Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

"It's a large hole and we place the urn through and then you can kind of feel it release...I tell the family, when I feel that pull, it's the ship accepting one of its own back" ~ NPS Dive Team Member for the USS Arizona Memorial

Diamond Head off the starboard bow 

There's a special kind of joy when you first sight land after many days at sea. Your heart skips a bit and you find within yourself, after dancing with the ocean, a strong desire to rest your foot on solid ground. This is especially true when you're returning to a place you've loved before. We've been blessed to visit Hawaii six times in our life, starting back when we were in our early 20's and could only afford to do so because the DH's job took him there. We were young and strong and swam in the ocean and I learned to surf on Waikiki. 

I may not be able to do those things now, but the island still calls to my heart.

Diamond Head at dawn

As we sailed in, we glided past Norwegian's Pride of America. In 2012, we took my parents and our daughters on a 7 day 'round the islands cruise on this ship. It was such a wonderful family time and I treasure those shared memories, especially since my Dad is no longer with us. It all went by so fast. (The trip, the years past, the way the islands and we have all changed, our life and our relationships, take that in any of the above meanings.) 

I think that's part of why I value travel so much. The experiences we share become part of us and also part of the places we visit. When I visit Hawaii, I'm seeing my Dad here, too. 

We tied up at Pier 10, very near downtown Honolulu and waited for our 10:15 excursion to Pearl Harbor. We've been there three times in all, but it's felt right to pay our respects each time.

The memorial structure built over the sunken USS Arizona features clean, pure lines and protects without distracting from the ship submerged beneath it.

The Arizona is still weeping oil after all these years, though there was no visible slick this time as I've noted at other times. The deteriorating hull is the watery tomb of over 900 sailors and marines who gave their all on December 7, 1941 and whose bodies were never recovered. Over the years, survivors of the sinking have instructed their families to have their ashes returned to rest with their shipmates. The quote at the start of this post describes how the divers who interr those remains feel about their sacred duty. 

Crewmembers whose remains were returned to the Arizona have had their names inscribed on these shorter walls. I wonder if these kids were looking for a great-grandpa's name...

The main portion of the memorial is America's Wailing Wall, where the names and ranks of the dead are carved in marble. There are 38 sets of brothers, at least one father and son, and one young man who had lied about his age to enlist. He celebrated his 17th birthday on December 6, 1941.

The Mighty MO is at rest near the USS Arizona. The USS Missouri was the site of the signing of the unconditional surrender of Japan.  

There were some hiccups with this excursion. We were surprised by how "Disney-ized" the USS Arizona periphery had become. In addition to several new museums (all available for an extra charge of $99 a piece!), we discovered that we should have booked a time to take the ferry out to the memorial itself. Fortunately, the DH retired from Google so he was able to use his tech skills to get us on a "standby" list and we made the very last ferry out and back. Not everyone on our bus from the Viking Sky did.

After returning to the ship for lunch, we set out on our Walmart run. When flying to meet a ship it's impossible to bring all the "consumables" a person needs for a 4 month cruise. Think about liquids specifically...toothpaste, mouth wash, laundry stain remover, etc. 

We also managed to try out Uber for the first time. It worked like a charm and we should have no difficulty with it in other places that have Uber. Lots of Asia does not, I'm told.  

Walmart used to run a free shuttle to and from the Aloha Tower, seen above from our balcony. Sadly, no more shuttle, which is why we had to leap into the 21st century and use Uber.

Because Oahu's volcanoes are not making any more land, Honolulu has built vertically. And what a lovely jewel of a city it is!

We're off to Kauai, the "Garden Isle" tonight. More soon...

PS. For 50 points toward the grand prize of a rubber cookie with cement frosting, what is a humuhumunukunukuapua'a?