Pearl Harbor & The USS Arizona

The theme of our time on Oahu was "the bus". We opted not to rent a car and rely on public transportation. It worked for most of the trip, but we are still undecided about whether it was worth the money saved renting the car, paying for parking ($25/day) and navigating the city on our own.

Our first day, we were all set to climb Diamond Head. People had warned us that we were crazy to do it with kids, but I always say, "It can't hurt to try". I really think we could have done it, but Diamond Head is closed right now. Boo. They are paving the path and it won't reopen for another 10 days.

Plan B. We hopped a bus to Pearl Harbor. It took about an hour, but I think it would have taken about that long in a car. I was lucky enough to snag a seat next to the local Hawaiian drunk who told me all these amazing stories (he had lived in 40 out of the 50 states by the time he was 10 and he had the very Rolex on the back of the magazine he was carrying) - good times by all.

Since it is low season, we only had a 40 minute wait despite arriving in prime time to view the USS Arizona. Can I say that I love low season? Plus, it is a national park and so the kids got a stamp in their National Park Passports!

Viewing the ship with the kids was difficult. Levi asked some hard questions. I told him that we had to be quiet because there were a lot of sad people. He asked if there were people on the ship and I told him yes. He then told me that not all of the people on the ship were sad. He said there were happy people on that ship too. How do you explain things like this to a 3 year old?

For whatever reason, Garet and I both thought the viewing area was a glass-bottom floor (which it is not). I also hadn't anticipated in my mind all the sea life that had grown on the ship or that it was in so many pieces. It was a much different experience that I had imagined. I really wanted it to be an emotional experience, but trying to keep the kids quiet and away from the rail was quite a distraction. Also, having not grown up around my grandparents, I never heard first-hand accounts of that dreadful day. I think I got more emotional watching the Coast Guard guys that drove us out to the memorial...again, so young. Regardless, I am glad that we went and were able to witness a huge piece of American/World History.