Hawaii - Day 2

We woke up at 5 to make it to diamond head for the sunrise.

There were lots of lookout points along the way, and at this one you could just see the lighthouse through the trees. 

It was a good little hike, lots of elevation obviously, but also uneven terrain. 

Even though you have to have a reservation, there were tons of people. 

It looked neat in the dark because you could just see little lights from people’s headlamps and flashlights floating through the switchback to the top. 

I don’t watch the sunrise very often but I’m always in awe when I do. 

Just a sliver. 

After the sun rose people started to leave and we made our way to the higher lookouts and got a better view of the Diamond Head Lighthouse. 

I wish I could climb her! Unfortunately Oahu doesn’t have any climbing lights. 

We explored different trails and levels and at one point had to go all the way down these steps and then walk back up to the summit. 

You know I can’t do any kind of sun on my eyes. 🤣

We were trying for a cool silhouette shot, but our photographer missed the memo. 

With all the hiking and then swimming later, I met my move goal before noon. 🤗

The crater. 

Anyways, we explored all around for about 2 hours and then we were starving. 

I had read we had to get malasadas from Leonard’s and the reviews were right!

They were busy for good reason, those things were piping hot and so good!

We crossed the street to a little park and each ate 2. Crunchy on the outside and so soft and delicious on the inside! Yummmm. 

Next we went to Barbers Point which used to be a military base but they changed jt to an airport so Matt got to watch some planes coming in to land. 

And I got to see this beaut. 

We thought we might swim there but the current was crazy and there were some homeless people hanging around. 

So we found a little cove on the west side of the island near all the swanky resorts and went snorkeling. I’ve snorkeled before and loved it, but it always takes me a minute to be comfortable breathing through the mouthpiece. And we couldn’t actually see much, but it was still fun to be in the water. 

Another Hawaiian must eat - Zippy’s! Matt got a mega plate and we ended up bringing half of it home. I got an orange bang and chicken katsu and everything was so delicious!

After lunch we went back to Oearl Harbor and showered at their drill hall before our Pearl Harbor tour. It’s very somber so we didn’t take a lot of pictures. 



My grandpas ship was just on the other side of Ford Island from this direction. 

He was on the Dobbin. I remember he said he was setting up chairs for a morning church service and he got knocked down by one of the blasts. 

I circled where his ship was. So close!

They lost three men on the Dobbin and then went and rescued sailors from the Arizona. I wish I remembered more of my grandpas story. My dad filmed interviews with all our grandparents, I’ll have to see if they talk about it there. 

After they closed we went in search of shave ice but had no luck and we didn’t want to drive into Honolulu with traffic, so we came back to our cabana to rest. I still had my heart set on something sweet, so after we ate yummy leftovers for dinner we went out to find the Pyramid Rock Lighthouse and ice cream. 

Pyramid Rock is about a mile from our cabana, lucky us. It’s just a light on top of a square building now, but still. 

And pyramid rock is a pretty cool formation and I wish I could hike up there. 

To get to our cabana we have to cross an active runway, or like 6 active runways, and there are planes and helicopters flying constantly. We watched some giant planes flying all around us for a few. 

The beach there is called Secret Beach and it’s an adorable cove/outlet but with surfable waves and extra soft sand. 

Unfortunately there was quite a bit of plastic and garbage washed up, and there were several of these boxes loaded with stuff. I don’t know if that box with Chinese words on it washed up or not, but it would be kind of cool if it did. 

We hit the commissary 15 minutes before they closed and each grabbed a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. We showered and watched tv while we ate our ice cream and it was another best day. I think they’ll all probably be best days. ❤️ And one more bonus shot from a video I took hiking up diamond head. You have to walk through a little tunnel and with so many people crammed in there it was a little nerve wracking, but we made it.