Pearl Harbor

Finally, it's time for some posts about our recent trip to Hawaii! Upon arrival, we collected our luggage, which actually made it to our final destination, unlike our Barbados experience. After picking up our rental car, we had a self-guided tour of the south side of Oahu...aka, we got lost on the way to the hotel. Two hours later, we were all checked into our room...even though the airport was only 15 minutes from where we were staying. The next day, we spent several hours at Pearl Harbor, where we toured the USS Missouri, USS Bowfin, and the USS Arizona Memorial. It was an extremely powerful experience, and well worth the time. Some interesting facts I learned were: 1) The deck of the USS Missouri was the site of the signing of the document in which the Axis powers surrendered (a copy of the document is pictured below); 2) The USS Bowfin was nicknamed the "Pearl Harbor Avenger" due to the fact that it destroyed so many vessels to avenge the events occurring at Pearl; 3) 1177 people died at Pearl Harbor; 4) There is still a bunch of oil on the USS Arizona, and it continues to spurt out, thus it is called the "blood" of the Arizona.

USS Missouri

USS Bowfin

USS Arizona Memorial