Winter 2013 in Florida (and elsewhere!): Feb. 22

Aloha!

We had been dreaming about returning to Hawaii ever since we left in November 1986. We finally made it back!

We had planned to meet Bob’s cousin Alan and his wife Mary in Charleston, SC, and try to catch a military Space-Available flight to Hawaii (or “somewhere”) there. When they cancelled their trip, we started checking flights out of Jacksonville, FL, because we were nearby in Mayport, FL.

To our surprise, Jacksonville had a flight scheduled to Hawaii! We drove there about 6 a.m. on Feb. 22. There were only about a dozen people in the terminal, so all of us got on the C-40, which had 69 available seats. A very friendly Navy pilot greeted us, and we were off! Bob and I both had a row of 3 seats across to ourselves, so we were able to stretch out and rest or sleep.

We landed briefly in New Orleans, and picked up about a half-dozen more passengers. Then we stopped overnight on North Island Navy Base in San Diego. We got a room in the Navy Gateway Inn, and got up about 6 in the morning to report back to the terminal for the 7 a.m. showtime. This time, there were lots of people in the terminal, and there were not enough seats for everyone, including a nice older couple from Virginia Beach that we talked to. But we got back on, because we were “manifested” through.

We landed at Hickam Air Force Base early in the afternoon. Aloha! Yay!!!!!

We took a city bus to the Honolulu International Airport, next door, after Bob used Priceline to rent a car from Enterprise ($300/week – other military people were paying $350/week, and others were being quoted $1,000/week!!!)

There were no rooms at the lodging at Hickam or Pearl Harbor. Bob had reserved us a suite, the night before our arrival, at the Five Palms Inn on Kaneohe Marine Corps Base ($76/night, including continental breakfast).

The views on the Windward side, where we used to live from 1981-1986, were even more breathtaking than we remembered! The lush, green Koolau Mountains stretch up to the sky, and the sparkling beaches stretch out into the blue ocean. It is truly “Paradise.”

On Saturday, Feb. 23, we woke up early, due to the time difference (5 hours – so we woke up at 2-3 a.m.). But we managed to get a little more sleep. I did my 3-mile walk, while Bob worked out in the Fitness Center. Then we drove to the Samuel Adams Restaurant, down the road near the golf course, for breakfast.

We hit the road to visit some familiar places:

n The home we rented on Pua Inia St., Kaneohe.

n The home we bought on Hui Aeko Place, Kaneohe.

n Valley of the Temples in Kaneohe, where Lisa was baptized.

n St. Ann’s church and school in Kaneohe, which Nick attended.

Then we drove over to the other side of the island, to visit the USS Missouri Tickets were ($17/each, including bus ride to Ford Island), now a museum in Pearl Harbor, next to the Arizona Memorial. It was awesome! We had a great guided tour, followed by wandering around among the wonderful displays. We saw the documents signed when Japan surrendered on board the Missouri, photos of that and other events including a kamikaze near-miss, the ward room, mess hall, bunks, offices – all filled with artifacts, mementoes and photos. This was one of the best museums I have ever visited!

On Sunday, Feb. 24, we went to Mass at St. Ann’s, our old parish. After we went inside and sat down, I looked around, and realized it was not the same church! They apparently demolished the old church and built a new one in the same spot!

We drove to the PX at Pearl Harbor, where I bought a University of Hawaii T-shirt ($9), a UH lanyard/bottle opener ($3), a Navy Hawaii T-shirt, and a USS Missouri ballcap.

We drove to Waikiki, intending to go to the beach there, but it was too crowded and difficult to find parking. It seems like there are twice as many high-rise hotels there now! So we drove a short way to Ala Moana Park, where there were more “locals” and plenty of free parking, and spent a couple of hours on the beach there. When we lived in Hawaii, I used to run back and forth to this beach from my office at City Hall downtown on my lunch hour – a total of about 4 miles, every day.

On Monday, Feb. 25, after morning exercise, we drove to Pearl Harbor’s MWR, where Bob rented a bike for $45/week.

We drove to Hanauma Bay, where he let me off and he went for a bike ride. This bay was one of my favorite places in Hawaii, but it has changed. It used to be free, but now they charge $7.50 to get in – an effort to hold down the crowds at this environmentally-sensitive area. (Residents of Hawaii get in free, fyi.) Visitors are also now required to watch a 7-minute video, warning them not to touch the coral and not to feed the fish – feeding the fish used to be a lot of fun, as the fish would swarm around the feeder!

