We woke up early on Monday to shower and finish packing. We left the hotel around 7 am to make the short drive to the airport and return our rental car. The returning process was super quick and easy, and we were at the airport entrance a little after 7:30 for our 9:35 flight.
When we went to check in, I asked the woman if she could let our baggage through to our United flight. However, since we wouldn't be leaving Honolulu for 12 hours, she said no. I called our travel agent and she was really upset for us, so she said she'd make a call. It really wasn't that big of a deal to me to recheck our bags real quick once we landed in Honolulu, but I let her do her thing. We waited by security for nearly a half an hour before I just said screw it. We put the luggage through and of course I then got a call from our travel agent! I felt bad, but as a crazy person I needed to get to the gate. Since Kauai's airport is small, it took no time at all. We were in within 5 minutes! Andy got pancakes and I just sad and read at the gate. The flight to Honolulu was a quick half an hour and we were in Honolulu!
I will say that at this point, Andy and I were regretting taking the day to go to Pearl Harbor. We were sad to leave our resort, but were also just ready to get home without having to go go go. It was going to be such a hassle figuring out baggage and transportation to and from, and we were dreading it. Plus, with the changes in hours for the USS Arizona Memorial, we knew weren't going to get to see it. I figured it would be a bust going at all.
But after landing on Oahu, we ran to the other side of the airport to recheck our luggage for our United flight that evening at 7:30 pm. It was quick and painless (thankfully)! We had decided to take a bus from the airport to Pearl Harbor, and knew that it would come just before 11 am, so we popped a squat and waited the half hour. I was super worried about the unknown of relying on other transportation, but it came! The ride was less than 10 minutes to Pearl Harbor. The visitors center is quite cool. I didn't realize the area was so big and there was so much more to do than just see the Arizona. We checked our bags and got our head sets for the audio tour first thing..
 |
| First stop on the audio tour: the map |
The tour comes with a map of numbered spots that correspond with audio sections. You can listen to several pieces of history leading up to the event of Pearl Harbor. It's narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis, but other people pop in, such as historians, veterans, and reenacted voices of Presidents and figures from the day. You walk through a few museum-type buildings where you can view artifacts and watch videos that link up with the audio. I am into nerdy things like reading and history, and Andy is not so much. I knew he really wasn't interested in the tour and he kept speeding me along. I didn't realize until later that I skipped like 5 sets because he was moving so fast! One of my regrets was that I didn't get to hear it all..
 |
| View from the visitors center facing the Arizona Memorial (the long white building on the water) |
The tour was both interesting and incredibly sad. There were parts where I would've cried if I wasn't in public. Andy and I were both surprised at how populated the place was with Asians (ironic, huh?). He was also a little annoyed that not everyone was paying the respect warranted at a place like that. I know it's vacation but it's basically a cemetery, so it's not really the time to be super goofy.
Originally we thought we would take a cab from Pearl Harbor to Waikiki Beach, but we were worn out. I didn't see the point in paying a cab to drive to other side of the island just to see a beach. Plus, we hadn't made any plans once we would get there. We decided to just take advantage of the other things at Pearl Harbor and stay closer to the airport. At this point I think Andy started to wish he would've slowed down the audio tour to waste more time. We grabbed sandwiches at a snack shop, and decided to see the USS Bowfin submarine. This included another audio tour, which we listened to more intently this time.
 |
| Listening to the Bowfin audio tour |
 |
| USS Bowfin submarine |
 |
| Aboard the Bowfin facing Ford Island |
Next up was the Pacific Aviation Museum over on Ford Island. Since the island is still a naval base and not exactly public, we took a tour bus over. We made it to the museum just in time to watch a short 10 minute video, which I enjoyed. Then we viewed two different airport hangars which housed different aircrafts. I think Andy quite liked this part. I wasn't that into it, but I'm a girl and I don't really care about that stuff. There wasn't a whole lot to see, but we tried to take our time.
We got on the bus to head back to the Harbor around 3 pm-ish. At this point, we decided we would just start the trek to the airport, so we would have plenty of time. We walked to the bus stop and a random guy asked if we were going to Waikiki Beach. We said no, that we were going to the airport, and he said he was a shuttle driver who could take us there for $5 a person. We said sure and headed over to the van.
I should say doing stuff like this is not like me. I am not a risk taker and I don't trust strangers. At all. But for some reason I was okay with it because I had no idea when the next bus was coming and I knew that the airport was close and on the way to Waikiki Beach. We got on the van and everyone else looked normal, so I relaxed. The driver walked away and Andy and I got to talking to the couple next to us. Turns out, it was the shuttle for the Hilton Hotel. The dude was making cash on the side to take us! They reassured us that he had dropped people off at the airport on the way there, but we were still a little anxious. Once we got on our way, he passed the exit for the airport and I felt we were doomed. It turned out to be fine and we were there safe and sound. Since we'd checked our luggage earlier, we zoomed through security in 5 minutes and had 3 hours to wait for our flight. We relaxed knowing that the hard part of traveling was over, made a quick stop at a shop for some Honolulu cookies for my mom, ate dinner at Burger King, and got to our gate. The time went surprisingly fast and we boarded our plane with no problems.
Originally our seats weren't next to each other. They were in the middle section, so we each would have two strangers on either side of us. However, earlier in the week, my mom had upped our seats for us so we were by ourselves on the window aisle and had an extra 6 inches. It was nice. When we took off, they started playing "Safe Haven," so we both were occupied by a few hours. Afterwards, I hit the hay. I was so exhausted after the long day that I fell right asleep. I wouldn't say I was comfortable, and I woke up every few hours, but the flight went by fast! After landing, we grabbed a muffin and some OJ, got our luggage immediately, and were picked up by the car service. It was bittersweet to be back. We were happy to start married life at home, but I kept thinking of the long to-do list we were returning home to!
Overall, it was a wonderful week away. We are now spoiled for every vacation we'll ever take. Good thing we'll be back on the beaches of Hawaii in just six short months :)
Here is a list of things we'd like to do in future visits:
1. See waterfalls (we saw a few but from really far away)
2. Hike the NaPali Coast
3. Go kayaking
4. Do a helicopter tour
5. Try snorkeling again
No comments:
Post a Comment