It’s here. State number 50 – Alaska! It is hard to believe we are almost done with our quest to visit all 50 states before Graduation. Technically, Michael graduated last week, but we are still counting this as success. The travel notebook is ready, the check list is done and the Browns are on their way!

An early afternoon departure out of Raleigh made for a leisurely morning to finalize all our last minute things, and then were off!

To avoid some of our prior close-call/sprints through the airport, we arrived today with plenty of time. It takes a full day of travel to get to Anchorage – RDU to O’Hara, and O’Hare to Anchorage. So we grabbed a snack/lunch in Raleigh, and jumped on the first leg of our travel day.

We made it to Chicago! Quick layover and we were right back in the air for our 7-hour cross country flight to Anchorage!

Once we crossed into Canada, the clouds cleared, and the topography and scenery were amazing! It was so gorgeous, it looked fake!

Someone may have gotten annoyed with me leaning over to take photos🤪

The interactive maps on the plane were really cool… see Mt Macon on the map, see Mt Macon out the window.

WE MADE IT! Welcome to Alaska! NUMBER 50!!!

Bags + 1 cooler ✔️ Rental Car ✔️ (Seriously, if you aren’t an AARP member for discounted car rental, you’re crazy!) and we were on our way! Not a bad backdrop for a city.

And it’s not Mom’s Cafe, but maybe it’s a satellite location?

Alaska is 4 hours behind East Coast Time. Our 8pm arrival was midnight to us, and our 9pm dinner was 1am to us. And some of us do not adjust as well to the time change.

By the time we finished dinner, it was 10pm here (2am at home). This is 10pm in Alaska.

I for one am looking forward to seeing how much Alaska we can pack into 20-22 hours of sunlight every day! Some people are not😂 We can do some serious Clark -Griswold-vacationing with that much daylight!!

Last day of this view and couldn’t resist one more picture

One thing we have forgotten to mention throughout this trip is the State of Hawaii’s love of “Speed Humps” versus Speed Bumps. The hump is definitely more gradual than a bump, but we have cracked up each time we saw them… guess gradual is more vacation-friendly 😂

We made it to the airport and were SO thankful we were not on Hawaiian Air today. They were having crazy computer issues so no online check in and nothing could be done ahead of time. Tempers were HOT and the line was awful!

Then we got to TSA and were again thankful for God’s provision that we had the CLEAR screening ahead of time (TSA Pre-check). Actually, we bought it last year when we were about to miss our flight out of LaGuardia. LaGuardia is the Walmart of TSA: Only open one TSA lane on Holiday weekends. Later, we did find out that the TSA delay was partially due to this being a training day for the drug sniffing dogs who were smelling everyone who went through Maui on July 5th. (The dogs were really cute in their little uniforms.)

We made it through and grabbed lunch while we waited to board our first flight. I couldn’t help but snap some airport pictures because they are such a beloved moment in our travels 🤣

Even spotted Maui, the demi-god from Moana 😀

One more technically Hawaii pic, and we were off…

We left Maui at 1:30 Hawaii time, and landed at 9:44 West coast time. We watched a lovely sunset on the way and then Hello LA

Back on the mainland, we had 1 hour to grab a snack/dinner. Then we are off for our first overnight flight. Thankfully, we snagged exit row seats for a little extra leg room.

And since we saw the sunset may as well get the sunrise as well 🤪

Not sure I’ve ever seen the sunset and sunrise in same 24 hours… so can mark that off a list.

Bags picked up, car loaded and we are headed home… but not before picking up the one thing we couldn’t find in Hawaii…

Since Mom’s Cafe wasn’t in Hawaii, not a lot of stats for this trip other than mileage. This trip definitely wins as lowest mileage ever!

Maui 314

Hawai’i 454

Oahu 209

Kaua’i 57

Total: 1,034 

And that’s it… just one more state to go 🥹♥️

One more morning with this view 🌺

Based on my alleged snoring last night, and my perfect sleep score, I think my body likes vacation 😊 Wonder if I could get a doctor’s note to stay on vacation permanently… for medicinal reasons? 🤣

We said goodbye to the Grand Hyatt and made our way back to the LiHue airport. The view never gets old… there is literally every shade of green on this island.

One flight back to Maui, and one more day in Hawaii and we’re headed home.

