Hawaii Vaca, Post 7 - Short Tour After Pearl Harbor

Unbeknownst to me, we had a bit of a bus tour around Honolulu after our visit to Pearl Harbor.  Oh sure, I probably was told about this tour but true to my nature, I wasn't paying attention.

So after we pile back on the bus after our tour of the U.S.S. Missouri, Cousin Dwight proceeds to weed out the sneaky individuals who have made their way on to the bus in the hopes of getting back to their hotels a bit early. 

No dice.  He weeded them out in short order and constantly, albeit politely, berated them as they walked from the back of the bus to the front where the only door was.  I enjoyed that just about as much as I enjoyed his commentary on the ride to Pearl Harbor.

So he drove us around, sometimes in circles it seemed, and eventually we wound our way up these really old, tight, narrow roads which reminded me a bit of our China trip in 2011.  What I mean by that is that they put buses into places where I'd be nervous driving a Prius (note:  I would NEVER drive a Prius...  that reference was for illustrations only.)!  

Sadly, like China, I was so amazed at where our bus was, that I forgot to take pictures of the areas...

So what's a fella to do?  Borrow a picture from www.google.com/maps "streetside" view until he receives a Cease and Desist order.  This was up in the older Portuguese area of Honolulu and pretty much right after we turned onto Puowaina Dr off of Lusitana St.  The church on the left is Punchbowl Holy Ghost and cousin Dwight told us some stuff about it that I can no longer recall.  Anyway, it gives you an idea of the roads that we took in a full-sized city bus. 

Here we are further on up Puowaina Dr.  This is up high enough where the roads opened up a bit.  The residential areas were now behind us and we had some clean air to breathe.

Another view of Honolulu from up around the curve from where we were in the previous pic.

Our destination was the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific.  Much like Arlington National Cemetary, it was hauntingly beautiful and humbling at the same time.  There are some graves of "unknowns" that Uncle Sam is working towards identifying their remains.

The cemetery was built in the center basin of a now extinct volcanic crater known as Puowaina Crater (hence the name of the street on the way up!). The "punchbowls" creation is estimated at 75,000 - 100,000 years old.

Puowaina, the crater's name, is translated in Hawaiian as “Hill of Sacrifice,” or “the Consecrated Hill,”. The site proudly honors those American citizens who  gave their lives in either World War II, the Korean War, or the Vietnam War.  Those veterans who served so that our generation may now enjoy the freedom and liberty that allows us to travel to such places!

I loved these types of vegetation and it's all over the island.  There was another story from cousin Dwight about the planting of these and the colors and their placement.  Do I remember any of that?  Did I have my journal to write in at the time he was telling us?  No, to both...

This was on the way down, right before we re-entered the residential area. I always liked the way that the clouds seemed to be bursting over the mountain ridges and it's a good thing too, since they did this everyday!

This is Iolani Palace which somebody of some significance had built...  I think what I should do is go and give tours like this for about a year.  Then, and only then, would I have this stuff committed to memory.

The lads were MORE than happy to escape the bus and get out for a quick pic.  This building is Aiilani Hale, which is a government building now.  I believe this was the old palace of King Kamehameha and was also used as the headquarters in the original television series of Hawaii 5-0.

This is Kawaiahao Church.  It's a really crappy picture due to the reflections/washout of the bus window, but it was clearly the best one of the bunch.  This church was built by hauling in 14,000 pound slabs of coral harvested from a local reef off of Southern O'ahu. I believe the area where you can see the high-rises behind the church was a deserted desert-like plain when the church was originally constructed.

This is the Museum Mission Houses out behind Kawaiahao Church.

That just about does it for our Pearl Harbor and Historic Honolulu tour.  What was left?  A couple of crabby kids wanting desperately to get off of said bus and either be in the pool or in the ocean... didn't matter much to them.  We were on the South end of Waikiki Beach and so we were the last ones that Cousin Dwight dropped off, only adding to their woe and gnashing of teeth over how horrible their lives currently are.  

And so goes vacation...   :-)