Hawaii Day Two

On tap today.... Pearl Harbor and then the Big Kahuna Luau.  The morning started very early 5:30am, but they have a Starbucks in the lobby, so we got a little coffee and a delicious Macadamia Nut muffin, so I was pretty happy.  Our Tour Guide Charlie was beyond fabulous.  He was a fount of knowledge about Pearl Harbor and the war.  So many interesting tidbits, also a lifelong Hawaiian resident, so plenty of details about Hawaii as well.

The Arizona Memorial was very moving, hard not to get teary-eyed about everything.  I guess I didn't  realize that the memorial sits over the actual sunken ship with the entombed bodies of over 900 sailors.  So, hard to imagine that kind of loss.

After the Arizona we went and toured the USS Missouri.  Again very cool and impressive.  So much to look at and absorb.   After the Missouri,  we got a little tour of the city and saw the Iolani Palace, the only palace on America soil, statue of King Kamehameha in front of the Hawaiian courthouse.  Then we headed back to the hotel for a nap and my first beach run!!

I went 2.5 miles, it was really nice to run along the beach.  I didn't run in the sand, to hard to do, but there was a pretty decent walkway.  Good people watching and beautiful scenery.  I guess in this instance it was better at the beach.

The Big Kahuna Luau finished out the evening.  Again our Tour Guide was amazing!  The Luau was pretty good, the food was really good - but honestly just not my thing.  Hanging around "having fun" with a bunch of strangers...  I don't know.. it was okay.  More fun was taking pictures of the beautiful boys and sending Brenna potential husband choices!  The scenery again was just stunning and the sunset beautiful as well.  Hawaiian is so beautiful it's almost seems fake.

Tomorrow is a relax, on our own day.  I think we're going to hike Diamond Head Volcanic Cone, try a dinner place that our tour guide recommended.  Maybe do some shopping...