Ruth left early to go to another hotel for her shuttle pickup. My shuttle would be picking me up at my hotel around 9am, so I got ready and headed down to grab some of the "free Continental Breakfast" that's offered. No time for a real meal before my pickup...
8:30a - Old white folks sure dig their free Continental breakfast. Just had a little old lady shove past me to bogart the last piece of toast. Go on with your bad self, granny!
8:45a - Two sweet rolls and a cup of coffee later, and I'm outside in the sunshine and sprinkles to wait for my bus.
9:07a - My shuttle bus is here. Very fancy!
9:15a - The public transportation system here is phenomenal! And the buses have an amazing turn-radius - dang!
9:31a - Uh oh -- I'm on the funk bus - Prince's KISS is playing on the radio. :)
9:36a - The bus and trolley drivers here have cajones!!! They are fearless!!!
9:40a - Transfer to our actual tour bus...still fancy. :)
945a - And now, the sarcastic banter & comments from the audience begins. Really old guy in the back yelled out, "What about sex???" --- in answer to something the bus driver was commenting on. (((shaking my head))) This gonna be a LONG tour. Why didn't I bring my iPod?
Some of the interesting tidbits the driver/tourguide rattled off:
• 2 out of 3 jobs in Hawaii are tourism or travel-related.
• Medium-priced house - 2bdrm/2bath/1,000 sq ft average price $500k
• There's 47 ABC Stores in Waikiki alone. (Not sure if this is true, but it very well could be) This chain is worse than Starbucks when it comes to the number of locations.
MY PILGRIMAGE TO PEARL HARBOR:
I've been wanting to visit Pearl Harbor for several years -- even when I first visited Hawaii several years ago to attend a friend's wedding. I'm really not much of a history buff, but after learning about WWII in history classes and watching PEARL HARBOR numerous times, I was curious and eager to visit the memorial.
Since Ruth had already visited the Memorial on previous visits, she opted to go kayaking. Having been connected at the hip for the past 48 hours, I'm sure she welcomed the alone time. And somehow, it felt appropriate to do this tour on my own. As the tourbus approached the Visitor Center, we were reminded again that no bags were allowed on the property. Because of 9/11, extra security measures had to be integrated. So now, you can only take things in your pockets. No bags or anything that can conceal anything. Of course, no food or outside beverages were allowed.
The Visitor Center was self-guided. We could opt to purchase an audio tour and walk around the property with a headset or explore at your own pace. To avoid rehashing every detail I saw (and I saw a LOT) and risk sounding like a page out of Wikipedia, I'll just say that the place had a very solemn energy throughout. From the Commemoration areas and museum at the visitor center to the 23-minute movie and ferry-ride to the Memorial itself --- one could only venture out with respect and a bit of sadness at everything that's seen. Being in the Memorial structure itself, which stands over the hull of the sunken USS Arizona, is a surreal experience.
It was astounding just how shallow the water was. Bits of the ship still appear above the surface. Even 69 years after the event, you can still see oil seeping out from the top of the ship...amazing. Further to the end of the Memorial is the Shrine...a wall that lists all of the souls that were lost on the ship that day. And to the left of the wall, there is a smaller plaque which lists the names of the men who survived the attack at Pearl, but upon death wished to be laid to rest with their brothers.
Overall, there was a very somber energy --- not surprising, because we were, after all, in a cemetary. 1,102 of the soldiers that perished still lie entombed in the sunken vessel. Being there is very grounding and it reminds you just how precious and precarious life can be. It was very humbling.
After that experience, it was hard not to feel wasted and exhausted. All of us were silent on the ride back towards Waikiki. Not much was said on the "city tour" that the driver was giving us. We saw other parts of the city --- the city hall, the old and new governor's mansions, 'Iolani Palace --- said to be the only Royal properties on U.S. soil, the statue of King Kamehameha, the Punch Bowl, the National Cemetary where several soldiers from WWII are buried, and the Blaisdell Arena which is where Elvis performed. Sadly, those landmarks paled somewhat in comparison after visiting Pearl.
Enlightened and humbled...
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