January 5, 2012
Sometimes the stars align, even when the clouds and minor planets do not, and on your flight between Narita and San Francisco you can swing a seven-hour layover in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi for cheaper than a direct flight. After the damp and chilly weather of Kyushu and the icy cold of Tokyo, a few hours in the warm sunshine were all I wanted.
I boarded a city bus for the Arizona memorial and set off. In retrospect, I should have rented a car, but slowly viewing the city by bus was just fine for me.
After leaving Japan, and visiting a Navy base in Sasebo, I didn’t quite know how to process the Arizona memorial, so I took photos and tried to match up the exhibits with what I’d read and studied in school and on my own.
I left the memorial and headed for downtown Honolulu.
I lugged the PICO camera to the beach and sat down in the sunshine.
Toes in the water. Life’s pretty good.
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Thanks for sharing. What time of day did your flight arrive in Honolulu? What time did you leave to return to the airport to arrive in time (how long before your flight?) I am scheduling a flight from Tokyo back to Atlanta and the itinerary includes a 7 hr, 10 min layover.
Hi Celeste! My flight got in sometime in the morning. I regret not renting a car – it would have made it a lot easier and faster to get to the memorial and beaches, and given me somewhere to stash my bags while I went swimming, as well as saved the hassle of checking my bag at the memorial. I returned to the airport about an hour and a half before the flight and had plenty of time. All in all it was very quiet and simple. To save time when you go through customs in Honolulu, make sure your swim wear, sandals, and light clothes are accessible, and don’t bring any fresh foods from Japan into Hawai`i!