This past January, I had the chance to spend one whole week in one of this planet’s most beautiful places – Hawaii. I spent the majority of my time up on the North Shore. You know, hanging out with the Pipeline surfers and locals. However, there was one place I knew I HAD to visit while on the island of Oahu and that was Pearl Harbor.
Today marks 70 years since the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor is obviously one of Honolulu’s most-visited tourist spots so I prepared myself with a lot of research – what time to get there, which day to go, what not to bring, what not to miss, etc. After a 6am wake-up, we drove one hour to the other side of the island and made it for one of the first tours to see the USS Arizona – the battleship where 1,177 sailors lost their lives, most never being recovered.
Here are some memories I have from my visit:
The USS Arizona remains underwater today and it lays perpendicular to the memorial. Gallons of oil still leak up from the ship and are known as “black tears.” Above you can see part of the ship that juts out into the water.
Saluting the Harbor aboard the USS Missouri.
You may have seen this in the movie, Pearl Harbor. Most people think this was an air traffic control tower. False. It was used in the Navy to train men for submarines. The tower was filled with water and they would start at the bottom and swim to the top. Insane.
Visiting Pearl Harbor was unlike anything I’ve ever done or felt before. It was sobering and eerie. There was a quietness that filled the Harbor, yet the unrest was still apparent.
On a sidenote, while I decided at the last minute to post this today instead of Wedding Wednesday, it’s still slightly WW related as I went to Oahu on my, uh… honeymoon. Luckily, I still enjoy looking back at these pictures because the views were just unreal. Maybe someday I’ll share more of them on this little blog :)
If you ever have the chance to visit Pearl Harbor, be sure to set a decent amount of time aside to go on the USS Arizona tour and to explore the beautiful grounds. There are other tours you can pay to go on as well {The USS Missouri which we did and the USS Bowfin Submarine!} In the end, it was a day that I’ll never forget and today I’ll continue to think and pray for all those lost on that infamous day…
5 comments:
What an amazing post! I really wanted to go to Pearl Harbor, but we were on Maui, and didn't end up flying over. Maybe we'll have to go back!
I would love love love to do this one day... There aren't many dates I remember as far as history goes, but I always remember what Dec 7th marks!
This brings me back so much. I saw all these sights when I visited Hawaii too and was just blown away. We actually got to listen to 3 pearl harbor survivors talk about their story and what happened...it was so cool to listen to and I still remember all of it!
Great post, Chelsea! I want to go to Pearl Harbor so badly. I am a big history buff. Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures!
These photos are beautiful! I would love to visit Pearl Harbor one day!
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