Disneyland and Aulani Trip Report - Day 7 Diamond Head and Pearl Harbor
I wasn't sure how this day was going to shake out. I made a lot of these plans before Emmaline boarded the struggle bus but she said she would give it all a try, especially since she tried to take it easy the day before. We got up at 6 AM because we needed to leave by 7 AM to make sure we would arrive at Diamond Head for our reservation between 8:00-8:30 AM. They only take so many reservations in advance and I decided earlier would be better before it got too hot.
We left right on time, encountered minimal traffic on the way, and arrived right on time. It's a good thing we went early because it was already getting really hot out as we started the 1.6 mile round trip journey up, around, and back down Diamond Head. We were rewarded with fantastic views and even though I could tell it was getting a little hard at times, Emmaline did great. Unfortunately, someone else did not. A young woman (20s?) had fainted and was regaining consciousness when we got near the top. Someone was on the phone with 911 and she seemed to have a lot of help and she was talking so that was a good sign so we got out of the way and made our way down as multiple EMS and fireman raced up to the summit. They also had two helicopters. I am hopeful that she made a full recovery and just got a little overheated. I did a google search to see if I could find anything and she was apparently one of two hikers airlifted off that day. Two people were airlifted off earlier in the week: one on Monday and one on Tuesday. This is apparently a regular occurrence! If you're going to hike Diamond Head, make sure that you're properly hydrated, go early in the day, and take breaks as you need to!
After our hike, we decided we needed a snack or coffee or something so we went to try to find another Island Vintage Coffee. We made for the one in Waikiki but it was a madhouse over there and there was no parking so we gave up on that. Then we tried to go get malasadas (very popular Portuguese donuts) at Leonard's but that was also lacking parking and had a line out the door. Emmaline had spotted a cat cafe so we circled back and decided to give that a go. The coffee was pretty good and we enjoyed the little rescue kittens for 30 minutes.
Once we were done at the cat cafe we drove the short distance to Pearl Harbor. We began by spending around 45 minutes walking around and looking at some of the exhibits that they have about the events leading up to the attack. Then we were feeling hungry for lunch so I added our name to the virtual wait list at the restaurant next door and we started making our way over there. Once there, we only had another 10 minute wait or so before our table was ready at Restaurant 604.
After our meal, which was actually quite good, we went back over to Pearl Harbor because it was just about time for us to check in for our 2 PM reservation to go over to the USS Arizona Memorial. The memorial is really well done and it was a moving experience.
On the way back on the boat, Emmaline expressed that she was having a lot of pain so we called it a day and went back to Aulani to relax. On our way back we saw a Leonard's truck and stopped to get some malasadas with no line! They actually are worth the hype, wow!
Emmaline decided she wanted shave ice instead so we found a good option along the way and mapped our way over there to find...a Leonard's truck next to the shave ice truck. We could have made just one stop, but oh well! Ultimately I ended up having shave ice too and I'm glad I did because it was really good (and actually my only shave ice of the whole trip).
By this time, Jeff and Cameo (if you recall, Roger's brother and his girlfriend) had arrived in from Seattle and were settling in at her parent's house so we made plans to meet up with them for dinner. We sort of lazed about in our room and relaxed until it was time for dinner. We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant called Assaggio in Kapolei. It was solid, basic Italian. After dinner we parted ways with plans to meet up the following day for a trip to the North Shore.
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