Day 13: Back in Oahu

Saturday July 8th our cruise ship pulled back into port at Honolulu. The whole ship gets turned around that day, so you do have to be out pretty early. I woke up just as the boat was pulling back into Honolulu. 

By the time everyone was up and dressed we did have a bit of time for one last game of ping pong. 

We decided the buffet would be our easiest option for breakfast on the last morning. But it was packed, so we decided to bring our breakfast back to our table on our deck and eat out on the balcony. 

But a little ping pong, breakfast, and a quick stop by the ship store was all we had time for before we had to say goodbye and disembark. 

So we swiped our keys one last time and headed off the boat. Cort and Holly left immediately afterwards and headed toward the airport to fly home. 

But my family and mom were continuing on our trip. There were no good, affordable flights out on Saturday that would get Asa home in time to work on Sunday, and when I booked the trip, Sunday was the last day of his work week before his three day weekend, so I figured we might as well stay a little while (of course then his schedule changed, so we had to use extra vacation days, ugh!). But it was also cheaper to take a flight out on Monday. 

Our first stop off the ship was to get some food for the next couple days. We often swing by Costco's while on vacation to get uncrustables and such to eat cheaper than going out. The boys now think it's cool to keep track of which states they've been in Costco's. Honolulu's Costco had lots of very Hawaiian things. (Taking pictures in Costco, we're not tourists or anything). 

After Costco we headed over to Pearl Harbor. We got a little lost. FYI, don't put 'Pearl Harbor' into Google Maps, instead you need 'Pearl Harbor Historic Sites'. But anyway, after a bit of a detour we arrived safe and sound. 

I had ordered tickets online the day they became available for 2:30 pm. To give you an idea of how quick they go online in the summer (and the fact that it was Saturday probably didn't help either), I booked them around lunchtime that day, and 2:30 was the earliest I could get. We went to the National Park desk, and collected our tickets no problem. We did have some time to kill though, and our Go-Card included the Bowfin submarine, The Pacific Aviation Museum and the Battleship Missouri. We decided we would head out to the Missouri first, since you had to hop on a bus to get there, and then come back for the submarine until it was our time. 

The Battleship is undergoing quite the renovation, but there was still plenty to see. 

I love taking the boys on battleships. It's something I did a lot as a kid (we also did battlefields too, but I can only take so much of those), and I loved it then.  But usually to do things like that, it's pretty pricey. I was super glad to see this included in the Go-card so we could go aboard and explore. 

U.S.S Missouri served from WWII to Desert Storm, and has been a museum since 1998. 

The spot I most wanted to see on the ship was the 'Surrender Deck' where Japan officially surrendered at the end of WWII. There's a plaque to mark the exact spot. (And we did WWII Week just a couple of months ago too, and talked all about this!) 

There's also a whole display for the 'Instrument of Surrender', including pictures of everyone who signed it and a little paragraph about each of them. 

Then it was on to the rest of the ship. Asa dunked a pretend basketball in the hoop on the deck. 

And we climbed up and down ladders. 

Then we got to go through the whole ship, from the snack shop, to the captains quarters, to the mess hall, to the bunks. So, enjoy the pictures from all of that! 

My grandpa worked for the post office, so mom is always excited to take her picture with anything post office related. 

We rushed through the last of it though, because we wanted to get back with plenty of time before our time to take the boat out to the U.S.S Arizona. But with an hour still left, the boys wanted to stop for Shave Ice, so I obliged. 

And we made a very quick trip to the gift shop. 

That was it for our trip to the battleship. We highly recommend! 

Now, you can see the USS Arizona Memorial from the Missouri, but you do have to get on a bus to get from one to another. We headed back to the bus stop about 45 minutes before our timed tickets. It had only take about 15 minutes to get out there (including a little waiting for the bus time), but we'd have one additional stop on the way back, so I figured 45 minutes was plenty of time. 

So then we waited for the bus, and waited for the bus, and waited for the bus while time ticked away. It took nearly 15 minutes for the bus to show up. But, it was only a few minute trip, so it should have been fine. However, the second stop took FOREVER. They put down the wheelchair ramp, then put it back up, without anyone ever getting on. At one point the driver disappeared. We were at the stop for over 20 minutes. We arrived back at the bus stop at Pearl Harbor exactly at our time, but by the time we rushed to the other side, we had missed our time and the 2:45 group was already lined up. 

I was really upset, because I really wanted the boys to be able to see Pearl Harbor, and maybe I should have left even more time to get back, but I never imagined it would have taken over 3 times as long to get back as it took to get there. Luckily, there is a stand by line, and if people don't show up, they let in the stand by line. For whatever reason, the 2:45 time had plenty of stand by spots, and luckily we DID get to go out to the memorial. It was a close one, and not great for my anxiety. 

But, we were there. We watched the movie in the theater, boarded the boat and took the short trip out to the memorial. I went last time I was in Hawaii, but it wasn't any less special. I was happy for the boys to experience the whole thing. Again, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. 

There is still oil coming from the ship, and when we were there you could see it bubble up to the top, and then spread out into the oily rainbow. 

When our time was up, we boarded the boat and headed back. 

The boys got another stamp in their National Parks Books. Too bad they didn't have them when we went to Alaska. 

After Pearl Harbor, I had planned on going to the water park, Wet N Wild. It was included in the Go-Card and near Pearl Harbor. But, it is also open late on Saturdays, which was an added reason to go, since most Go-Card participants are closed by 5. 

It was no Typhoon Lagoon, but I didn't expect it to be. It was a tiny little park with some interesting slides and such I'd never seen before. (I often wonder if Hawaii has the same safety standards as we do on the mainland, just sayin!) 

But then, while we all went to go on a slide, the very first ride I went on, after we had been there all of 10 minutes, and our sandals disappeared! We were gone for maybe 5 minutes, and not even very far from them. My Nike pair, and everyone's Under Armor one's except for Asa's were gone, presumably stolen. (They also spared mom's flip flops). Who even does that? 

Asa went to Guest Services to see what they could do. They were like 'Yea, like 30 pairs a day go missing.' Apparently some times people put on random shoes when the ground is hot and wear them to the next slide/attraction and then leave them. Again, who does that? But it was evening and the ground wasn't that hot. We had also looked around, they were nowhere to be found. 

Everything you read about Hawaii tells you to be careful with your stuff, that there is a real problem with theft. Everywhere you park tells you not to leave valuables in the car. I've heard lots of stories about rental cars being broken into. So I was careful. But I never expected my shoes to get stolen while I was on a slide 20 feet away. 

I wouldn't have been so upset, but we had just gotten those sandals for the trip, and it was the first time I bought the boys one's that weren't the cheapy ones. That plus the anxiety of the bus ride earlier, and I was kind of done with the day. And the boys weren't exactly happy either. 

But, we were there, so we did take part in a few of the attractions. 

Along with our Go-Cards came a trip on the Flow Rider. Despite the shoe heist, Calib Hayden and Asa wanted to try their hand at it. Calib got up on his knees once, but I missed it, as my camera was being temperamental. 

Hayden did really well on it too, I was impressed. 

Asa got up on his knees too, if just for a minute. 

Since before the cruise we had stayed on the North Shore, we made our last two days a little different and stayed in Waikiki at the Hyatt Place. I was about over the day, and when they said our room wasn't ready, I had about had it. But, then they upgraded us to an ocean view. 

It wasn't my favorite day in Hawaii, but what can you do? 

Next Up: One more day in Oahu.