A quick flight and we were back in Maui. We are staying in the Wailea section of Maui tonight. It’s about 20 minutes closer to the airport, plus it gave us a chance to see a different part of Maui. We were planning to ask about fireworks for later tonight, but the hotel was one step ahead:

We grabbed lunch at the outdoor lounge while we waited for our room, and added bonus we got a 4th of July picture from Charlotte of sweet Scarlett (Sampson wouldn’t be still long enough for photo 🤪)

I think the boys are a little worn out because once we got in the room, no one was terribly motivated to do much of anything 😀

It’s a different view in Wailea versus Ka’annapali but still beautiful

We headed out for an early dinner so we could be back for the fireworks. Our bartender earlier suggested a place in Paia, so we headed that way. The drive over was gorgeous as we made our way along the coast.

The recommended restaurant was too crowded so we wandered around a bit, and found a really neat place, Ohana’s. Great food and singer/band who was hilarious!

We went in search of some ice cream for dessert, and found the cutest food truck area. We also found Reefs Real Fruit Ice Cream. Oh my word – It was awesome! It was hard dip vanilla ice cream, missed with fresh fruit and then blended until smooth. It was a cross between soft serve and milkshake consistency and WOW was it good!

We hurried back to hotel to change and get ready to watch the fireworks from the pool. Because none of us have ever watched fireworks from a pool before 😁 Added bonus, the drive back was just as beautiful!

I think Hawaii may have saved her best sunset for last…

We watched the fireworks while sitting in lounge chairs in a pool in Wailea, Hawaii. That’s a pretty perfect Fourth of July 🇺🇸

One more sleep, and then we start making our way across 5,000 miles to home. We have had so much fun, but I think we are ready for home.

This may have been the laziest vacation day we have ever had. It went against every Clark Griswold instinct in me. Other than eat, we did absolutely nothing and it was wonderful!

We slept in and made it down for the biggest breakfast buffet we have ever seen: Pancakes, French Toast, Bacon, Sausage, Cereal, Yogurt, All Kinds of Fruit, Miso Soup, Fried Rice, Shrimp, Salmon, Seafood Ric, Eggs Benedict, Omlet Station… I cannot think of one thing the buffet didn’t have! It was pricey, but since it was brunch, I doubt we will need lunch. Plus, I’m fairly certain they lost money on these two…

As we waddled back to our rooms, we saw a little tiny Jesus ♥️

Mike and I decided to set up on the beach for a few hours and boys hung out at the pool. The waves and currents were a little less rough today, so the boys tried swimming in the Pacific Ocean for a while. The water is gorgeous, but man! These waves are CRAZY! We napped and read, and napped some more. Someone (me) may have napped so hard that their snoring woke them up. 😴

After a few hours, we headed up to pool to join the boys. Of course, we had to get a fruity drink and just enjoy being lazy together.

The boys headed for the gym for another soccer run, and we watched The Meg. (Glad we aren’t going on a boat tomorrow. 🤣)

We dressed up for dinner tonight at Tidepools here at hotel. Thankfully I remembered to get a photo, because all 4 of us are rarely dressed up together.

Dinner was delicious and was the perfect capstone to our time in Kaua’i. We will update the favorite island contest tomorrow, but I’m betting there is a new champ.

We have decided that Waikiki may not be our favorite place for morning coffee. I don’t think we would have a problem waking up in Kaua’i every morning. Although, a couple of us really aren’t interested in the view quite yet.

We don’t need to head out for today’s activity until 11:30 or so, so we took our time getting ready. We grabbed a light breakfast at the hotel and just enjoyed this view for a while.

Then it was off to the Koloa Zipline!! I booked this activity a few months ago, and Mike said then that he would give this a try. However, since we got to Kaua’i and in light of the prior motion sickness issues, he said this was going to be a game time decision. So, we arrived at Koloa Zipline, and after using the last bathroom before we took off, we headed to check-in. Koloa ZipLine is on the old Koloa Sugar Mill, so lots of old sugar cane fields, a hand-dug reservoir, and gorgeous views.

We got all of our gear, and of course had to love on their puppy named Napoleon. He’s suited up, still deciding…

We loaded the truck to head to the first line, and Michael go tickled different at all the different skins tones of our family.

