remembering pearl harbor

it's been years since we went to the pearl harbor memorial.  and since the bean and the old lady's special friend hadn't ever been, we managed to snag tickets for our third day in hawaii.  thankfully, the hub was feeling better and was able to join us again.

we started the day off with breakfast in the condo - bacon and chocolate macadamia nut pancakes.  yummy.

it was a short drive to pearl harbor, and picking up our tickets was quick and easy.

we had plenty of time before our tour started, so we looked around a bit.  as one would expect, there was lots and lots of military equipment on display.

then we headed out to see the memorial exhibits.

i never understand people who smile for photos or take selfies in areas like this, but maybe that's just me.  seems...odd.

we had just enough time to walk through this exhibit before our tour began.

 and then here we watched a short film with actual footage from the attack on pearl harbor.

 when we exited the theater, the ferry was waiting to take us across to the uss arizona memorial.

here we were told that it was customary to use the time at the memorial to quietly reflect and pay respect to the men who were still entombed in the sunken ship below us.  as always, a majority of the folks disregarded the request and talked the entire time they were there.

after the short ferry ride back, we headed towards the exit and passed an author signing a book he'd written about the attack and a pearl harbor survivor who was there speaking to people and posing for pictures.

we decided to head to waikiki and have some lunch:

then we hopped back in the car for our next adventure.  it's nonstop with this crew, you know.  and with only a handful of days to enjoy paradise, we had to pack as much into it as we could.  you'd do the same thing!

i don't know.  maybe you'd just use the time to chill and relax by the pool or the beach.  either way is good.