Aloha, Part 2

Morning number 2 rolled around and our energy returned. We went and hung out at the beach in the morning, and then it was off to the USS Arizona Memorial followed by a sunset cruise on the Star of Honolulu. As usual in Hawaii, the morning was beautiful with only a few clouds in the sky over the mountains. We got some coffee and then headed down to the beach. Once again, Mike hung out in the water as I watched. I do have to admit that I did go in for a little bit just to cool off but watching Mike play like a little kid was much more fun! After an hour or so down in the sand, we headed back up to the room for showers and then were off to lunch. Upon finishing lunch, we jumped in the car and found our way over to Pearl Harbor. We started at the USS Arizona Memorial.
The tours were running about 1 1/2 hours after arrival so we meandered around the displays they had. We ended up getting the audio tours (out of laziness not to read) and that took about as long as our wait. We were then ushered into a theater where we watched a wonderful film about the happenings of that day. Once the film ended, we loaded up on a boat and rode over to the memorial site. It was very impressive. I must say that I was disappointed in most of the tourists not treating the area like a true memorial site but I suppose that is the fault of the park rangers for not enforcing it. Anyway, it was a wonderful thing to go see.

Once back at the hotel we changed and headed for our pick-up site to go to our sunset dinner cruise. The dinner consisted of steak and crab legs along with veggies and bread. Needless to say (as you can see from the picture below) we were packed in there like sardines. Once Mike and I finished dinner we headed outside to take in the views of Oahu and enjoy being out on the water. I must say that this wasn't my favorite thing that we did but I am glad we did it.

Day three began with Mike headed to the beach while I took a long shower and relaxed in the room for a while knowing that we were going to go to the Polynesian Culture Center later that day. We then headed up the hills to the other side of Oahu to Kaneohe and Kahana Bay where we say some of the most beautiful tropical areas. The mountains are always covered with clouds and there is a constant mist so the greenery is very lush.

Once we got to the Polynesian Culture Center, we had a blast learning about all the different Polynesian islands. Our favorite presentations were the Samoan and the Tahitian ones. In the Samoa village we learned how to make fire, crack coconuts and climb coconut trees.


In the Tahiti village we learned how to Tahitian dance. Mike took a whirl at it but I think he perfected the chicken dance instead.



After a long day learning about all of the different cultures, we headed back to the hotel and walked along the beach. Every Friday night there is a firework display so we got to enjoy that as well.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the pictures so far - check back for the next part - coming soon!