D.C. and Hawaii 2020

Our last on this wonderful trip! This two-week trip has been an excellent opportunity for our kids to further their knowledge of World War II and the impact it had on the world by going to some very important sites, museums, and memorials. To start our last day, we decided to take the kids on a nice hike to take in the scenic views of Oahu’s shore line.

At 8:00, we had the kids meet us in the lobby and make our way to the Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail. The trail was a relatively easy hike. The whole two miles up it was along a paved road, but stopped at some beautiful lookout points. Some lookouts gave us a beautiful view of Oahu, while others offered a look out into the Pacific Ocean and other islands of Hawaii. For some kids their favorite view came when they saw a whale’s tail pop out of the ocean! At the top of the hike, the view was breathtaking. At the very peak of the hike, there was a beautiful 360-degree view of Oahu where you could see Hanauma Bay, the islands of Maui and Moloka’i, and Koko Crater. There was also a section of our hike where the kids go to explore some abandoned army pillboxes that gave them a great and even higher view of Oahu. We got our hike in at the perfect time because of the weather. As we started to head back down the trail, a wave of fog started to come in followed with some overcast. Everyone was very happy that we got the hike in before the weather turned on us.

After the hike we made our way back to the hotel to change out of our hiking clothes and head to lunch before the United States Army Museum of Hawaii. The museum was a short walk from our lunch spot and it was a lot bigger than we first had expected. The museum is in the old building of Fort Derussy, which was built in 1911 and was known for its “disappearing guns” on the base. The museum was very interesting as it took our kids through the history of the U.S. Army in Hawaii but also what Hawaii was like before the annexation with the United States. The museum had a very extensive World War II collection, as expected, and had a lot of interesting things in the museum from war bonds and pins, different types of American and Japanese weapons, and a fragment from a Japanese plane during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The museum also had a great exhibit on the Medal of Honor recipients from Hawaii. On the outside balcony of the museum, they had a AH-1 Cobra helicopter on display, which was some of our kids favorite thing to see, and one of the “disappearing guns” that the fort was known for. The museum offered a to of information about the US Army for our kids to know about and had even more topics for our kids to learn about during World War II and beyond.

After the museum, we gave kids time to write their final assignment for us which is to respond to a series of writing prompt and our guiding questions for this trip. The questions were How should we remember the past? What impact do memorials and monuments have on the way we think about History? We also have them writing about which monuments, memorials, or museums they found to be the most impactful and why. We are very excited to read their responses to it!

For our last meal together, we took the kids to the well-known Duke’s Restaurant, where we got to sit on the beachside patio and soak in our last night. This was a great chance for our kids to interact with each other and enjoy a really nice meal in out last night in Waikiki.

Tomorrow we have a bit of a sleep-in day before we head over to the airport for our flight back home. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the parents. Given the climate of everything surrounding COVID-19 and a switch of plans for Vietnam, we want to thank you all for your patience and understanding in us switching plans for this trip. We also want to thank you for having such great children! We had a blast with this group and we truly couldn’t have asked for a better group to travel with. We hope you all have a safe and healthy spring break!

Today was one of our more laid-back days so far on this trip. We used today to explore the different things that Oahu has to offer, the well-known Aloha Stadium Swap. We started the day with a bit of a sleep in and meet in the lobby at 9:30 to get breakfast and get to Aloha Stadium. For those who don’t know, Aloha Stadium is the home field of the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and home of the NFL Pro Bowl game.

When we arrived at the stadium, we saw the line of local vendors stretched out around the outskirts of the parking lot. It was really amazing to see all of the local clothing, jewelry, food, and art that was put out on display and for sale to everyone. The most common shops along the market were t-shirts and the famous Hawaiian shirts, the Hawaiian shirts were by far the most common purchase of the day with our chaperones and our kids. One of the local vendors was even selling a tie with the Iwo Jima statue on it which was pretty cool, Mr. Grassi regrets not getting the tie. Harrison day might have had the purchase of the day with a red and gold kimono, black and silver changshan shirt, and a giant pair of circular sunglasses. Emme Wooley wrote about her experience at the swap meet, “After we got breakfast we went to a huge flee market. It was really cool, because there were all types of Hawaiian food and treats, homemade necklaces and rings, and funky t-shirts. I spent most of the day walking with Henry, Mila, Walker, and Luke. Henry gave me a dollar so I could buy a cool bracelet that says ‘Hawaii’ on it… Today was a really fun day!”

After the swap meet, we stood a scenic drive up to the renowned North Shore of Oahu. The North Shore is known for it’s beautiful landscape, amazing beaches, and the famous Dole Plantation (which we passed on our drive up). Our destination of our North Shore road trip was Waimea Bay. The beach at Waimea Bay was beautiful and lined with golden sand. The water was a whole different beast than what we have been used to. The water had a very strong current and at times felt like it was throwing us around like it was nothing. Thankfully all of our kids did a great job of not going out too far and recognizing when it couldn’t be dangerous with the undertow. The whole time on the beach everyone kept amused with either tanning, trying to body surf the waves coming in, and throwing the football. This was a lot of fun for our group and was just what we all needed. Ryan Capozucca talked about his time back in the North Shore, “I have been to the North Shore before and it is one of my favorite places in the whole world. I love all of the surfing history there and the evolution of surfing that has taken place at Waimea Bay and the rest of the North Shore. When we stated to get close there were mountains on one side and on the other side was the ocean. When I saw the ocean, I could remember when I was here last and how amazing it was. I love all things about the ocean and the North Shore is known as one of the greatest stretch of beach and waves in the whole world.

After the beach trip, we made our way to dinner to a local taco place called Killer Tacos. We filled up on tacos, burritos, chips and guacamole. It was the perfect way to fill our stomachs after a long day in the sun. Tomorrow will be our last full day here in beautiful Hawaii. To savor the last full day, we will be going out early at 8:00 am for a hike then end the afternoon at the Hawaii Army Museum Society to close out our in-depth look into World War II. We look forward to ending Hawaii on a high note and check back in tomorrow to see our last day recap!!

Lasting Legacy of World War II