Last chance – Gotta decide to jump off or head back…

Leo and Michael jumped on and were on their way. I followed for a quick line. We got to the other side, and waited…

HE DID IT! And more importantly, he liked it!

Line 2 got a little longer and faster so we snagged a video for evidence, that Mike not only ziplined, but loved it!

Every line got longer or faster or higher – it was so much fun! And we met the nicest families: one from Chicago and one from Los Angeles.

By the time we hit Line 4, we were flying like superman (which made you go even faster). But it was a little more uncomfortable for the men versus the women because of how the harness fit.

First, he’s not sure if he going to zipline and now he’s switching up positions?!?! Who is the Hawaiian version of Mike?!?!?!

This may be one of the coolest things we have learned ever… This is a Hala Tree, also called a walking tree because they will move 10-15 feet over their lifetime. The male and female versions will move toward each other. The roots are above ground and will grow, die, and grow in different directions taking the tree with it as it searches for a mate. The fruit looks a little like pineapple but it is definitely not – extremely bitter and quite the laxative 😬

At line 6, we could go upside down if we wanted to try. Micheal said “absolutely!” Leo said “if he can do it, I can do it.” And I said “when am I ever going to get this chance again?” and Mike said “yall are nuts!” 🤣

We took a break on top of one of the hills for water and some of the best granola bars I’ve had. One of our guides assured me that I could find these on Amazon. (I hope so since I have become addicted to Maui Chips which you can’t get on Amazon unless you want to pay $12 per bag??? Maybe Santa has a connection 🤪)

Before we started Ziplining again, our guide, Jaidan, asked if we wanted a dinosaur picture? We are on the island where they did film shots for Jurassic Park, of course we want the dinosaur picture! So Jaidan grabs a nearby plastic dinosaur and says look at the top of that tree and look scared…

Some people are getting tired… or maybe tired of my picture taking?

We made it to line 8, the longest (almost half a mile) and fastest (54 miles per hour). This has to be the longest zip line I have ever seen!

We jumped on, going Superman style to go the fastest way possible! Because why not?

BEST DAY!

After all that, we were starving, so we headed first to a little place Mike found online and our guides said was great! But they were closed on Wednesdays ☹️. So we tried another place they recommended that made Michael’s heart smile – Mexican food 🇲🇽 and the name… Da Crack 🤣.

Everything smelled delicious! Da Crack offers no seating, so we headed back to the hotel with our box of Mexican food and had lunch on the balcony. (We could have sold that food for 5x what we paid because it smelled so good on the elevator).

We decided to spend the rest of today being lazy at the pool and ocean. However since we were running out of clothes, we did do a few loads of laundry in between pool/lounge chair times. We dropped a load in the washer, set the timer on my phone, and scooted in every 43 minutes from the pool.

These two ♥️

Since we were still sort-of full from our late lunch, we decided to head back to restaurant at the hotel and have appetizers and desserts.

And of course, another astrophotograph 😊

Tomorrow is our last no travel day, so we are going to be as lazy as possible and enjoy every minute. It is starting to hit me that once this trip is finished, we only have one more state before we can check off all 50!?! And then we will have college boys.

I suppose we better start thinking of our next goal 😉

One last morning with this view and our little coffee shop, and then we said goodbye to Oahu.

We went right by what has become my new favorite road: Do you like it or do you likelike it? 🤣

Car returned, traversed the TSA line (and met the nicest lady from Lexington, NC who works there – she told us what’s been going wrong with Mike’s tickets that has forced him to go back through ticketing twice at every Hawaiian Airlines flight.) and were at our gate ready to go

We made it to Kaua’i, the oldest island in the Hawaiian island chain.

Rental car picked up… this one took a little maneuvering since it is technically an SUV but a smaller SUV. Smaller suitcase in the backseat, and we were off. We headed into Kaua’i and grabbed lunch at the Kaua’i Beer Company. The food was outstanding, and the service was … adequate. Honestly, I think we arrived at a time when most folks were just there to drink beer, so we will give them a break on being slow on service

Kaua’i is the green island and now we know why. There is vegetation/greenery everywhere! Yesterday we saw the area where they filmed a lot of Jurassic, but the scene with the waterfall was filmed here in Kaua’i. Despite those big mountains, Kaua’i is also the flatest island.

It may be the flatest and greenest, but it may also be the most beautiful. Or at the least the Grand Hyatt Resort is the most beautiful resort we have ever seen! We arrived and were greeted with leis and “alohas” all around. They definitely have it figured because you walk into the hotel and are greeted with this view: Ever seen anything more Hawaii than this?

And this place is HUGE! The resort covers over 50 acres including multiple pools, hot tubs, water slides, a lazy river and golf course. We decided we are glad we didn’t come here first, because we may never have left. For all the hustle and bustle of Honolulu and O’ahu, Kauai is just peaceful.

We got settled in our room, and then headed out to check out the beach. Again, it looks like a postcard. But these are definitely more the waves you would expect in Hawaii. Boys decided to go check out the pools, and Mike and I stayed at beach.

We finally found the boys in the pools and had to check out the fruity-drinks on this island too – the virgin daiquiris are delicious! Then we spent a few hours swimming floating and checking out the waterfalls and rocks.

We watched another gorgeous sunset… we gotten a bit addicted to watching the progression of the sunset – so if you see me standing in my backyard watching it at home, just keep walking 🤪

We had dinner at the resort and our waiter, who was nice but the fastest talker I’ve ever met, told us that astrophotography worked really well here since there very few overhead lights. (To save you the Google search, because I already had to do it, astrophotography is taking pictures of stars) Leo gave it a try and looks like the next few days of posts will now end with astrophotographic shots 🤣

Tomorrow we heading off resort for an activity 😏 and to check out the Grand Canyon of the Pacific 😊

We have done so well on this vacation only having one activity per day. Today’s activity was the Polynesian Cultural Center on the northeast side of O’ahu. But that activity wasn’t until later today so we enjoyed a nice slow morning. I think I could have coffee here every morning for the rest of my life

The bottom 2 floors of our hotel are filled with shops, an arcade and restaurants so we slept in and had brunch at the coffee/pastry shop.

Then we picked up beach chairs and towels and spent a few hours on the beach – with everyone else in Waikiki 🤣

After the beach, we changed and grabbed snacks since we are having a huge buffet for dinner and headed off to the opposite side of the island. We took a different route than yesterday so we could see other parts of O’ahu and so glad we did. We passed the ranch that was used for scenes in Jurassic Park, and saw some of the most gorgeous coastline!

The drive was gorgeous and even though there were a few twists and turns, it was nothing compared to the Road to Hana 🤣

The Polynesian Cultural Center is on every “must do” list on O’ahu. Honestly, I was a little worried that it was going to be another Pink Jeep Tour (see the blog post from Grand Canyon). But it was AWESOME! It’s like Epcot Center for the Polynesian Islands, with areas for the islands of Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, Aotearoa (New Zealand), and Tahiti. Each area had some kind of show, and lots of hands on activities and games. It has been open for over 50 years and covers 40+ acres.

The first section we checked out was the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame. Junior Seau, Marcus Mariotta, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Troy Palomalu are all Polynesian and in the Hall of Fame.

Then we began our visit to the islands. First up was Samoa. Their chief was hilarious! One of the ladies at dinner said he had worked here for 20+ years and was always one of the favorites. We learned to split a coconut, make fire and climb a coconut tree, the Samoan way.

After Samoa, we headed to Aotearoa. The boys competed in a stick game… basically, you stand in a circle with sticks. As you let go of your stick, and slide to another players spot/stick, other players grab your stick.You get eliminated when don’t catch a stick.

Then we tried our hand at spinning Poi bags… you swing these in a circle which seems easy enough until each hang is supposed to go a different direction. 🤣 The instructor told us they learned to do this when they were young and continued because it would strengthen their wrists for spear and stick fighting.

Each island also had a tribal tattoo you could get… so of course, we did.

Then we headed over to Fiji for lessons in music and coconut splitting.

Next up was Tahiti. We checked out the Men’s Eating hut and tried poi for the first time. Poi is made from the root of the taro plant and full of vitamin C and D. It is one of the main reason Tahitians didn’t suffer from scurvy like Englishmen did. And once you peel and mash the root, it begins to ferment and is good for a month. It really had no taste so Tahitians mix with things like dried fish. Boys also tried their hand at a game sort of like bowling. You rolled a puck on its side through 2 sticks. Then they also tried their hand at casting nets.

At the Hawaiian section, we tried a game similar to cup & ball, except they added an extra step of start in the cup, flip to touch the back of the cup, and then get it back in the cup… it almost made me cuss, so I quit 🤣

We briefly checked at the Tongan island but honestly we were right up against their closing time so missed most of their activities.

We then headed over to the Mission Settlement. This showed the influence of settlers to the island through Churches, schools and technology like the printing press.

(Pro Tip: we really needed a little more time, so I would give about 3-4 hours for all the islands in order to see all the exhibitions and activities in each area)

Next stop was the buffet. You never really know what to expect at a buffet… could be good, could be nauseating. So, we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best – and we were NOT disappointed! First, the building is HUGE!

Then the food: they had everything! A beef sirloin carving station, a whole roast chicken carving station, a tuna (sushi) carving station, Chinese food, Korean food, chicken tenders, fresh fruit, salad bar, sushi, seafood, ice cream… other than sweet tea, they had it all!!!

It was fantastic and we ate and ate and ate! Finally, we waddled out but not before seeing the smartphone charging station

We headed into the Pacific Theater for the show, Ha: Breath of Life. It told the story of little boy who was born on one island and then traveled to different islands for different events in his life.

They had dancing and story telling from each island as well as finger dancing and hula dancers, along with cool special effects with fire and water. It was so so good! We really didn’t know what to expect, but we all loved it! (Sorry, no pictures or cell phone use during the show)

We had the best time!

Tomorrow we say goodbye to O’ahu and head to our last island, Kaua’i. The scores in the favorite island contest have changed a bit: O’ahu is now the favorite of all four Browns! (No pressure Kaua’i but it’s going to take a lot to upset O’ahu.)

Today, we headed to the famous North Shore to see how North Carolinians could handle the Hawaiian waves… Turns out we aren’t too shabby!

We loaded up with towels and beach chairs in Waikiki and drove through the center of Oahu. We passed the University of Hawaii (thankfully no Brown boys want to apply), and grabbed breakfast inside L’ami Bakery, a Korean Bakery located inside H Mart, a Korean grocery store. The bakery was pretty good and the grocery store was just fascinating. Almost everything was written in Korean, and the products were completely foreign to us. Anyone for a glass of cabbage and broccoli juice?

Again, the changes in the landscape were crazy – these jagged hills were so cool to see – hopefully the picture does them justice. They were so pretty, they almost looked fake.

We headed on to Hale’lwa, and passed by the Dole Plantation. Apparently that red dirt that we were covered in while riding ATVs is also great for growing pineapples. There had to be 1,000 acres of pineapple plants!

Nothing like spending your day in a Tsunami zone! 🤪

We met up with our surfing coaches, Brandon and Michaela from North Shore Surf Girls. The Company was started by Bonzi Betty, who was our photographer today. 72-years old and she still surfs every day! 🏄‍♀️ After we got our rash guard shirts, we headed to the beach to do the dry part of our lesson – learning the steps to get on the board.

While we were getting our land lesson, Brandon swam out into the ocean to drop of buoy for use when waiting our turn but also to know where to paddle back to. Then we headed into the water. Let’s start with the paddling out… Oh. My. Word. Our arms were on fire! When you see people surfing on television and movies, they just paddle out like it’s on glass… zipping right along. Oh heck no, that is so not reality! We were all exhausted – even the boys who are in great shape! When our arms stopped being jelly, we were ready to surf!

Some of us, fell a couple of time and then were naturals… others of us, just kept falling. BUT everyone got up a few times which our coaches said was great for the whole group to stand up.

We even had a little seal swimming along with us. He was so cute and it was amazing to see a seal, right there in the water with us, not in a cage, or a zoo, just swimming along!

After an hour, Mike headed into shore. He said he would rather watch up than drown in the water. An hour later, the boys and I headed in as well. It was an incredible day!

We dryed off and wiped as much of the sand off as possible, and headed to the food trucks of the North Shore. It is literally a lot, where 10 food trucks made an outside edge, charge $2 for parking, and set up shop with a few picnic tables. There are chickens and birds and a few lizards walking around (not inside the food trucks 😉) We heard from at least 4 people, and our surf coaches, that Giovanni’s is absolutely amazing… and they were all correct! Best shrimp of our lives… even the vacation contrarian agreed!

