Hawaii highlights on day 1

No point in shuffling my feet, right? Up at 5:30 for my first excursion; a tour of Pearl Harbour & the Arizona memorial.

And off I went on a bunch of yawning tourists. And why not? Pure tourist-ana. I have no trouble at all with doing “tourist” stuff. I’ve long since given up being a tourist snob, looking down my nose at pre-packaged tours. So what if it’s not the “authentic experience.” Some travellers can be such snobs.

The coach dropped myself off at the memorial area. I had a choice of spending more time there or getting a city tour. I’ll do the city tour later in this stop.

So I started with a look through the submarine Bowfish.

Now, from movies you probably think you have a good idea of how cramped it is inside. You have a basic understanding that you might bump your head on occasion.

Well, I’m here to tell you that no, you don’t. I know you’re saying to yourself, “Yeah, I do.”

No, really, you don’t.

From there, a guided tour of the battleship Missouri followed. It, really, is Way bigger than you think. Marvel at how such an enormous machine can float.

From there, a tour of the memorial at the battleship Arizona. It started with a 15 minute film giving the spectator some background on the war in the Pacific. The actual tour of the white memorial is only about 15 minutes, but I must admit that eyes were misting up-mine included. Americans are good at this stuff; memorializing that war dead just up to, but not crossing, the line of saccharine sentimentality. Gotta give them credit on that.

Back to the hotel, then to THE BEACH! Beautiful day, warm water, sandy bottom… reminded me of Red Bay, actually. Sandbars, gentle waves, a few surfers out hunting for THE best wave.

Everyone having a good time.

Me too.