Made it back to Ohio! The flight was pretty long but luckily, in San Francisco they put me on a direct flight back to Cincinnati!
In Oxford we had dinner at 45 East before heading to one of our favorite pubs, Skippers! Man, I missed Miami! Glad to be back!
-Natalie
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“DECEMBER 7, 1941, A DATE WHICH WILL LIVE IN INFAMY…NO
MATTER HOW LONG IT MAY TAKE US TO OVERCOME THIS
PREMEDITATED INVASION, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, IN THEIR
RIGHTEOUS MIGHT, WILL WIN THROUGH TO ABSOLUTE VICTORY.” -FDR
Today, I was fortunate enough to attend the 68th Anniversary Memorial Service of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The event took place at Kilo Pier, a pier that sits on Pearl Harbor across from the Battleship Row memorial, which includes the U.S.S Arizona memorial. From 7:40am-9:30am, the event paid a tribute to those who lost their lives on December 7th, 1941, as well as honored those who served aboard those ships that “infamous” day in December and are still with us today. Fortunately, many of the survivors were able to take part in the ceremony.
The event officially began at 7:55am, the exact minute the first explosion happened at Pearl Harbor 68 years ago today. At the event, speakers such as Hawai’i Governor Linda Lingle, the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Patrick Walsh, and Keynote Speaker, Dr. Allan Millett, were able recognize the impact of the attack at Pearl Harbor, as well as the aftermath of the attack and its impact on WWII. The event concluded with the traditional laying of the wreaths for each ship, which was followed with a 21-gun salute and the playing of Taps. The service was a very beautiful and moving event that I was lucky to be in attendance for. Thanks Selina and Ashley for making it happen!
Some personal thoughts: If you have read my blog about my first visit to Pearl Harbor, I’m sure you are aware how much this place means to me. Being able to be there on December 7th, 2009, an anniversary of arguably one of the most influential days in United States’s 20th century history, was an extraordinary experience for me. Unfortunately, as time goes on, the survivors that have helped us to remember what happened there, slowly pass on. As this happens, stories slowly slip away from our minds and heroes are quickly forgotten. It’s so important that we continue to remember times like these in our nation’s history when ordinary Americans, under unimaginable circumstances, did extraordinary things. Never Forget.
-Natalie
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Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend! It was kind of sad not being with family but there were a lot of us here that just went out together on Thanksgiving Day. We did have a pot luck Turkey Dinner the night before. Since most of the people that live here are from other countries, many of them cooked dishes from their respective countries. It was a great time and I’m glad it worked out so well!
I’m less than a week away from flying back to Ohio for winter break! I leave the evening of the 10th, and then will arrive in Cincinnati on Friday night. I’ll be sticking around the Oxford area (Miami University), visiting with Kate and friends WHILE finishing up all my final papers! I hope to be back in Cleveland around the 20-25th to celebrate the Holiday week with the family! I am a little nervous about how cold it will be back on the mainland considering, I’m only brining what I have here in Hawaii to Cincinnati! Regardless of the cold, I think it will be nice to be back on the mainland for a couple weeks. Kate booked her flight back with me so she’ll be vacationing here in Hawaii from December 28th-January 7th!
How about that World Cup draw? I’ve been feeling Cape Town for awhile for awhile now… (hint hint, kate)!!!
-Natalie
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My friend Belle and I, headed up to the North Shore for the morning because all the weather outlets were warning of us of the possible 30ft waves coming! So, naturally we decided we HAD to go up there and see them! Don’t think we saw 30ft waves, but definitely18-20ft! It was awesome!
When we got up to the North Shore we found out the tournament had been postponed so there were tons of surfers and sponsors hanging around the town. There is actually just ONE real grocery store up there so we decided we would get food then hangout at Sunset Beach (Site of the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing Tourney). We got to Foodland and right when we got there we saw the mean local boy from Blue Crush in his truck with his boards in the back! He’s a ‘real’ local boy and is apparently in the midst of getting sponsored…guess he shouldn’t have been so mean to Anne-Marie after all? ;) We headed to Sunset for a bit then ended up at Pipeline for the rest of the morning. We sat outside the Volcom house for about an hour or two just watching waves. You wouldn’t believe how many people just came out to see them! So beautiful and so peaceful! Pretty excited for it to be January/February when the waves get really huge! Eddie, anyone?