I had brought a snorkel and mask with me. It is like snorkeling in a giant fish bowl! But there did not seem to be as many fish as in the mid-1980s – although there were still plenty of tourists there!

We drove back to Kaneohe along the coast, past Diamond Head, Koko Head, the Blow Hole, the light house, the house where the TV show “Magnum PI” used to be filmed, and Bellows AF Station. Bellows has cottages for rent, in a beautiful and remote setting right on the beach. Also drove through Kailua, where President Obama has vacationed. He has also stayed at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base, where we are staying.

Tuesday, Feb. 26, we took it easy. After my 4-mile walk – which included a hike up a big hill with radar on top, where I had a panoramic view from Kaneohe to Kailua – we went to the beach on base. It was very windy, but beautiful, and we stayed a couple of hours.

Wednesday, Feb. 27, after morning exercise, we drove to the other side to visit some sites:

n Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific, off Pali Highway, where I used to be the PR person. The only person there who I remembered was Kelly, who worked in administration, and she was out of the office. So I just looked around a little and left.

n City Hall, where I also used to work in PR. The Mayor’s Office of Information, I was told, had been moved out of the beautiful old City Hall building, to another building next door. The nice director there, and her co-workers, remembered my “old-timer” co-workers Gael Mustapha, Carol Costa, Abe and a photographer named Tom. When I asked the new photographer if he ever flew in a helicopter to the other side, to take aerial photos for the city Planning Department, he said he had done it once, but found it “very scary.” My feelings, exactly, about the flight I took one day over the mountains, with the previous photographer! It was one of the scariest days of my life! Much scarier than my flight with a Blue Angel in the late 1970s in Mississippi!!! After leaving City Hall, I walked down to the Iolani Palace and the King Kamehameha Statue, and got photos. The statue appears in the “Hawaii 5-0” TV show introduction.

n Punchbowl, the Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. This cemetery is filled with the graves of 33,255 veterans and their families. It is called Punchbowl because of its shape, in the crater of an extinct volcano. We visited the graves of Challenger astronaut Ellison Onizuka (a good friend of one of my old bosses in Hawaii), Ernie Pyle (WWII war correspondent), and Henry Hansen (one of the soldiers who raised the flag over Iwo Jima). Also drove up to the lookout, for more photos. The statue at Punchbowl also appears in the “Hawaii 5-0” TV show intro.

n Tantalus-Round Top Drive. This road winds its way up the mountains, with multi-million dollar homes along the way.

Next, we drove to Pearl Harbor, where Bob shopped and I rested, because one arthritic hip was aching L.

Thursday, Feb. 28, after exercise, Bob went to the beach. I was already sunburned, so stayed in our suite to catch up on my writing. In the afternoon, we took a drive toward the North Shore. We stopped at beautiful Chinaman’s Hat Island, to take some photos. Passed by the famous old Crouching Lion Restaurant, where we dined with my six of my family members when they visited in 1983. Stopped at a new attraction, Kualoa Ranch, which offers ATV and safari tours into the mountains, among other things.

Twice, when we were driving, we saw wild pigs along the H-3 Interstate. I saw only two mongooses.

We returned to the base, and went out to eat at the Officers’ Club, which is right next to lodging.

On Friday, March 1, we drove to the other side and up to Schofield Barracks. We wanted to drive down Kolekole Pass – the route the Japanese planes took when they bombed Pearl Harbor – but we could not find the way to it. We asked three different guys, and to our amazement, they acted like they had never heard of it! But a fourth guy told us the pass was closed. Later, I Googled it and found it had been closed indefinitely due to heavy rains washing it out. Too bad, because it offers a sweeping view, from the mountains to the ocean. I once ran a half-marathon (13 miles) down this pass.

On our way home, Bob found a Chinese food take-out place that we used to go to in the 1980s, and we had delicious Chinese food for dinner!

On Saturday, March 2, we sat out at the Officers Club pool, then went to Mass at a church in Kailu.

On Sunday, March 3, we drove to the North Shore. Besides the surfers at Sunset Beach, we saw kite boarders, sky-divers, gliders, and the polo field. The waves were not very high. There were more Japanese tourists there than surfers!

Then we drove to Hickam, where we reserved a room at Pearl Harbor for the coming weekend, in preparation for trying to catch a military flight back to the Mainland.

On Monday, March 4, we drove to the Windward Mall in Kaneohe. This mall opened 30 years ago, when we were here. It is still very nice, and still has a little train ride around the mall for the kids.

