Well, yesterday the NPS posted on their Facebook page that all programs out to the memorial have been paused "out of an abundance of caution." Since the safety concerns were in regard to the shoreside dock, we wouldn't even get the opportunity to board a shuttle boat for a "float by" viewing. So disappointed!
Time for Plan C - visiting the Battleship Missouri Memorial ("Mighty Mo") instead.
On our way to Pearl Harbor, we stopped at Nisshodo Candy Store to pick up some traditional Japanese candies. They specialize in chichi dango (rice flour "dumpling"), which is a lightly sweet, chewy type of treat. The store is located in an industrial area, so it's a little hard to find, but definitely worth the effort!
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| Chi chi dango, kinako dango (dusted with soy bean powder), and mochi |
Even though our 8:45AM tour was cancelled, we still arrived early to Pearl Harbor National Memorial, because we knew that it would only get more crowded as the day went on. After getting the NPS passport stamps, we got in line right away for the shuttle over to Ford Island and the USS Missouri.
Once on board, we started our self-guided tour on the main deck, but found ourselves abruptly pressed into service to help man the ship in a battle at sea against aliens intent on taking over the earth...
What?!
Haha, not really. But if that sounds familiar, it's the plot for the 2012 movie, "Battleship," which prominently featured the USS Missouri.
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| View of the bow |
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| This was the closest we would get to the USS Arizona Memorial |
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| Main Battery Turret #1 |
We continued around to the starboard side and the surrender deck, the site of Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allied Forces ending World War II on September 2, 1945.
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| The helm inside the conning tower |
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| Mooring quays for the USS Tennessee and USS Arizona along Battleship Row |
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| Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN |
It took us a little over two hours to tour the Missouri - very highly recommend, especially if you are interested in World War II history! One could definitely spend the whole day here visiting the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites. But since there were other things we planned to do today, we didn't go to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, also located on Ford Island, or the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum. So we just headed back to the visitor center...
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| USS Missouri and USS Arizona Memorial from the visitor center side |
...and then grabbed lunch at Pancakes & Waffles BLD in nearby Waimalu.
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| Honey butter chicken and waffles, eggs with Portuguese sausage, roast pork loco moco |
More about our afternoon activities in the next post...
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