O-Berry Arts Home  > Travel Stories  > Hawaii 2004

Kailua, Oahu

There are no hotels at all in Kailua. No Galleria of shops, either. Just miles and miles of pristine sandy beach some good boogie boarding. I rented a little cottage that was 1/2 a block from the beach, and 1/2 a block in the other direction to a mini-mart, deli, surf shop, and shave ice place.

Sunrise:

Later in the day:

Arizona Memorial

The memorial is really fabulous -- it sits over the sunken Arizona, and there are markers to show where the other ships were. There is a short presentation before you go out to the memorial, which is really good.

The interior is really beautiful:

Mighty Mo

The Arizona marks our entry into WWII, and Mo marks the end -- the terms of surrender were signed on the deck of Mo. She was also used in the Gulf War, and there's an interesting combination of WWII and more recent technology on board. Unlike most ships, where they just let you walk on part of the deck, you can go all over and through this one. Of course, this involves a certain amount of climbing, and I am oh so not fond of heights. (And for those of you who don't know him, the blue guy is O-Berry.)

Kilauea

I highly recommend Volcano House -- it's a lodge that is literally on the edge of the crater. The volcano is fascinating -- steam vents, lava flows, and the occasional offering to Pele.

Steam vents near the rim.

I always thought lava was just black, but as it contains every mineral in the mantle, you can get some brilliant colors.

Some hiking trails come with warnings...

And sometimes they close the roads:

Kona

Kona has some beautiful water and a lot of rocks. There's no such thing as a beach here. The waves are great, but if you're boogie boarding, you've gotta know the territory or you may find out where the rocks are the hard way.

Just another beautiful sunset in Hawaii...

Home again

The world-traveling O-Berry recovers. Next stop: New York.