-Natalie
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We went up to the Kualoa Mountain range in Ka’a'awa today! There was a small group of us that were interested in seeing the filming locations for a lot of TV shows and movies that were filmed here on the island. David is from Germany and his friend Niles was here for two weeks so we all decided to go up. It was a blast and it wasn’t that expensive to get back on the ranch.
The Kualoa Ranch is the filming location for a lot of movies and shows including, Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates, Windtalkers, Pearl Harbor and Lost!
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We got up early to head back to Seattle. We headed to Lime Kilm lighthouse as we had heard that there was a unique spot for Whale Watching called Haro Strait. It was completely empty so we spent an hour taking pictures and watching for whales. Kate luckily spotted a couple of them in the strait! We think there were about one or two and we can tell they were eating. Apparently in the peak season from February-September the strait is flooded with Orca Whales, Humpback Whales, Porpoises, Sea Otter and other wildlife. What an experience!
After taking the ferry back we couldn’t decide what we wanted to do so we decided to head to the most famous winery north of Seattle. We were completely surprised with how beautiful it was! The place was pretty packed as well. We ended up just getting a bottle of Chardonnay, cheese and crackers. The area surrounding the Chateau has tables (with built in wine bottle openers) scattered throughout the grounds. The wine shop even gives you free napkins, cups and knives so that you can grab a bottle and enjoy!
When we finished we headed to Pike Place Market one last time to grab some last minute gifts and get dinner. Kate took me to an Asian bistro that was on Pike called Wild Ginger before we checked into the hotel by the airport. It was sad to say bye to Seattle but I think I am about ready for that 80 degree Hawaiian weather now! Sad to say goodbye AGAIN to Kate but we already have another trip, of some sort, in the works! Can’t wait!
-Natalie
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San Juan Island is about 80 miles north of Seattle. The San Juan Islands are made up of three islands, Lopez, Orcas and San Juan Island. All three are famous for their views and whales. The place is extremely famous for whale watching. The drive really took about an hour though so it was bad. The view of Mt. Baker and the Cascade Mountains made it extremely enjoyable. We arrived in Anacortes, Washington around 9:30am. Our ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island wouldn’t be leaving until 2am so we spent free time getting breakfast and hiking.
The hiking was one of the highlights of our trip. We stumbled upon Mt. Erie which was a recommended lookout point over Anacortes. We started to follow trails and ended up on a mini-hike with beautiful views of the water and mountains. We took a ton of pictures before having to head over to the ferry landing.
The ferry ride from Anacortes to Friday Harbor was incredible and a short 45 minutes long ride. We didn’t see any whales but the view was incredible! We spent the entire time on the deck before arriving at Friday Harbor.
When we arrived we were pretty overwhelmed with the town and the hotel. First, the town so cute! There were tons of little seafood restaurants along with island shops and breweries. We decided we would check out the hotel first as we booked it last minute and were somewhat hesitant/nervous to see this place. We stayed at the Earthbox Motel and Spa (http://www.earthboxmotel.com/). By far, the cutest hotel we have EVER stayed in! The hotel had a contemporary ‘euro’ design and most of their features were ‘green’. We would completely stay there again if/when we come back!
We went out to the main pub area before having a nice dinner on the port at a place called “The Place”. The day went by fast! Completely worth the drive!
-Natalie
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Last night was dedicated to exploring the Seattle nightlife. We enjoyed Capitol Hill so much from the night before, we decided to go back. Capitol Hill is the main ‘trendy’ area of Seattle. There is a Broadway theatre, restaurants, galleries and tons of cafes. We went in search of a good restaurant to eat at so when we stumbled upon a brewery, we said ‘why not?!’. We went to the Elysian Brewery and it was packed full of 20 and 30 something’s. My brew of choice? The Elysian Night Owl, a pumpkin based ale! After we finished up at the Brewery, we headed to a couple bars and clubs before turning in around 3am…which was extremely late for us!
Today we are headed to San Juan Island for the day! Will update you soon!
-Natalie
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University of Washington
Today we went to the University of Washington to tour around the campus and so Kate could visit the law school. She had visited earlier in the summer but wanted to visit again so we checked out the law building and “the Ave”, the main student hangout. The campus was gorgeous, and it’s definitely one of the nicest I’ve been to.
-Natalie
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Today was a full day of touring! We got up early and headed to Pike Place Market. We did a famous ‘walking’ breakfast with coffee while we explored the marketplace and shops. By the time we were finished we had worked up a real appetite so we headed to the Space Needle for lunch. We ate at Sky City, which is the rotating restaurant at the top of the Space Needle. Beautiful views!
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