Thursday was our first full day in Oahu. We were up bright and early as we had a 9:00 reservation to see the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. We got there about an hour early so we could walk around the museum and other memorials before getting on the boat to ride out to the memorial. The kids had learned about Pearl Harbor in school, so I think it was interesting for them to see it all in person.
After visiting Pearl Harbor we made a pitstop at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Papa Mike had a high school friend whose name was included in the memorial, so we stopped by so we could take some pictures for him.
We started driving to the North Shore to find somewhere for lunch. We had a reservation for a UTV tour at Kualoa Ranch that afternoon. I had read that they also served food there, so we ended up just going there for lunch before our tour. I was really excited about this tour. There were a ton of movies filmed here, including Jurassic Park, but even more exciting was just how pretty it was. I just couldn't stop looking at the scenery. It was so beautiful. The North Shore reminded me more of Maui and I definitely preferred it to Honolulu / Waikiki.
The tour was so fun. Shawn drove us around and we got to make a few stops to get out and take pictures. Our guides shared a lot of Hawaiian history with us which really gave us a glimpse into the Hawaiian culture. It was all so interesting.
We headed back to the hotel for some much needed showers and then walked down the boardwalk for our dinner reservation at House Without a Key. The food and atmosphere were both good.
