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We went for a morning hike to the top of Diamond Head! It was plenty hot, as we weren’t there super early (Mike’s Note: We’re never ANYWHERE super early), but we were prepared with water and sensible shoes! 🙂 The views were gorgeous! It was definitely worth having to walk (sprint!) through the long, dark tunnel and climb the narrow, enclosed spiral stairs that led to the observation area at the top!
We came back to relax and have lunch and then headed over to Pearl Harbor for a 2:00 pm tour of the WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument — USS Arizona. I hadn’t been there in 15 years, and Mike hadn’t been there in probably 26 or 27 years. It was nice to share the history and meaning of it with the kids. Such a beautiful place with so much sadness and solemnity.
After we got back from the tour of the U.S.S. Arizona, we wondered around the grounds looking at telescopes, submarines, gunners, and torpedoes.
…and smelling the beautiful and peaceful plumeria.
That evening, as L and I headed to the pool, we heard someone blowing a conch shell in the courtyard. We saw an older man dressed in traditional Hawaiian clothing from the era of King Kamehameha. When he was done, we asked him about it. He told us, “in the old days, when we had royalty, they’d blow the horns to let them know that royalty was coming.” Now they use it to signal the end of the day.
After some evening pool time and sunset pictures, we had dinner on our lanai, did some packing, and then had dessert at Sorento’s restaurant on the 30th floor of our building. It had amazing views of the city and was softly lit inside with live music playing in the background — a guitar player and piano player. L and Mike shared the chocolate volcano with cake, ice cream and toasted macadamia nuts. G and I shared the 4-layer chocolate cake with raspberry coulis. Mike and also shared a Pina Colada! 🙂
Next stop…The Big Island!
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