Tuesday, March 6, we drove to Hickam, where I walked 5-6 miles while Bob rode his bike. They have a nice walking trail along the water, behind the Officers Club. While I was walking, a submarine was making its way back to port!

Went to the library and got a couple more books to read, on the flight back.

Then we went to Hickam Beach, where I took a two-hour sailing lesson/ride in the harbor, with a 67-year-old man of Hawaiian-Fillipino ancestry who used to be a “beach boy” at Waikiki and taught tourists how to surf! He did an impromptu hula for me on the 19-foot sailboat! He said he is retiring in another week or two, and moving near a niece in California.

Joined Bob for some sun on the beach, then we headed home.

On Wednesday, March 6, I drove to Kailua and walked along the beach and by the big beautiful beach houses.

We drove to the University of Hawaii-Manoa, where I had gotten a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning in 1984. Went to the book store for some souvenirs, then found my way to the MURP offices. Unfortunately, my favorite old professor, Kem Lowry, had just retired.

Drove up to the Pali Lookout to take some pictures. Then had a nice dinner at the Officers Club. Bob asked a worker there to take our picture, and when she saw his “Fort Drum” shirt, she said her son was stationed there. In the club, another woman approached us to say one of her relatives had orders there. So of course we told them about all the snow there now!

Thursday, March 7, we checked out of the Five Palms and left Kaneohe for Pearl Harbor. (There were no rooms at Hickam AFB.) We turned in Bob’s bike, then got our room at the Lockwood complex. Bob returned the car to the Honolulu International Airport, and walked 2-3 miles back to the room, picking up some KFC for dinner along the way.

There were 3-4 flights scheduled for early the next day to Travis or North Island bases in California, so we went to bed thinking things looked good for us to be on our way back to Jacksonville, Fla.

On Friday, March 8, we woke up at 5 a.m. and checked the schedule again, only to find that all the California flights, except one, had been cancelled. And that one had only 13 Space-available seats. L But there was one flight to McChord AFB, Wash., with 35 seats, so we decided to just go for that. (The Space-A rule of thumb is “Take the first flight you can get on that is headed in the direction you want to go.” Otherwise, you never know, you might wait for days until you get another chance!)

So, Bob signed up for that flight, they called our names at Roll Call, and we checked our baggage. The flight took off at about 9 a.m. We bought box lunches for $5 each, which the flight crew always passes out during the flight. The boxes include: a sandwich, juice, bottled water, fruit cup and candy bar. I also brought along my red bottle of water, which was frozen because I always leave it in the freezer in the room at night, so I have ice-cold water to drink after my daily morning walk. The attendant let me take it on the plane, because it was “not liquid yet,” because it was still frozen!

The plane was a C-17. Passengers sat along the side walls, with cargo and luggage strapped in the center of the plane. There was plenty of leg room.

As usual, when the plane reached cruising altitude, some passengers sprawled out on the floor to sleep. One guy even had an air mattress!

After a 5-6 hour flight, we landed at McChord, where we had reserved a room at the Evergreen Inn, which was about one mile from the terminal. The weather was nice, and we needed the exercise, so we rolled our luggage there, had some pizza delivered, and went to bed.

On Saturday, March 9, we enjoyed the hotel’s continental breakfast, then walked back to the terminal. The only plane going in our direction, for a while, was to Dover. So we hopped on that C-17, with a few other passengers. Among them was a couple with 3 children. After the plane took off, they put down their sleeping bags on the floor and had a little picnic. Then the kids took naps on their bags. We landed at Dover, and walked about one mile to the Eagles’ Rest lodging.

On Sunday, March 10, we woke up very jet-lagged, so we just went back to bed! In the afternoon, we shopped a bit, then decided to rent a car the next day to drive back to our car in Jacksonville, FL.

Monday, March 11, we picked up the rental car and drove to Fort Bragg, via the Bay Bridge Tunnel and Virginia Beach.

Tuesday, March 12, we again enjoyed a continental breakfast at lodging, then drove to Jacksonville. We turned in the rental car and stayed at the Gateway Inn at Jacksonville Navy Base.

Wednesday, March 13, we returned to our starting point, Mayport Navy Base, just outside Jacksonville. We stayed for nearly a week, enjoying the beach and the sunshine.

Next stop: Camp Lejeune and a visit with Bob’s cousin Paulette and her husband Dom, in Wilmington, NC.

Below are some of our photos from beautiful Hawaii!!: