort for brunch or lunch. We decided to try that another day. We had timed tickets for Pearl Harbor this afternoon. So we walked around our resort some and checked out a few things. 

A hazy picture of Diamond Head. Maybe I will get a better picture later.

They have fish ponds around the grounds. They have a special time when they feed them and you can watch. When we were here in 2006 they had penguins. They are now at the Baltimore zoo.

 

I found my first quilt shop today. There was a ton of fabric. I was especially looking for Hawaiian fabric. The Hawaiian fabric is on the big rolls. It is still 45 inches wide. You have to pay attention because not all is 100% cotton. There was an upstairs with regular bolts of fabric. Some of it looked like it came from Myra’s Secret Garden. Some of you will know what I’m am talking s out. Those little Hawaiian women threw those round bolts like they weighed nothing.

This was my selections from today.

We ran through the Chick fil a drive through to grab some lunch and yes it was their pleasure to serve us even in the islands. And then we drove up to Punch owl cemetery to eat our lunch.

There are some beautiful views from up there. There’s a lot of work going on up there to expand the cemetery.

Then we drove over to Pearl Harbor for our tour. We last visited Pearl in 2006, boy has it changed. They enlarged and renovated it in 2010. It is really nice. They have a couple of buildings with museum pieces and history leading up to the attack. Then you take a boat out to the USS Arizona. Now on my previous trips out there I had heard some legend/folklore/ Hawaiian lore that the oil that still appears will continue until the last survivor of the Arizona dies. No one mentioned it today so I ask one of the park service employees if there was still oil leaking because I did it see some today like I had in the past. She says it does still bubbles up but it isn’t right next the ship all the time now. She was not familiar with that legend and she said she doesn’t believe it. But there is just one survivor left so we may get an answer to that question one day.

This statue’s base is made up of melted metal from the USS Arizona.

Today I saw some neat birds today.

Today’s flora and fauna.

Finally for tonight. My friend, Paula told me about this drink found on the islands. We bought some when we stopped at the store and put them in the fridge to get cold overnight. So this afternoon when we got back after Pearl it was nice and cold and a refreshing drink for us. It’s light fruit flavored and not sweet or carbonated like a coke. It was a good suggestion Paula. Now I want to try some of the o5er flavors too.

Tomorrow Circle Island Tour.

Traveling with the Grobmyers February 28, 2024 Day 1

 Aloha!! We had a very long day yesterday traveling across numerous time zones so this update didn’t get done last night.

We learned a valuable lesson on our last trip, pack a carry on and check one. We didn’t want to be caught without clothes and toiletries this time. Fortunately our checked bags traveled with us this time. Although, it took Joe’s a while to be dropped onto the carousel. 

About our flight. Our flight from Dallas to Honolulu was about 9 hours. That is a long time to be stuck to that tiny seat. We did have access to a lot of shows and movies.

One of the first stops when we got off the plane. I like their rest room signs.

The drive from the airport to our hotel was about 9 1/2 miles and it took about thirty minutes to get there. They have terrible traffic during rush hour. It probably rivals Madison traffic but with tall buildings.

The buildings downtown are interesting shapes so that everyone gets an ocean view. These buildings are very flat.

We made it to our hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian Village. I love the open lobbies on the islands. We made it into the Rainbow Tower. More pictures of that later today. You will recognize it from Hawaii 5-O and other Hawaiian set shows.

View from our room. There will be more pictures of this later during daylight hours. 

Friday we have tickets to go over to Pearl Harbor in the afternoon. I guess the morning will be spent getting familiar with our surroundings.