Honolulu

Friday, March 4^th

Where do I begin?? This was such an amazing day.

We set the clock for 5:30 and we got up early to see the ship arrive in Honolulu. I am amazed that it is such a big city. The views are spectacular. We are docked at pier 10 right under the Aloha Tower.

When we left the ship the photographers were not there so we got a security guard to take our picture.

We had arranged for our own tour through a company called Discover Hawaii Tours. We received am e-ticket with instruction on where to meet our tour and so we disembarked and away we went. Of course we wondered if we would end up in the right place at the right time, but there was no need to worry. We were met by our guide Kanoelani. She was a slim, attractive Hawaiian lady and she was driving a large van. When we boarded she called us by name and assured us that we were in the right place. She also said that she had taken another group of people to Pearl Harbor and she was going to pick them up and they would be with us the rest of the day. Even thought Pearl Harbor was not included in our planned tour we would have a half hour there to explore and look around a little while we waited for the others to join us. So away we went!! As we drove along Kanoelani told us about the city. She was amazing.

We parked and she told us where and when to meet her. I got a stamp for my National Parks Passport. I did not bring my book so I will have to cut and paste. I took some pictures and Ken was enjoying the new museum.

I was surprised by how busy it was even though it was early in the morning. Of course there was lots of patriotism in evidence.

Surprisingly enough there were lots of Japanese nationals there as well.

 Soon it was time to meet our guide. We boarded the bus and amazingly the guide called each and every one of us by our first name. This was the first time that had happened.