Day 2: Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, and the Bishop Museum

After a fitful night's sleep (what else is new?) I got out of bed around 5:30 to head over to a decent-looking breakfast place which opened at 6. We let Jackson hang out in the hotel room (he was already awake, too) as Chris and I enjoyed a leisurely cup of Kona coffee along with some interesting dishes. He ordered eggs with pan-fried spam and I ordered some pancakes with a veggie and Portuguese sausage omelet. The best part was the syrup. Homemade guava and coconut syrups were indescribably delicious.  Being a good sport about trying new things, Jackson enjoyed the same food we brought home and we got in the car to head over to Pearl Harbor.
I knew that I had to see this area being a history teacher, but I was not prepared for the emotions that struck me as we parked and walked up to the museum and the various ships and monuments. We opted for the guided audio tour narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis, which included many accounts from survivors and others. Since our flower leis were wilting, we decided it would be appropriate to untie them and drop the flowers in the water at the actual Memorial site. The whole morning was quite touching and beautiful. The highlight of the day was meeting one of only five remaining living survivors. He had written a book and was signing copies, so we got to speak with him for a moment and took a picture together.
Not too far away was the awesome Bishop Museum. The museum houses Hawaiian artifacts from ancient times to the present.  Most of the contents of the museum were personal property of three female descendants of King Kamehameha. One of those women married a man named Bishop, hence the museum's name.
The three of us decided to be adventurous for lunch and went to (believe it or not) a liquor store that has the best poke on the island. Poke is raw cubes of fresh fish, and when we went to the back of the store they had a huge deli counter with at least 30 different kinds. This time Chris was the good sport as it's not his favorite thing, but Jackson and I were in heaven as we sampled a couple of varieties.
After lunch we borrowed bikes from the hotel and pedaled down to Waikiki Beach. It was quite beautiful but smaller than I expected and of course, very touristy. Even though I had read everywhere to be careful of the sharp rocks, Jackson and and I both managed to cut our feet on them. We didn't let that phase us and enjoyed a little bit of time swimming and relaxing in the water. I expected the Pacific to be colder, but I didn't really feel a difference from the Atlantic Ocean temperature.
In short, it was a glorious day.