Hawaii- day 5- June 15th

Feels like we have been here in Oahu for so long- all of the cares of home have melted away and we are fully in that vacation mojo!  Today we had heavy use of both our legs and our hearts. Our hearts were heavy as we visited Pearl Harbor but first we started off tiring out our legs at diamond head national monument. We started off the day early again (Poor Noah) and drove to the crater called diamond head on the west end of Waikiki. The parking lot is actually in the middle of the crater!  We started our hike to the summit- which is a little less than a mile but a 600 foot ascent. Diamond head trail was built in the early 1900's to fortify Oahu and has some bunkers on it. The trail is steep and at the end has you walking up stairs, through a tunnel and finally up a spiral staircase. All worth it because the views from the top are amazing!  

 

We ended our time there with an early picnic lunch- in the middle of a crater- very cool. 

We then headed straight to Pearl Harbor. It's so amazing to be there after all of the reading and history lessons- to imagine what happened there 75 years ago. We got right on a shuttle to visit the U.S. Missouri. It is a huge battleship that spent some time in WWII towards the end and it is where the treaty with Japan was signed. The ship was HUGE and we toured it from top to bottom- starting with a tour guide who was full of information. When we were done with the Missouri, we went back to the visitors center and looked at some of he monuments and visitors information. We were so impressed with the information presented and the displays- we learned a lot. We then went on the 2pm tour of the Arizona. You first watch an incredible movie about the war and Pearl Harbor attack- which was fascinating. Then the ferry took us to the memorial- which was literally a huge battleship just underneath the water- where over 900 bodies are entombed. The water was oily as it is still leaking oil because there was so much on board. We walked away thankful for our servicemen and grateful for our freedom and country. We definitely ended our day with heavy hearts and tired legs- grateful for our blessings. 

We promised Leah sushi when we returned the rental car as the place was next door and boy was she in heaven!

Back at the hotel we needed some rest then we decided to check out the pool. 

Finally we capped off our day with a long walk down Waikiki and dinner at PF Changs. An amazing day!