Friday, February 11, 2011

Warm and Sunny Honolulu

My husband and I recently escaped the cold of the Northwest for the beautiful, warm, humid winter of Honolulu.  Between 1987 and 1990 we lived in on base at Pearl Harbor. We haven't been back to the Island since 1992 and were not surprised to find it the same yet MORE! Lots of sun, people (we never went to Waikiki), noise from traffic, but beauty everywhere.

Example:  We stayed at the recently built Navy Lodge on historic Ford Island.  A causeway was built to the Island about 10 years ago and now there are new quarters for military personnel.  The Navy Lodge was built in the last ten years and contains two large buildings to house personnel moving to and from Hawaii, and visitors like ourselves. 

Ford Island is small by Whidbey standards and limited for supplies but so peaceful and historic.  The battleship Missouri, where the Articles of Surrender was signed with Japan, is now a museum for visitors; also the Naval Aviation Museum; memorials for the battleship Oklahoma and Utah. There are old bunkers and an air control tower that is awaiting restoration.

Of course, we drove all over the Oahu to our favorite beaches, Barbers Point Naval Air Station, Bellows Beach, Kaneohe (Pyramid Rock) where Obama recently stayed, and a ride to the North Shore on a rainy day to watch the super surfers catch the waves. 

Ginger
I also met some artists that meet to paint every Thursday at Foster Botanical Garden in Honolulu.  "The Garden traces its beginning to 1853 when Queen Kalama leased a small area of land to William Hillebrand, a young German doctor. A botanist as well as a physician, he and his wife built a home in the upper terrace area of the present garden. The magnificent trees which now tower over this area were planted by him. After twenty years in Hawaii, he returned to Germany and produced the excellent botanic treatise, Flora of the Hawaiian Islands (1888).
The Hillebrand property was later sold to Thomas (Captain) and Mary Foster who added to it and continued to develop the garden. Upon Mrs. Foster's death in 1930, the 5.5 acre site was bequeathed to the City and County of Honolulu as a public garden."


Bellows Beach Windward side
Foster Botanical Gardens

Rainy evening view from the Navy Lodge, looking at causeway.


Trying to grab some shade by the lifeguard stand; this was my view.




The watchers

Pupukea surf left side

Pupukea Beach right side

2 comments:

  1. I love the story of these sketches. Great compilation of your trip to Hawaii. The ginger plant is beautiful. Glad you had a good time on Ford Island.

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  2. Hi Pat! Fun connecting by accident! Love these watercolors! You are so talented! Hope to get to whidbey island someday again. How long are you in Hawaii! We are fine. We got two golden retriever puppies. Having a ball with them.

    Jan Petek

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