Then we headed over to the Haleiwa Fruit Shack for dessert. We decided to get smoothies, each a little different. They were amazing, using fresh sugar cane that they cut and pressed right in front of us. The owner would ask you to hand him fruit from the front counter, which he peeled and put in your smoothie. The owner’s dad was there working with him too. He was hilarious and may or may not have been as high as a kite, but he was working and kept us entertained.

Absolutely stuffed, we explored the North Shore and did a little shopping.

Boys decided they were still wiped from surfing and just wanted to hang out of the beach in Waikiki, so off we went… Leo said some of Hawaii reminded him of Montana. We agreed, except for the pineapple plants 😀

We saw another rainbow – no wonder Hawaii has a rainbow on their license plates. We have seen a rainbow on every island so far, and sometime more that one.

Back at the hotel, Mike volunteered to take shopping bags and backpacks back to the room for us… which included Michael new giant hat. Bless him!

We all finally made it to the beach, and after sitting for a couple of minutes, the boys headed back over to the giant sand bag barriers and the wrestling began 🤪 I wonder if when they are married and we all travel together they’ll still wrestle like this? (I hope so ♥️)

Another gorgeous sunset ☀️

Mike found 3 restaurants for dinner and the boys had to choose, so off we went to Sensai Seafood Restaurant. Turns out it is Sensai Seafood House and D&T’s steak house combined (which seemed weird at first, but whatever). Everything was delicious! and they have a photographer walking around – we liked a few of her poses, but we had to politely decline the heart-hands photo she wanted Mike and I to take and boys said no thank you to the pose that looked like StepBrothers movie poster 🤣

A ten-minute walk home and we were lights out by 11pm, which is 5am EST. We have finally adjusted to Hawaii-time, so readjusting in a week to EST is going to be a beast!

Before today’s adventures…

We started our day fueled up on coffee, frappes and pastries, and then hit the road for a 20-minute drive to Pearl Harbor. (Pro tip: bring a clear bag or only carry a wrist-size bag, and refillable water bottle. Leave everything else in the car). Of all the historic sites we have visited, Pearl Harbor may have been one of the most solemn. We have all heard our parents tell their tale of where they were when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, but to be here was incredibly serene.

We arrived around 9am and decided to watch the USS Arizona movie before our timed tickets out to the Arizona. The movie gave the details leading up to December 7, 1941 and did a great job (especially for some of my non-history people). We headed into another theater before loading the shuttle boat to the Arizona. This Park Ranger should be in Hollywood. He was awesome telling about the history and reverence of the Arizona (think a Morgan Freeman voice).

The sailors and Marines on the shuttles again made sure to remind everyone of the expected reverence of the Arizona. The best advice was to treat it like a national cemetery because for these hundreds of men, it is.

The concave design is to reflect the defeat and horror of the attack in the middle and then the rise of hope on the ends. Along the outside edge is the tree of life reflected in the missing stones.

The Arizona itself lays perpendicular to the Memorial. When the bombing began, a bomb from a Japanese plane went through the ship and ignited all of the ammunition and powder carried on the Arizona. The resulting explosions blew the entire USS Arizona 30 feet into the air. The large part sticking out is the third turret from the deck of the Arizona.

The back wall of the Arizona Memorial is a wall commemorating the names of all the men lost on the Arizona. It’s not flashy or show. Just a simple white wall with their names etched in black. There is also a section where those that survived the bombing may have their remains returned to the Arizona. When crew member is returned, one of the divers who takes the remains said that there seems to be a notable release as the remains are accepted back into the Arizona.

We were amazed that one of the three anchors from the Arizona, weighing over 19,000 pounds, was blown hundreds of feet away, and found in the harbor!

After we visited the USS Arizona, we picked up our audio tour equipment and started through the park. Stops along the way, gave the background, state of the world and espionage of the Japanese leading up to December 7th.

After the inside portion of the audio tour, we continued on the Walk of Remembrance around the perimeter of the park with views of the Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri. The setting is beautiful, and we could easily imagine being here on a Sunday morning, and suddenly seeing those bombers coming over the mountains.

