Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

Waikike, one of the most famous beaches in the world. Is it overrated?

Honolulu feels like a much bigger town than it is. At about 350,000 it is at best a medium-sized city, but it has big city traffic problems twice a day. In the mornings the highways are jammed, and even reversing some lanes and adding HOV lanes doesn’t appear to help much. In the evening it’s true all over again, but this time going in the other direction.

The city is not only the largest in the Hawaiian Islands it is also the state capitol. It has one of the most famous beaches in the world – Waikiki. Arguably, it was the incubator for later tourist Mecca’s like Las Vegas and Orlando – check out Henry J. Kaiser’s 1955 Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach (now the Hilton Hawaiian Village) and see if you haven’t seen a lot of later iterations elsewhere. These days the design has grown cliché, but when it was built 55 years ago it was a sensation.

The Arizona Memorial atop the Battleship Arizona sunk on December 7, 1941

Then there is Pearl Harbor, one of the great natural anchorages in the world and a harbor that became a noun when the Japanese launched a preemptive sneak attack on the American Pacific Fleet on Sunday, December 7, 1941.

Touring Honolulu is easy. Buses run everywhere, and at $2,50 for a ride they are cheap. If you are a senior it gets cheaper still – a merely one dollar. Bus numbers 20 and 42 link Pearl Harbor and Waikiki and stop at the Aloha Tower and the mall. It doesn’t get much easier than that. If you prefer taxi, think $30 out to either Pearl Harbor or Waikiki versus $2.50 on the bus – and you might want to think again.

Iolani Palace, adjacent to the state capitol building and easily walkable from Aloha Tower where cruise ships dock. It is billed as the only "palace" in the United States and was residence of the Hawaiian royalty until the United States chased them off and took over shortly before 1900.

Queen Victoria and other visiting passenger ships dock at the Aloha Tower. Waikiki is a fifteen-minute bus ride away to the east, as is a huge mall. Pearl Harbor is several miles to the west – so close it may be tempting to walk it. Don’t try – interstates and heavily trafficked roads are in your way and sidewalks get scarce the further away from downtown you get.

From Aloha Tower and the anchorage, however, there are plenty of interesting places a few blocks away. The Bishop historical museum is a must if time permits. Closer still is the state capitol, a merely five blocks away with the only palace in the United States, the Iolani Palace, on property adjacent to the capitol. Here you’ll find a statute of the last monarch of Hawaii. The monarchy ended here in 1893 when the United States took over.

Hawaiian senate chamber. Hawaii was the last state admitted to the union and is number 50. The name of the TV show "Hawaii Five-O" is an homage to its status at the 50th state. I bet you knew this; well, I didn't.

Pearl Harbor, and the USS Arizona Memorial where more than 1,200 sailors remain entombed, is a must-see if your stomach permits it. This is one gut-wrenching memorial, and tickets – while free – are hard to come by. Go early. The National Park Service starts handing out tickets for the boat ride out to where the USS Arizona is sunk at 7:45 am each morning. In the summers tickets are long gone by noon.

The Aloha Tower from Deck 11 of The Queen Victoria.

If you arrive early chances are you’ll have a wait of a few hours before your time to board the board. But that is not a bad thing:

The Park Service has done a stunning job of telling the history of the antecedents of World War II in the Pacific and, while it may not set well with many Americans, telling the Japanese motivation in attacking Pearl Harbor and even, vaguely, slyly placing some blame on the United States for the attack. The decision by the US to enforce sanctions against Japan in 1940 and move their Pacific Fleet from the west coast to Hawaii enflamed tensions between the countries and spurred the Japanese attack. If you want a really slanted view, however, head over to Saipan, the furthest west outpost of US territories. In Saipan few Americans visit, but Japanese often do – the story there comes close to blaming the US for the attack entirely.

Honolulu, Hawaii, early morning, February 2011. We had spent a day in Hawaii in 2009, and been through Honolulu a number of times in the 1960s. This time we would explore three other islands besides Oahu.

All Content of this blog, literary and photographic, is joint Copyright © 2011, by Peter Michael Crow, The Peter Michael Crow Trust and by Seine/Harbour® Productions, LLC, Studio City, California.