Friday

Today was all about Pearl Harbor (so will tomorrow and the next day). Today we went to the USS Arizona Memorial, a memorial for all those on the Arizona the day Japan attaked the US, killing 2,390 people 1,177 of which were those on the USS Arizona. The Arizona is still in the water today and the memorial straddles the mid section of the sunken battleship.




Looking down you can see the top of the ship.






Names of everyone on the Arizona.




Very large anchor I believe from the Arizona.



Torpedo



Next we went on the USS Bowfin submarine which is nicknamed the "Pearl Harbor Avenger" because she sank 44 enemy ships during the course of her nine war patrols.




Toilet & Shower




Eating area



Beds



Controls for engine




Its mind boggling how much there is to know on this battleship but then I found these instructions - phew!




Kathy had to make a very important phone call.



I would try to expain this picture you guys, but I know you just won't get it. ;)



On top of the sub.


Look down the hole - you will see part of my father in law, Lou. At this point, Rob is saying "Dad, dad, look up here!" "Dad, over here!" We got nothing.



At this point, Lou starts coming up the ladder and the conversation goes a little something like this.

Lou: Did you say something?

Me: Yes, we were above and could see you so we wanted you to look up.

Lou: What? Fire?!

Noted: Don't play this game with your father in law who sometimes suffers from claustrophobia ever again.



Rob and Michael



I wonder how you get THIS job.




And finally, we went to the museum. This was, by far, Kathy's favorite stop.



She is so excited, she needs to take a second to calm down.



First message after the attack. It says "Japan started hostilities govern yourselves accordingly".



What the hell?

Thursday

I started my day with a Hawaiian-ish breakfast. I had whole wheat macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup. It was pretty yummy but a wee rich.

We did not have too much planned for the daytime because we had Kathy and Michael's wedding to attend at night. Rob and I did some more shopping and did a little damage. Then we went on a Catamaran ride that is located near our hotel that goes out 4 miles. We saw some fish and a sea turtle. Rob wanted to sit at the front of the boat, a place they nickname the "water park" and now we know why. Within 20 minutes, we were completely drenched. At one point Rob wrung out the water in his t-shirt. We also managed to get too much sun and had to pick up some aloe vera at the sundry shop. It was a lot of fun.







View of our hotel from the catamaran.



I took a ton of pictures at the wedding but I'll just post a few highlight pictures here. The wedding was held on a beach a few miles from our hotel. The views were beautiful as was the bride!

The bride and mother of the bride



Parents of the bride



Walking down the aisle



Family and friends

Wednesday

Today was a pretty low key day. We woke up and went to the gym to do some cardio to work off the breakfast we were about to indulge in.



We went to Doris Duke's house with Rob's parents who have been there before. If you are like me and didn't know who she was, here is a quick overview: she was an heiress to a man who was successful in tobacco and electric energy. Her dad died in 1925 and left her half of his estate plus $100 million, she was 12 at the time. The only house she built from bottom up that she did not inherit from her dad was an estate she called Shangri La in Honolulu. When she traveled to India in her early 20's she fell in love with Islamic art and the whole house is filled with it including the architecture. Unfortunately they do not allow pictures inside but we took a few of the outside. If you are really interested, you can google her name and see pictures of the inside.

Front door and driveway




View from the back side of the house






Doris' bedroom which they are still renovating so we couldn't see it.



The "playhouse" which is basically a guest house.



More of the grounds





We later walked through some hotels nearby and shops.

The rehearsal dinner was at the Hula Grill with Michael's mom, siser, brother in law and 2 best friends who all flew in to Hawaii yesterday for Kathy and Michael's wedding.