Hawaii, Day 6

Day 6: Thursday, May 8, 2014

Today was a busy day. We woke up around 7, went to the pool around 8, came back to the room at 10 and we were out the door to Pearl Harbor at 11. We got a wee bit lost but got there in the perfect time for our reserved tour at 12:30 (Mahalo Vickie!!). This was my second visit to the USS Arizona Memorial and it still a powerful monument; I nearly cried three times. I wonder how the Japanese see the event of Pearl Harbor: tragedy or victory? There were a lot of Japanese tourist smiling and taking pictures. 

While I was looking at all the names in the Shrine Room, a woman leaned over to me and said something about the needless loss of life and that got me thinking about how much loss war brings. Sure, the over 1,000 men that died in the Arizona is tragic but that is just a small percentage of all the soldiers that died in WWII and then think about all the men and women that have died in all modern wars (WWI, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan) - it's all tragic and yet wars will always happen.

Then we headed over to Diamond Head State Park and we hiked to the summit of the crater. It was tough but not impossible- the reviews on the internet said it was an advanced hike but I guess since we come from the hiking Capitol of the world it was actually quite enjoyable. The trail is concrete most of the way and there is a few stairs but not a 1/2 a mile staircase like one review said. You have to remember that reviews are just one person's opinion and experience. The top gave us a gorgeous panoramic view of Honolulu and Waikiki Beach. The hike took us a little under 2 hours but we spent a lot of time at the summit.

After the hike, I googled "shave ice Honolulu" avid we found Wailoa Shave Ice. It was perfectly priced, variety of sizes, great texture, and the flavors were house made. Love it!!

We got back to the hotel around 7 and went to the Starlit Huey Hula Show. We could've seen the show from our own balcony but we decided to go down and sit an a mat and watch the show with everyone else. If was fun. There was a brief dance party that brought back major vibes of DCL Deck Parties!! 

Then we went back to the ABC Store across the street and got dinner and picked up a few items for breakfast/lunch for tomorrow. 

This is the latest I've stayed up this whole trip. It is 11:07 pm here which means it is 3 AM back home (almost time for me or wake up for work at 4:30!!). I'm gonna be hurting Monday morning when I go back to work- agh--

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