On our first full day in Hawaii we headed for Honolulu. Our first stop was at the Arizona Memorial. From there we drove into Waikiki. We were pleasantly surprised at the changes in Waikiki. While it was still crowded, it had not become sleazy or any more touristy than years before. We walked the main street and had a good seafood dinner at a restaurant with a big fish tank beside our table. The third picture below was taken at the Royal Hawaiian on the main street through Waikiki.

Balcony on Thanksgiving

The Arizona Memorial was very well run. Rather than having to wait in line, you can check in and get a ticket that shows the time to come back to begin the tour. The tour begins with a brief, but informative movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Exiting the movie, each group proceeds to a boat to the memorial. It was very windy on the memorial. There is still oil seeping from the tank, just as there was when Mary Lou and I first visited more than fifteen years before. Ben and Craig got an education on the beginning of the second world war. You can see the oil on the surface of the water in the fourth picture above and the first picture below. The second picture below shows the turret above the water and the third picture below shows a part of the memorial above the sunken ship. The last picture is on the deck of a submarine from World War 2 that is placed next to the Memorial visitor center. 

On Friday, after a great deal of maneuvering by Ben and Craig, Mary Lou and I agreed to spend the day getting wet at the Hawaiian Adventure Water Park, a park filled with waterslides about 5 miles from our hotel. I did most of the slides with Ben or Craig (first three pictures below), but I let Ben do Cliffhanger, with its seven story drop, alone (fourth picture below). Afterward, everyone was tired and waterlogged, so we headed for dinner and an evening to plan for the next day.

Saturday November 26th

On Saturday we took a drive across the island to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center. Mary Lou and I had visited the center many years ago. Ben and Craig thoroughly enjoyed the day and felt it was the highlight of the trip. We arrived just after noon. It was threatening rain all day, but it stayed dry. We toured the various villages, took the boat tour and hung around for the evening show (four pictures below). 

We only had the morning before our flight back to LA, so we spent the time around the beach and the pool. Despite flying on the busiest day of the year, we had no difficulties at all getting home.