Pearl Harbor

We went to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona. However, because you have to take a ferry out to the Arizona and the viewing area is on some sort of dock (I guess) and the weather was a teeny bit windy and sprinkly, they weren't letting anyone over there. So instead we toured a super cool submarine, the USS Bowfin.

For $10 a person ($7 with a Hawaii ID) we got to tour the Bowfin museum with truly hilarious posters encouraging men to live in a place where they didn't even get their own bed with lots of other men and inadequate showering facilities to serve their country. Also some other cool submarine stuff. And by cool I mean it was a little bit boring.

Then we were given a head set with one of those things where you press the number of the station you're at and a husky male voice tells you all about the history of where you are standing.

 We walked around the deck of the sub first and Chris pretended to shoot the bad guys.

Then we were absolutely mystified to learn just how small the living area in a submarine is. I mean look at this. There is a good majority of American men who seriously would not fit in those beds. 

And they didn't even get a bed to themselves. People would take turns sleeping. And this was an actual room but there were beds in other places that just sort of folded out of the walls. In any given room you could reach out and touch both walls at the same time.

 And then there were the doors. Once again, modern day American food portions are not creating men to fit through these doors. 

I have to be honest, we didn't really listen to our headset so much except when we were somewhere that seemed interesting. (Or that confused us).

At the end of our tour we were offered a picture that one of the employees had taken of us (That looks much like this one) which we could purchase. But it wasn't just a normal picture. It was the front page of the newspaper the day Pearl Harbor was bombed and our picture was the headline photo. We were totally prepared to purchase it but they wouldn't take our credit card, only cash. And thus we left without a picture.

It is our full intention to go back at some point and actually see the USS Arizona. The chances of that actually happening are unknown. If you find yourself at Pearl Harbor, I would recommend the Bowfin tour. You may enjoy the museum more than we did, but how often do you get to walk around a submarine?? (Also remember cash to buy your cool souvenir picture).