Oahu, Hawaii

Trip to Honolulu, Hawaii to visit Waikiki Beach, Pearl Harbor and the island of Oahu. I bought the plane tickets on Delta from DFW to Honolulu with $600 vouchers we had. We earned those on New Years Eve 2014 on our way back from Boston. MSP-DFW was oversold, so we spent a night in MSP. It was extremely cold in Minneapolis with temps around -10°F.

We stayed in the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Alana – Waikiki Beach which was pretty good accommodations for the money. In retrospect, I wish I had paid a little more to stay on the beach. The Hilton Waikiki Beach Resort is right on the water and had a premium beach next to it. The walk from the Doubletree was not far, but it wasn’t nearly as convenient. For Hawaii, it was pretty cheap.

We visited Pearl Harbor and Waikiki Beach. Pearl Harbor was easy to get to by bus, but you could rent a car and park easily too. The USS Arizona Memorial was still open when we visited, but it closed shortly after we visited. I actually rented a car our last day to drive around the island. We made stops at the north shore and Makapu‘u Point.

It was a red-eye flight back to Los Angeles then to Dallas. We got upgraded on the long leg, HNL-LAX which was great. Great meal and a casual nap.

World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument

Crossroads of the PacificDirection sign to many destinations

USS Arizona MemorialYou can see the oil in the water 27,000 days later.

USS Arizona Memorial

USS Arizona BB 39

USS Arizona MemorialWar Memorial of the Pacific Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Pearl Harbor Pano

USS Arizona MemorialViewed from the main national monument grounds

USS Arizona AnchorRecovered from the USS Arizona Cast in Chester, PA 1911. 19585 pounds/8.88 metric tons

USS Bowfin torpedo chutes

Inside the USS Bowfin

Electrical room on the USS Bowfin

USS Bowfin

Battleship Missouri Memorial

Chester Nimitz statue

USS Missouri

USS Missouri

USS Missouri Surrender SpotOver this spot on 2 September 1945 the instrument of formal surrender of Japan to the allied powers was signed thus bringing to a close the second world war

World War II Surrender Documents

Worst room on the ship

View from USS Missouri

USS Missouri overlooking the USS Arizona Memorial

Japanese Zero Fighter

Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero Fighter

F4F-3 Wildcat

F-14D Tomcat

P-40E Warhawkp

SBD Dauntless

Waves crashing at Kahauloa CovePictures don't do this beautiful place justice.

Lanai Lookout

Waves crashing at Wawamalu Beach Park

Makapuu LookoutLookout on the island of Oahu, Hawaii

Makapuu Lookout

Me overlooking the water

Makapu'u PointOverlooking the water and Kāohikaipu Island State Seabird Sanctuary

Makapu'u Point

Near Pokole Point

Seems like paradise

Kualoa Regional Park

Kualoa Regional Park

Hawaii Waters

Sharks Cove

PhotobombI was trying to take a picture of the beautiful scenery and this happened

Sunset along Ala Moana Beach

Trip draws to a closeOne of the last pictures of my trip taken on the Ala Moana Beach. We headed to the airport shortly after this and flew home on a redeye