O'ahu - Arrival and Pearl Harbor

 Since this is Hubby's first trip to Hawaii (the state), we made time and prioritization visiting O'ahu so we could go to Pearl Harbor.  This was actually a bit more complicated than normal due to Neighbor Island travel restrictions.  Similar to the COVID testing requirements to enter Hawaii yesterday from the mainland, one of our pre-travel swabs was for re-entry today!  

We woke bright and early which was easy due to jet lag and caught a 6:30 flight over to Honolulu. 

Goodbye Hawaii Island! 

Drink Service!  

First Stop: Rental Car Pickup!  While chatting up the Avis Preferred attendant, Wifey mentioned we were only on O'ahu for one day ... as a result, she asked if we'd like a Mustang convertable for the day .... "yes please!".  

Second Stop: Pearl Harbor!  - We pre purchased our tickets and audio tour to visit the memorial.  The audio tour was interesting, however several stations were also within a museum that provided video/audio information as well as text presentations. The conflicting input was alot.  All in all, I think doing the audio tour was a net positive.  We learned alot about both the events leading up to the attack as well as the results of the attack on O'ahu.  

After exploring the exhibits, we took a Navy operated ferry out to the Arizona Memorial.  

A video of our experience: 

Here you can look down into the water and see the USS Arizona where she still rests on the Ocean floor.  Interestingly, survivors of the attack who have later passed away still chose to be interred in the wreckage.  Their remains are given to Navy divers who perform the interment.   

The USS Arizona memorial is the white line on the horizon in the below photo.