If you are ever on Oahu, you must visit the USS Arizona Memorial. A somber experience for sure, but well worth the amount of time spent standing in line to truely understand a very important event in American history.
Visit the Memorial early, like in line by 7am. This is the best way to go because the line isn't too long then. You will wait for about a half hour until the doors open and tickets (free) are issued. Save these, they are collectable and look great in a scrapbook. I have a bunch because we go whenever we have visitors. If you go this early, you will be on one of the first tours. That way you have the rest of your day to do other things on island.
The Memorial has a gift shop and also a museum. It is important to walk through both to get a good grasp on this tragic event. You will see a movie before a boat takes you out to view the Memorial itself.
Keep in mind, that you are visiting the graves of fallen sailors. If you wish to take a lei, make sure you check with the person working so that they can help you to remove the string from it to let the flowers go.
The only really bad thing about visiting the Memorial is that the traffic can get bad leading into it because tourists will stop at the corner that doesn't have a stop to take pictures. This backs the traffic up onto Kamehameha Highway.
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