Getting in the Last Few Moments on the Island

Friday was our last day on Oahu.  We had a list of things we wanted to do before having to head to the airport.  Our first stop was Puu Ualakaa Park. This park contains the best views from Mount Tantalus. In fact, if you watch the movie Blue Hawaii with Elvis Presley, this is where he and his girlfriend went for a picnic. In the movie you can see how the park and skyline of Honolulu and Waikiki looked almost 40 years ago. It is much different today.

On to the next lookout:

From this lookout, you have a clear view of the windward side of the island.  Needless to say, it’s a bit windy at the top.

Did I mention that it tends to be windy at this spot?

This spot is also famous for a battle.

Our last stop was back downtown where we were on Thursday.  The boys wanted to visit the Queen’s Medical Center and learn about some history regarding their grandfather.

In 1959, the First Open Heart Surgery in Hawaii was performed at The Queen's Medical Center. This was only 2 years after open heart surgery was performed on the Mainland.  A heart and lung machine (which allows blood to be oxygenated and circulated during surgery) was custom built by the physicians for a cost of $13,000. The procedure took 4 hours and blood diverted for 25 minutes. The patient was 36 year old Harumi Yoshimoto who had a congenital heart defect. The surgical team consisted of 14 heath professional and was lead by Dr. Scott Brainard.

The first open heart surgery in Hawaii, shown above, was performed at Queen's in 1959.

In 2007, a new wing was dedicated in the cardiac unit of the hospital.  Scott’s dad was not able to travel to Hawaii for the ceremony, but if you look in the photo just to the right of Nick’s head, the woman on the phone is Harumi Yoshimoto, the woman they performed the first surgery on in 1959.  She is on the phone to Scott’s dad.  So in a way, he was able to be there that day.

They boys were also blessed to meet this nurse who had worked with their grandfather and had many wonderful things to say about him.

I had already visited the hospital the last time we were in Hawaii and I chose to take advantage of the last hour of our vacation exploring downtown.  This was something the boys needed to do by themselves.

I had really wanted to take a tour of the ‘Iolani Palace.  This palace was constructed in 1882 and was outfitted with the most up-to-date amenities, including indoor plumbing. Gas chandeliers installed when the Palace was first built were replaced by electric lighting five years later (less than seven years after Edison invented the first practical incandescent bulb). The King also installed a modern communications system that included the recently invented telephone.

Queen Lili`uokalani took over rule on January 29, 1891 and was determined to strengthen the political power of the Hawaiian monarchy and to limit suffrage to subjects of the kingdom.

Her attempt to promulgate a new constitution galvanized opposition forces into the Committee of Safety, which was composed of Hawaii-born citizens of American parents, naturalized citizens and foreign nationals, many of whom were businessmen,sugar plantation owners, and businessmen. This group, with the support of the American Minister to Hawaii, orchestrated the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and the establishment of a provisional government. On January 17, 1893, Queen Lili`uokalani yielded her authority.

In 1895, an abortive attempt by Hawaiian royalists to restore Queen Lili`uokalani to power resulted in the queen's arrest. She was forced to sign a document of abdication that relinquished all her future claims to the throne. Following this, she endured a humiliating public trial before a military tribunal in her former throne room.

Convicted of having knowledge of a royalist plot, Lili`uokalani was fined $5000 and sentenced to five years in prison at hard labor. The sentence was commuted to imprisonment in an upstairs bedroom of `Iolani Palace.

During her imprisonment, the queen was denied any visitors other than one lady in waiting. She began each day with her daily devotions followed by reading, quilting, crochet-work, or music composition.

After her release from `Iolani Palace, the Queen remained under house arrest for five months at her private home, Washington Place. For another eight months she was forbidden to leave Oahu before all restrictions were lifted.

The tour was great, I wish I would have had a little more time to look around, or been there an hour earlier for the guided tour.  Add another item on the list of things to see next time.

On my way back to The Queen’s Medical Center, I came across these three touring the State Capital building.

Soaking it all in up to the very last moment!

Our trip was wonderful!  Everyone got along great and I really think that we were able to fit in something for each of us.  It doesn’t matter how much time you have, it’s never enough. 

Thanks for joining us on our adventure.  Be sure to tune again soon to see what new adventures we can get ourselves into.

Official Tourists

Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from driving and let someone else lead the way.  Thursday was our day to be official tourists.

We signed up for a tour of Pearl Harbor through our hotel.  The boys were not expecting the very large tour bus that pulled up in front of our hotel at 9:00am.

The tour actually started in downtown Honolulu at the State Capital building.  The driver told all sorts of stories about the Hawaiian government and the history of how the islands were originally governed by a monarchy.  Hawaii is the only place in the United States that ever had a palace with a Queen.  We’ll get back to this topic tomorrow.

We also learned that the Royal Palm Tree is a very special tree and is only planted in very special places.  Then, as if planned by the tour, this Royal Palm was delivered on a large flat bed to right where we were stopped.

In the heart of downtown is the King Kamehameha I statue. 

The plaque on the King Kamehameha I monument reads:

Thomas Ridgeway Gould
King Kamehameha I
Bronze, 1883

King Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819) is generally recognized as the most important figure in Hawaiian history. He was a wise ruler who enacted laws to protect the defenseless and to bring order to a newly united kingdom. An astute statesman, he encouraged foreign trade and the use of foreign technology, while avoiding foreign rule. His greatest achievement, through warfare and diplomacy, was the unification of the Hawaiian Islands.

