Iolani Palace and King Kamehameha I

 In the morning, we had a lecture on the history of Hawaii, which provided a wonderful foundation for the visit in the afternoon to the Iolani Palace.

Entrance to the Iolani Palace, which is a living restoration and reflection of Hawaiian national identity. It is recognized as the spiritual and physical multicultural epicenter of Hawaii. It was built in 1882 by King Kalākaua and was the home of Hawaii’s last reigning monarchs. It served as the official royal residence and the residence of the Kingdom’s political and social life until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893.

Registered as a National Historic Landmark since 1962 and the only official royal residence in the United States, the Palace is one of the most recognizable buildings in Hawaii. Meticulously restored to its former grandeur, Iolani Palace tells of a time when their Majesties, King Kalākaua and his sister and successor, Queen Liliʻuokalani walked the grand halls.

Banyan tree outside the palace. 

We were given shoe coverings to wear to protect the floors and carpet.

Grand staircase to the second floor.

View out over one of the porches.

One of the queen's many formal dresses.

The state dining room.

The throne room with the queen's royal cape. Notice the two stanchions on either side of the throne. They are topped with an array of feathers. The king and queen disliked sitting on the thrones, preferring to stand while receiving guests. This was also where the trial of Queen Lili'olani occurred, and where she was found guilty and imprisoned in an upstairs room.

King Kalakaua's bedroom.

The king's library.

Imprisonment Room, where the queen was held for nearly eight months following her conviction. She was not allowed any visitors except for one lady companion. 

In the gift shop, I found these wonderful examples of lauhala weaving. 

Statue of King Kamehameha I near the Palace.

Fireworks Over Oahu

Once a week, the Hilton Hotel presents a short fireworks display. I watched it by the pool with my new friend, Norah.

Prince Waikiki Hotel

The Road Scholar tour starts today, so I checked out of Hale Koa at noon. I had called the hotel to check if my room was ready, and it was, so I took a quick Uber to the next hotel, Prince Waikiki.

My room overlooks the marina, and there is access to the beach on the far left. 

 

After settling in and unpacking a bit, I went to investigate the pool. There was a very interesting horseshoe shaped plunge pool, which overlooked the marina. (I later learned that this is called an infinity pool.) When I first approached it, it looked like a bather could possibly go right over the edge. But a closer examination showed that there was a wall there. 

I was happy to swim some laps for exercise before going back to the room to get ready to check in with Road Scholar.

 

Before I left, I saw a parade of sailboats with distinctive orange and black sails following a larger boat. Perhaps it was a sailing class.

Luau at Hale Koa

I made my way to the Luau Garden at Hale Koa at 5 pm where a long line stretched from the entrance to almost the beach. Were guests very hungry or...? I soon learned that the first hour was devoted to Hawaiian crafts, athletic stunts, and music. 

The first stop was at the lei station, where I strung orchids onto a thread and made a bracelet. 

 

The next activity was an opportunity to braid coconut leaves into a headband. This was extremely hard to do as instead of braiding in the traditional way, the technique was to fold it back and over itself. The teacher did a beautiful job:

  

Then one of the men climbed a coconut tree with just a ring of fabric. He had to be super strong to be able to climb that high. And descending was even harder, he said.

 

 

Afterwards, the conch shell called us to dinner.

 

After dinner of various appetizers, mahi mahi, steak, pulled pork, roasted squash and sweet potato, and a very light frosted cake for dessert, the show began. 

 

 

 An ensemble of dancers presented a musical review of Hawaiian history ending with a dramatic performance by an energetic fire dancer.

Snorkeling in Turtle Canyon Aboard Charter Oahu

 

Once I booked this trip to Hawaii, I looked for a snorkeling excursion. Charter Oahu is a small family company, and they were terrific! The four crew members were all female, and there were about ten snorkelers. (Some ships had 25-40 people without the personal attention we got.)

As we set off, it was extremely windy, which rocked the boat a bit. I was fine, as I am an OLD Salt. We were told there is a $10,500 fine for touching a turtle, so we needed to stay away. (And no, that's not a typo.) 

Green sea turtles, very common in Oahu, are the largest hard-shelled sea turtles in the world, reaching lengths of four feet and weighing over 300 pounds. They live at least 70 years and can live to 100 years. Males have longer tails than females, and they all spend a lot of time on the reef sleeping/eating (Nina, one of the crew members, called this the "living room"). Green sea turtles have high concentrations of hemoglobin and red cells in their blood and myoglobin in their muscles, which enables them to store oxygen during dives.

Angelina Venturella was the photographer, and armed with an underwater GoPro, she was accomplished at free diving (swimming to the bottom while holding her breath) to get her exceptional pictures.  

Once in the water, I was happy to see that the mask/snorkel combo I had brought along worked great. The fins were tricky to get used to, but eventually they were fine. Nina kindly tethered us together, which I really appreciated as I didn't want to float away. She also pointed out turtles on the reef and when they were surfacing. I did not have a wetsuit on, but I wasn't one bit cold, too distracted, no doubt, by all those amazing turtles. We spent more than an hour in the choppy seas enjoying the incredible views of turtles and fish. It was the most awesome nature experience I've ever had. 

Nina was my right-hand buddy, showing me things I would have missed. (I'm holding a sea urchin here.) She also lent me an extra wide noodle so I was well-balanced in the choppy seas.

 

Green sea turtle relaxing in the "living room."