We visited the islands in May, 2003. Holland America Statendam seventeen- day cruise from San Diego. We visited all the islands. We did not stop in Molokai, where a leper colony once resided.
There was resistance to making Hawaii a state. Some claim it was racial issue. When someone proposed adding the all-white Alaska (Forget about those Eskimos…) at the same time, opposition to Hawaii getting statehood withered into the wind.
View of the Statendam
Honolulu, Oʻahu
Memorial to the USS Arizona
| Arizona Battleship | 1915 | 21.0 knots | 1,500 | 1 torpedo hit, 0805 hours; 8 bomb hits, 0810 hours; half sunk |
Memorial to the sunken USS Nevada
| Nevada Battleship | 1914 | 21.0 knots | 1,500 | 1 torpedo hit; 6 bomb hits; beached on Hospital Point |
The turret from one of the battleships that was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor still leaks oil to this day!
It was a lot of fun walking on the craters…towards the black sand near the Ocean. The island is growing with every eruption… and getting closer to the mainland. Sort of like walking on a moonscape…Not that I’ve ever been to the Moon.
The Huliheʻe Palace is in historic Kailua- Kona on Aliʻi Drive. It being the former vacation home of Hawaiian royalty, it is now a museum run by the Daughters of Hawaii, showcasing furniture and artifacts. Hulihe‘e means “Turn flee.”
The palace was originally build by John Adams Kuakini, Governor of Hawaii out of lava rock. He died and left it to his adopted son William Pitt Leleihoky I, the son of Prime Minister. He died in the measle epidemic of 1848 and left it to his son but he died young and the palace went to his mother Princess -Ruth Keelikolani.
Sadly, this building was destroyed by the fire that raged through the Island in August 2023.
Travels with us 