This morning we compromised one two things. First we went to Lulu's favorite - the Aloha Stadium Swamp Meet - then we went to a military museum for me.
The Aloha Stadium is famous for two thing. First - it is a stadium where they can move the entire sections to make it into a baseball stadium or a football stadium. the sections glide on air. Second - the NFL has their Pro Bowl All-Star game there. But for Nancy - the best reason is that on Saturdays they have a giant swap meet that circles the stadium.
I did not see much "swapping" going on - more like a giant Hometown Auction - where come to think of it I did not see much "auctioning" going on. Both places have endless stands selling - tee shirts - bracelets - flip flops - towels - some foods - bikinis - shorts - etc.Lulu loves the variety and prices. I like the locals foods.
After the Aloha Stadium is was my turn. We made our first visit to the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor. This museum opened recently in two of the hangars that we bombed and shot up by the Japanese during the Dec 7th raid on Pearl Harbor. They have a collection of airplanes and other historic items from WWII - plus a few later aircraft.
You catch a bus at the USS Arizona Monument and it takes you across the new bridge to Ford Island. Until recently - the only way to get to Ford Island was by boat or plane. It is very quiet on Ford Island. You are far away from the drone of city traffic. the wind masks out most of the other noises. You are alone with your thoughts - many of the surroundings remind you of the movies about Pearl Harbor and the attack.
After we returned to the mainland of Hawaii - we were actually on an island in an island - we visited the USS Arizona Memorial. You may re-call - the Arizona was a ship sunk in Pearl Harbor that went down so fast - 3000 people went to their grave with it. The battleship sits on the bottom - with a few parts sticking out of the water. Oil is still leaking into the water from the fuel tanks below. The oil forms spooky little rainbows on the water - almost like the ship is bleeding.
It is 3 PM over here right now - still plenty of day left - but I wanted to post this story.
Lulu loves the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. The only swapping I saw was us giving them money and them giving us trinkets.
Aloha Stadium hosts the NFL Pro Bowl every year. They usually have it here - but had it once at Miami. The NFL wives insisted they have it here from now on.
This looks like an airport control tower. Really it is a water tower that was used to train submarine sailors to practice coming up form 50 feet deep in water.
This is an F-86 - the plane used in the Korean War.
The P-40 Flying Tiger was one of the few planes US planes in the air over Pearl Harbor. They shot down a few Japan Zeroes. There were still bullet holes in the glass in the doors behind the aircraft.
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