As befits a man of enormous historic and symbolic importance, this statue depicts King Kamehameha I wearing the regalia of an ali'i nui(paramount chief or king) which includes the mahiole (feathered helmet), the 'ahu'ula (a long feathered cloak signifying chiefly rank), and the ka 'ei kapu o Liloa (the sacred sash of Liloa; a feathered sash, worn around the waist and over the shoulder, a symbol of supreme authority). He carries the ihe laumeki (barbed spear) in his left hand to symbolize his life as a brave warrior. He extends his right hand in a welcoming gesture of aloha to denote his life as a wise and just statesman and unifier of a people and a kingdom.

For those of you that are more interested in pop culture facts, the building behind me is the headquarters of the new version of the TV show “Hawaii 5-0”

Oh, and for those of you who think that Hawaii is an island paradise with secluded beaches and tropical locations, this is what you see pretty much everywhere in Honolulu (and this was 10:00am on a Thursday):

We made it to Pearl Harbor just in time for our 11:00am tickets to the Battleship Arizona.  We watched a 25 minute movie about December 7, 1941.  The movie had amazing footage from that day, including actual footage of the Battleship Arizona exploding. 

Then it was boarding the boat for the trip out to the floating platform above the sunken ship.

On the way out to the Arizona, you pass the Battleship Missouri.  The Missouri was launched on Jan. 29, 1944, and commissioned on June 11, 1944. She was assigned to the Pacific Third Fleet and steamed into Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1944.

The USS Missouri was part of the force that carried out bombing raids over Tokyo and provided firepower in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. During the war’s final month, the “Mighty Mo” served as Admiral William “Bull” Halsey’s flagship for the Pacific Third Fleet.

The Missouri secured its place in history as the site of Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allied Forces on Sept. 2, 1945, ending World War II. The ceremony for the signing of the Formal Instrument of Surrender was conducted by Supreme Allied Commander, General Douglas A. MacArthur.  It’s very fitting that the ship that ended the war sits in the harbor where the war started.

We chose to skip the tour of the Missouri.  It added about three hours to the overall tour and meant that we would be picked up at 6:00am instead of 9:00am.  Something to add to the list already started for next time.

The Arizona Memorial is a very beautiful, haunting place.  Being out in the harbor, away from everything else, it’s so quiet standing on the platform.

As strange as it sounds, I think that because the whole memorial is white, it’s extremely peaceful.

The boys didn’t fool me at all.  They were loving playing the tourist.  Every time I turned around, they were hanging out with the bus driver, asking all sorts of questions.

Meanwhile, Scott was busy getting a stamp in his National Park Passport.  He was pretty proud that he remembered to bring it this time.

We weren’t sure if we should smile and act like we were having a good time, or look solemn.  This conversation actually caused everyone to smile even more.

We had fun playing the tourists and it was nice letting someone else do the driving.  This was the only day on the trip that we did not spend time in our rental car. 

Surfs Up!!!

When Scott first asked Nick what he wanted to do when we were in Hawaii, he immediately answered that he wanted to learn how to surf.  Welcome to Wednesday morning:

Scott Google’d surf schools in Waikiki and found the Hans Hedemann Surf School.  This was more of a find than just a random surf school.  See, Scott was childhood friends with Cy Hedemann (we still send a Christmas card every year) and unknown to Scott, his brother Hans started a surf school in 1997 after a successful career as a pro surfer.  It was an obvious choice!

Before we ever left the shop, the boys learned the three basic laws of “riding a wave”.  Umm, I just have to take a moment and tell you that the surf instructor was exactly what any girl imagined he would be.

Remember as a kid when you had to be able to swim all the way across the shallow end of the pool before the lifeguard would let you jump off the diving board?  Surf School is kinda like that.  You have to be able to “ride the lawn chair” before you can go in the water.

Once the boys passed the lawn chair test, they were finally headed down to the water.

I am pretty sure that this last minute conversation included trying to remember if balance was the second or third law of “riding a wave”.  You can also see that I parked my chair in the shade of the lifeguard tower.  I definitely did not want to get a sunburn and I found that this was the best place on the beach to protect myself.

The reality was that the surf school lesson lasted all of ten minutes.  It took longer to walk to the beach than it did to learn to surf. After making sure everyone was ready, the group headed out.  The boy’s group included an Australian couple on their honeymoon and a man and woman from Tokyo (who did not know each other).  Oh, and did I mention the highly qualified surf instructor!

The area of the beach where the boys surfed was right along side a stone pier that was also a fish sanctuary.  The surf instructor recommended that I check it out.  And being that he is a professional, I took his advice.

At this point I will turn over the photography to the official surf school photographer. 

There were a couple of mishaps early on.

But once they remembered the three laws, in the right order, they looked like they had been doing this their whole life.

Ok, that’s not one of the boys, but did I mention what a professional the surf instructor was?

I love this series of photos.  This Japanese girl did not speak one word of English, but she was a great sport!

I am pretty sure that based on the smiles, I wouldn’t be surprised if surfboards were on someone’s Christmas list next year.

Scott’s friend Mary called Wednesday afternoon and invited us to meet up with her.  Mary and Scott were neighbors growing up.  Mary’s mom Molly still lives in the house Mary grew up in.  Mary’s friend Ray rents the house next door, the one that Scott grew up in.  Mary had talked to Ray and Ray invited us up to the house for a tour.  It had been almost 30 years since Scott had been in the house.

We drove up to the house and got the tour.  Some remodeling had been done, but the house was close to the same. Scott wanted to take some pictures around the house. 

Sometimes it’s hard to get everyone interested in taking pictures, and sometimes you have to do something silly in order to get the others to smile.

The views from the house were beautiful.

Here is downtown Honolulu from the front driveway.

This might be our Christmas card photo for next year!

It was a day of new adventures and walks down memory lane.  Hopefully the boys will take their families back to Hawaii and 30 years and teach their kids how to surf.