We had lunch by the water and then made our way to the USS Missouri, where the Japanese signed the letter of surrender to mark the end of the war.

The USS Missouri was very similar to the USS North Carolina in Wilmington. Our tour guide was retired Honor Guard from the Coast Guard and loved his job and history. And this guy was LOVING every minute of today and the tour.

The Missouri was truly impressive not just in sheer size but in their commemoration of the place of surrender. There were lots of extras that our tour guide pointed out along the way. For instance, up until this point, Japan had never surrendered so there was concern about what would happen. To ease tensions, General McArthur never told the Japanese to sign the documents, he invited them to sign – a sign of respect to the Japanese representatives. The Representative from Canada was blind in one eye, and accidentally signed under his signature line, instead of on the line. The 2 men standing behind General McArthur were POWs. Number 4 in the photo is John S. McCain – the father of Senator John McCain. Lots of subtle notes that you never learn in history but are just cool to discover.

This ship is kid-friendly (both big and small) so the boys loved exploring not just in decks but the inside including sleeping quarters, galleys, library, and even a dentist office. (Could you imagine getting a cavity filled while been thrown about at sea?!?!) There was even a law office and computer lab on board.

One of the coolest things we learned today was that to this day 60 enlisted Marines still reside on the Missouri ready to handle any issues or threats that may arise.

We treated ourselves to a few cold treats (it was hot on the ship), and goofed around with some cutout before heading back to the hotel.

We walked around Honolulu for a bit tonight trying to decide about dinner… no one wanted anything but everyone had something they didn’t want. 🤣 We ended up grabbing dinner at Maui Brewery where Leo and Mike had the greatest cheeseburgers of their lives! (or maybe they were just hungry from the walk around downtown.)

Tomorrow we are headed up to the North Shore for a little surfing and exploring, so feel free to say a prayer we don’t get rolled up in a wave!

We grabbed breakfast at the hotel coffee shop, and headed off to the airport.

But not before stopping to fill up the rental car… at $4.97 a gallon!!! Gulp! The Kona Airport is great – about the size of the Greensboro airport. It is incredibly easy to navigate. Plus, we liked the open air waiting and gift/snack shops.

The inter-island flights are really short, 30 to 45 minutes, so they only do beverage service. Your options are water or passionfruit juice and both come in these like containers like a lunchbox cup of peaches.

Only in Honolulu would they have an oasis in the middle of the open air airport.

Honolulu is a relatively large city, about the size of Greensboro, but it is really big considering the size cities we have seen over the last week. The highway system though could rival most major metro areas. We all really liked the mix of old and new architecture.

And of course, when we went by the courthouse, Mike and I started humming the Hawaii-5 0 theme song 🏄🏻🌺🎶 The boys were clueless when I said “Book ’em Danno” but we laughed any way 🤣

We are staying at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki for the next four days. Shameless plug: Usually, we are Hilton/Marriott people. However we have to have queen size beds, which weren’t available at any Westin or Marriott on our dates. Plus, a rollaway bed or pullout couch would really be fantastic so boys would both get good sleep at this point in the trip. So, we decided to try out the Hyatt Regency. This is BY FAR our favorite so far… and BONUS, it is the least we have paid for a hotel so far! The hotel is shopping/stores and restaurants on first 2 floors, and pool, hot tub and gym on the third. And they have the best perks (in addition to a rollaway bed): lei making classes; jewelry making classes; yoga classes; and beach chairs that you can borrow and return. Plus, sand toys and boogie board for free use as well. Every other hotel we have stayed had these things for always for a fee… And this view is just about perfect!

We decided to check out Duke’s Waikiki for lunch – it was right on the beach and since we caught it at 2:45, we were able to walk right in. The cajun fish tacos were delicious… if we do nothing else well, we always eat well. 😁

We wanted a little something sweet after lunch, and what luck! There is a Haagan Daz store on the way back to the hotel 😀

After our late lunch, we hit the beach to relax.

Another Hawaii Sunset… seriously wondering if I am ever going home?

After the beach, the boys went to the gym for another soccer workout, and then we headed out for sushi, because when will it ever be fresher that right beside the ocean???

Tomorrow we are spending the day at Pearl Harbor, which should be amazing. But so far, I’m just loving this time together ♥️