Pearl Harbor: Travel Tuesday {A Link Up}

It's time for another week of Travel Tuesday!

The last few weeks I have been talking about Hawaii, and I wanted to continue this trend by sharing a place you can't miss if you ever visit the islands: 

Pearl Harbor 

Time: Subject to what you want to do minimum 90 minutes max 8 hours 

Location: Honolulu, Hawaii near the Aloha Stadium 

Cost: Arizona Memorial is Free, everything else is about $15.00 ~They have military and local discounts 

Every time someone came for a visit, we would take a trip to Pearl Harbor. If you travel to Oahu and don't see the USS Arizona at the very least- there is something wrong with you. {I kid I kid, but seriously you should go.} 

{via}

The first thing you should do is go get your ticket for the USS Arizona tour. This will be about 90 minutes, and it is the most breathtaking and peaceful place there is. Tickets are free and they are on a first come first serve bases, so you should get there early. 

*Special Note: You can pre-order tickets on-line, but you will have to purchase the audio tour for about $7.50. I would encourage this because you can get the tour time you want and not have to get there at the crack of dawn. Plus, the audio tour is awesome! 

The first thing you do is watch a 30 minute video about the attack on Pearl Harbor. I don't want to sound sappy, but it is one of the greatest 30 minute films ever. It is a nice way to get an overview of the attack and why it happened- just in case you have no idea. Then you get on a boat and ride out to the memorial. 

{You can see the rainbow from the oil leaking from the boat.} 

 {Bridge to Ford Island - the island where the ships were stationed. You take this to go to the Missouri and the Aviation Museum.} 

{These are all the men that were on the Arizona and survived. When they died later in life, they were interred with their shipmates. Matt and I saw one of these ceremonies and it was beautiful.} 

If this is all you have time for then that's perfect. 

But you can also see the submarine the USS Bowfin, the USS Missouri (where the treaty was signed to end WWII), the Aviation Museum, the Valor of the Pacific Museum, and a couple other museums. I have been to everything except the Bowfin {I have a fear that the submarine will all of a sudden just take off when I am inside). The Missouri is awesome. My school's honors group used to do a lot of service projects on the Missouri, so I have seen that ship inside and out. In fact, I helped set up a lot of the new exhibits. If you haven't been in a long time, I would suggest going because that ship has added a lot! The Aviation Museum is also great. There are two bunkers that are part of this. 

{The anchor from the Arizona} 

{USS Missouri} 

{Jessie and Jake in front of the Bowfin} 

{The Oklahoma Memorial- this is right next to the Missouri. Please don't forget to go here. I feel like it doesn't get enough recognition. It's a simple, but beautiful memorial. Each pole represents a person that died on the ship during the attack.} 

Can you tell I love Pearl Harbor? {It's the history major/ teacher in me.} If you haven't gone, you need to! Just make sure to put USS Arizona Memorial in your GPS, not Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor is still an active military base and the GPS will take you to the gate! 

Have you ever been to Pearl Harbor? Would you go? 

Thanks Belinda and Bonnie for the link up!