So much for resting and relaxing...

Here are some random pictures. I am more tired after vacation than I was before it :o)

Day 7 - Testy Thursday

This morning I discovered why Hawaii has rainbows on their license plates. This morning we saw 2 full bows and 2 partial bows. It was amazing!!! You could clearly see purple, blue, yellow, orange, and red. So pretty!

Then we visited Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona. And here I arrive at the reason for the title of today's blog. Since we have been here, we have noticed a huge percentage of tourists as those from China and Japan. I have nothing against them touring our country. HOWEVER, when you visit a memorial in honor of American soldiers who fought for freedom against your country then "shut up!" We were standing in the memorial which is moored over top of the sunken ship, and we were surrounded by babbling loud foreign tourists with absolutely no respect for the patriotism of the soldiers who died there. It's funny because the U.S. Navy soldiers who run the memorial had cautioned everyone on the boat over to the memorial, that they should be quiet and respectful while at the memorial. What I figured out later, was that 50% of the people on the boat had no idea what he was saying because he was speaking in English (imagine that!). To me, if you're going to visit a memorial for another country besides your own, then be quiet and respect them! I came away with a different view of foreign travelers. Another question that arose in my mind, why in the world are they coming to an American memorial that would never have been necessary if their country hadn't attacked ours?? Ok, I am will now backtrack and say that I am not prejudiced against foreign travelers, but at least be respectful of those in whose country you are touring!

The 19,000 pound anchor from the USS Arizona which as actually discovered several hundred yards away from the actual ship after it was destroyed.

The USS Lincoln aircraft carrier which was moored right near the memorial.

I am not sure if you can see the oil in this picture or not. The Arizona still leaks oil to this day over 60 years later.

In case you are wondering, the headsets around our necks are connected to a small radio. It is the Audio Tour of the memorial. As you go throughout the museum and memorial, there are small numbers nearby and by punching in the numbers on your radio, a WWII survivor is narrating what happened back on that fateful day.

People were putting small flowers in the water as tributes to the American navy members who died. If you look closely you can see the ship under the water.

Day 6 - Weary Wednesday

After a long day out and about, I am pretty whooped!

Pictures from the air!



Looking down into Diamond Head Crater.

This bay is known for its snorkeling and I think it look so pretty!

A waterfall that I couldn't see very well so I just pointed my camera in the general direction and as you can see I didn't get the top of it!

The U.S.S. Lincoln just recently arrived into Pearl Harbor. It carries nearly 5,000 members of the Navy.

Us with our goofy looking life vest paks around our waists. They look ridiculous but they are necessary!

Next we went driving around and to avoid paying outrageous parking we found a 2 hour parking slot on the street and walked to the U.S. Army Museum. It was free admission (which of course, we loved!) and we walked around it for an hour or so. Lots of neat information and displays about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Then we got back in our car and found a parking garage and headed to the pier where we met up with our boat that would take us to our submarine tour. This cute little chapel was at the Hilton Hawaiian Village right near the pier.

Once we switched from the boat to the submarine, we had to shimmy down a ladder into the interior. This would not be a trip for clastrophobic people. There were approximately 64 of us in the submarine. It is the largest passenger submarine in the world. Of course, any US naval submarine would be bigger however, they do not have the "port holes" to look out of either. We saw lots of fish and the tour led us through a plane and two ships underwater. These were put their on purpose and in conjuction with the University of Hawai'i. Apparently since their placement on the bottom of the ocean, the fish population has increased over 3,000% in this area. The ships give a safe resting place to fish trying to sleep without fear of being eaten by sharks or predator fish. We had hoped to avoid paying out the wazoo for parking but even with 40 minutes of our parking ticket validated, we still ended up paying $21 for 3 hours of parking. Isn't that ridiculous??




Can you make out the giant turtle? Isn't it cute? Apparently these big guys can stay under water for up to 3 hours by slowing their heart rate down to 1 beat per minute. Crazy, huh?

There were a couple divers at one of the ships. Our guide said they were spear hunting. I think they enjoyed showing off for the folks on the submarine.




The flags attached to the boat that took us from the pier to the submarine and back.

We stopped at the island's largest mall, Ala Moana. This was our second time here, but we didn't care to shop this time. I just wanted something different to eat. The Food Court has tons of different kinds of food including: Hawaiian (duh!), Italian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Ameri-Mexican (Taco Bell), American (Tony Roma's etc) and more. Then we headed back to the resort. Six lanes of traffic wide and it was packed.

Day 5 - Terrific Tuesday - Our Anniversary!

(I know it says October 1 at the top, but I am actually posting this on September 30. Blogspot has Eastern Time so this is actually still being posted on Tuesday Hawaiian Time :o) Today I slept in really late and it was very nice. I took a pic of this blue stop sign. Pretty funky!

Jay used to work for Shred-it back in Cincinnati so we were quite surprised to see them here on the Big Island.

A huge cruise ship which was docked just near our dinner cruise ship.

This was our boat.

Me and my hubby!

Diamond Head - hopefully we will be flying over it tomorrow on a helicopter tour and more pictures should be forth coming.

Having fun and taking pics of the sunset.

Following the first course of a Romaine salad with bread and tomatoes, was this: Beef, Snow crab legs over vegetables and a dollop of mashed potates with a weird little branch of something sticking out of it. Both Jay and I smelled it and agreed that if you cut a branch of your Christmas tree it would smell the exact same!!! The crab legs were all you could eat so Jay had fun with that. I ate three legs which took me forever to get the meat out. I remember watching Dad do it but I didn't realize how hard it was. Not too mention, after I looked at the under side of the legs it started grossing me out so I decided I didn't want anymore.

Followed by the third course, Hawaiian Macademia Nut icecream. Yumm!

I've been forgetting to mention this: every night two Hawaiian ladies stop by our door and ask if we would like our bed turned down. How hilarious is that?? I've never stayed at a place where they do that. Tonight we returned to our room after they had already been through and as you can see it was turned down and there is a little coconut cookie wrapped in a leaf and tied with string. I hate coconut but this has very little coconut in it and actually was quite good.

And last, but certainly not least, as I mentioned I was sleeping in this morning. When I decided I should probably get up, Jay presented me with this adorable little turtle with a lei around it's neck and a Hawaiian passport attached to it. I think it is adorabe. Happy Anniversary to my hubby. I love you very much!