day 2

with our internal clocks waking us before 6am local time…..little sister and i started the day with our toes in the sand walking along the beach, watching the sun rise over the mountains.  were we really in hawaii?  could it be true?  and what was this tropical breeze and pleasant temperature all around us?just across the way from our hotel, liliha bakery was our destination for breakfast.  grandma joined us while grandpa slept in, per the usual.  their famous butter rolls were yummy treats while we waited for our order.

after breakfast, we loaded the van for our first day of exploring the island of oahu.  we drove towards the state capital and found street parking.  by 9am, we were walking around iolani palace’s banyan tree terrace....

....& the capital building.

the dome is the sky :-)

“aquarius,” the 36-by-36-foot mosaic on the courtyard’s floor, is made of 600,000 ceramic tiles that are no bigger than a fingernail. it’s a replica of a painting by tadashi sato, who was born and raised on maui.

five hundred different colors of tile were used for “aquarius.” the best place to view the mosaic is from the upper floors.

here are four of the eight pillars fronting the capitol’s entrances, which represent the eight main hawaiian islands and are shaped like coconut palm trunks. 

around 10am, we arrived at the pearl harbor historic sites.  we explored various exhibits while waiting for our 11:30am boat ride to the uss arizona memorial.

we were allotted 15 minutes at the memorial to pay tribute and reflect on the historic events that took place here on december 7, 1941.

the architecture of the uss arizona memorial is explained by its honolulu architect alfred preis, as, "wherein the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expresses initial defeat and ultimate victory ... the overall effect is one of serenity. overtones of sadness have been omitted, to permit the individual to contemplate his own personal responses ... his innermost feelings."

the central assembly room features seven large open windows on either wall and ceiling, to commemorate the date of the attack.

the shrine at the far end is a marble wall that bears the names of all those killed on arizona, protected behind velvet ropes.

any surviving crew members of arizona (or their families on their behalf) can have their ashes interred within the wreck by u.s. navy divers.

the "tears of the Arizona". oil slick visible on water's surface above the sunken battleship.

you can see the uss missouri in the background.  she was donated as a museum and memorial in 1998, and rests near the arizona in pearl harbor.

walking to the van, we picked up a few plumeria flowers that were falling like leaves onto the ground.

we found lunch around 1pm at build your own ramen – a novel idea that the ramen-lovers in our family had never heard of before.  it was pretty good and very filling.  but big sister still found room for boba tea and little sister made space for ice cream after.

with full bellies, we continued north and were at the dole pineapple plantation by 3pm.

we were greeted by rainbow trees in the parking lot – so pretty!

eucalyptus deglupta, known by their common name, rainbow eucalyptus trees, have colorful, striped trunks, as though their design were created by an abstract artist. the bark on these trees is uniquely thin, causing frequent shedding, resulting in tall and thin mismatched stripes all up and down the trunk. when the bark from previous seasons falls off, a new, different colored bark is exposed.

there was so much to see here (even without paying admission for things like the train ride or maze).

and we could not leave without sharing a dole whip!

after we’d seen enough pineapples…..we continued north in search of the big waves of north shore.  there was congestion all of a sudden on the two-lane highway, which dampened our excitement to double back to the hotel via this same route.  we ended up at the turtle bay resort area and found big water, but no big waves.  it sure was beautiful!we decided to continue our travel clockwise around the island back towards honolulu, so the ocean continued to stay on our left side.

as we neared the hotel exit, we were greeted by a beautiful rainbow.for dinner, we walked a few blocks from the hotel to the cheesecake factory, but sadly none of us saved room for dessert.  it was about 9:15pm when we returned to the hotel to settle in for the night, and my brain would not let me forget (yawn) that it was WAY after midnight where we’re from.  goodnight from the lovely back courtyard.in the center of the moana surfrider’s courtyard stands a large indian banyan tree which was planted in 1904. when planted, the tree was nearly seven feet tall and about seven years old. it now stands 75 feet high and spans 150 feet across the courtyard.

today's step count: 13,395

miles driven: 90