Visiting Hawaii With Family- Starting In Honolulu on O’ahu

It’s super normal to want to travel while the kids are on school spring break (holiday) so that’s exactly what we did over the break.  Ostensibly the trip was to relax and visit friends on the Big Island; (which we did and it was awesome to see them all) but it was also about getting to a National Park we had never visited before…remote and a bit of a challenge to reach- Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.  We started the trip with time on O’ahu in Honolulu soaking up the sun and doing some sightseeing, that’s where this post starts.

We spent a few days up front in Honolulu with no real agenda except to tour of the USS Arizona Memorial (which we did).  We also got to check out some of the non-touristy parts of Honolulu and I broke away for a couple hours to check out the US Army Fort right in middle of the Waikiki beach tourist strip, Fort DeRussy.

While we did soak up the sun, swim and check out Waikiki beach, I just can’t bore you with all that.  But I will clue you in on some great food we found, off the beaten path.  I had done a bit of research on out of the way grub and found recommendations for great breakfast, you know….like banana pancakes.  So we grabbed an Uber and headed into areas of the city we had never been before, having an absolutely killer breakfast at Mud Hen Water.  If you’ve never checked it out, I would say it’s a MUST while you’re in Honolulu.  One of the best breakfasts I’ve eaten lately at a very reasonable price.  And…you never know, you might see Jack Johnson at the table next to you, it’s said he often eats there.  While sitting eating breakfast, we started seeing people coming down the street out of an alley with donut boxes and knew we had to check that out too.  Yep, right in the alley behind this restaurant is a vegan donut kitchen….serving fancy donuts till they run out (Little Vessels Co).

Peal Harbor Memorial Site

Although we came to Honolulu to soak up the sun and find time to relax, we knew we needed to fulfill a near sacred obligation and privilege of visiting and remembering the lives lost during the December 7th attacks on Pearl Harbor.  To do this, we scheduled and visited the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, which we booked in advance with the National Park Service for $1 each.  Upon booking, each tour is given start and boat times (you take a launch to the actual memorial).

Each time I visit the memorial, I am inspired to find personal peace and thankfulness for the freedoms we have, paid for by the violence and loss of life 0n the tragic morning of December 7th.  I also learn new tidbits of information and facts everytime I visit, as I’m a history nerd.  Something I learned on this trip was this….out for the 101 fighting ships (US Navy) that were in Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7th…only two of those ships were left in the harbor (are still in the harbor), resting forever as war graves.  Like the land (battlefield) at Little Bighorn, the living are not allowed in these areas at night, as they are active US military cemeteries.  Of the ships that were hit during the December 7th attack, multiple ships sank or overturned with Navy sailors trapped inside them, never to escape.  Both ships still in Pearl Harbor (the USS Arizona and the USS Utah) are examples of ships that sank with sailors trapped inside, but there were other ships that were eventually refloated with valiant sailors trapped inside and not able to be rescued (alive).  These facts and truths are reasons we personally bear witness when we go places, so that we never forget the price we’ve already paid for precious freedom.  We are wary, it’s so easy for those freedoms to slip away in plain view.  This is exactly what happened in the late 1930’s by a charismatic leader in Germany.

Our visit and my observations in photos:

Orientation to how the ship currently sits, with the memorial horizontal and straddling the ship, the two docking pylons on the outside (white). 

Last view of the USS Arizona Memorial.

Fort On The Beach, Visiting Fort DeRussy

Fort DeRussy was built on Waikiki Beach in 1911 as one of the primary defenses of Hawaii….defending American interests in Hawaii.  By this time, the islands were a major coaling station and harbor for the US Navy.  The original gun emplacements for Fort DeRussy were rapidly expanded to accommodate larger guns, eventually becoming Batteries Randolf and Dudley.  These massive emplacements supported 14-inch guns, the like of which the world would never see again after they were dismantled.  For context, the battleship USS New Jersey fired in support of US troops in Vietnam…and helicopter pilots report they were able to see the shells as they flew by the aircraft….the same weight as VW Bug cars.

Here’s a picture of a 7-inch gun, half the size of the guns that fired out of Fort DeRussy:

What remains of Battery Randolf and Battery Dudley, converted into the US Army Museum of Hawaii with history of the Fort and the various activities it supported: 

One of the other things we did in Honolulu was check out “Gus”…one of the largest Banyan Trees in the United States and Hawaii, cause we like doing random things like this.  Here’s Gus from my perspective: 

And the other cool Banyan Trees: 

We spent four days relaxing and exploring Honolulu, but soon started to look forward to seeing friends and exploring the Big Island.

There are numerous examples of the “Taft Era” forts and gun emplacements still around in the world because they were built by the same Army Corps of Engineer teams and designers and still stand as a testament to that work today, although the guns are removed.  I’ve been to these gun batteries in San Diego, Hawaii and Panana.  Wanna see and read all about the gun emplacements in Panama?  The HelmsMistress became somewhat of an expert on the Panamanian gun batteries built during the Taft Era and has written a very good story here…follow this link that story. – Shelter Bay and the History of Ft Sherman.

So after getting to Hawaii and our hotel, we set about relaxing, exploring, attending the requisite and required tourist luau and getting some extra sleep where we could.  We knew the schedule on the Big Island would be more compressed and involve more driving, so we readied ourselves for more exploring once we got there.

This tiny blog/website focuses on the various explorations and travel we attempt (always with kids) as we now juggle JOBs and various animals around the ranch in conjunction with my attempts to run in very hot weather and the kids school schedule.

PS: June 14th….Happy US Flag Day, the day the Congress officially adopted the design for the US Flag in 1777 and officially recognized as Flag Day in 1916.  Neat, good to know these facts- Happy Saturday. 

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