Tuesday, June 9, 2026 // Day 2
Wide awake at the dark hour of 2:30AM, I quickly realized I wasn’t getting back to sleep. I did some scrolling, some online shopping, and some email deleting while impatiently waiting for the sunrise at 5:45AM. I made it until about 5 before I went to sit on the balcony and listen to the waves comes in while waiting for the sun.
Once again, I headed down to the coffee cart in the front of the Sheraton for an açaí bowl. This time I got ‘The Antioxidant’ with granola, banana, blueberries, and cocoa.
Today I was meeting mom, dad, and Ike at 7:30 for our Pearl Harbor tour. Our shuttle driver (known to us as "cousin") picked us up in a much smaller bus than yesterday - probably only about 21 of us today. He gave us a brief tour of Honolulu before bringing us to Pearl Harbor. There, we watched the documentary about the events leading to Pearl Harbor, and what happened during the attack. Like most people (I assume), I know a fair amount about the Holocaust part of WWII, but never really learned much about why we were at war with Japan.
We took the shuttle boat out to the USS Arizona Memorial, and I can’t quite find the words to describe the feeling of being there. Humbling is the closest word I can think of, but its not quite right. One of the most intriguing things I learned was that there were survivors of the attack on the ship who, when they did eventually pass, chose to be buried in the wreckage among their fallen crewmates. From the memorial, you can see parts of the wreckage above and below the water line; both the bow and stern of the ship are marked with buoys. The USS Arizona points out to sea, as if it were ready for war. The ship also represents the beginning of the war.
Pointing back at the USS Arizona is the USS Missouri. This symbolizes a couple things - one, it points at the USS Arizona to stand guard over her. Two, it symbolizes the end of the war with Japan, as the Japanese signed the surrendering paperwork on the USS Missouri as it was stationed in Okinawa.
After our time at the USS Arizona Memorial, we boat shuttled back to land where we left the grounds in our shuttle bus and went over to the USS Missouri. Once aboard the ship we had a 30 minute tour and then plenty of time to roam on our own. Again, I knew very little about the Missouri, but I learned a lot.
For example, the was a Japanese kamikaze pilot who attempted to take her out. Fortunately for the crew, they shot the plane out of the sky before it could truly hit, leaving all crew members alive and the ship barely harmed. Unfortunately for the pilot, though he ejected from his seat, he crash landed on the USS Missouri ship flight deck and perished upon impact. The most interesting part of this story is that the captain of the USS Missouri ordered a proper burial at sea for this pilot, as he was only doing his duty to serve his country, just as they were. Not all of his crew agreed with this, but since the captain ordered, the crew did it. In order for the burial at sea to take place, they needed a flag from the 19-year-old pilot's home country. Not an easy task when you’re in the middle of the war with said country. Three crew members stayed up throughout the night to hand sew the flag in time for the burial. The reason this didn’t make big “media” news, despite being a controversial decision, was because on that day President Franklin D. Roosevelt died and that took over the news.
Our shuttle driver picked us up in the early afternoon to take us back to our hotels. Aaron and I couldn’t decide what we wanted for lunch, so we decided to go to the pool instead. Looking from our balcony however, we could see there were no empty pool chairs. Which led to us then going downstairs to the hotel’s Baskin Robins and using our free scoop coupons for “lunch.” Not long after my brother texted asking if we were going to the beach, so we decided to meet them there.
We didn’t plan to stay long, so I honestly didn’t think I would even get in the water, but before I knew it we had waded 50+ yards into the ocean and were jumping with the waves. It was so busy, but so delightful. The waves were bigger than any I’d ever been in before!
After an hour or so we headed back to our respective hotels. We showered and decided to go to Paia Fish Market for dinner. Of all the gin joints, we ran into my parents and brother there as well. I ordered the fish tacos which came with slaw and French friends. Aaron got the clam clowder, cajun blackened mahi mahi with slaw and fries. The tacos were okay - definitely nothing compared to Duke’s!
I was bound and determined to find a Hawaiian shirt before we left to go home, and when I saw a shop across from dinner I had to stop. Glad I did, because I found the perfect dress! Funny enough, I think it’s the same print that I had wanted to get as a shirt for Aaron yesterday but they didn’t have his size. Which led to me needing to find a matching shirt for him because they match the leis his mom got us. We searched the stores and couldn’t find anything. We found the exact print in a different color and multiple stores, but not the one I was looking for!
We walked back to the coastline along our hotel just in time for the sunset, then headed up to our room to hang out on the balcony, enjoying the cacophony of city sounds and waves.
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