![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8009.jpg\")
Grandma Mary and Megan.<\/p><\/div>\n
The University (part of it anyway) is located beneath the Aloha Tower.<\/p>\n
Completed in 1926 and standing 184 feet tall, Aloha Tower was the tallest building on the island for four decades, offering spectacular views of the harbor, with its top floor housing an observatory and lookout station for harbor pilots.\u00a0 Its lighthouse served as a navigational landmark visible from 15 miles at sea, while its clock was one of the largest in the United States.<\/p>\n
The tower stood as a welcoming beacon for visitors when travel to O’ahu was done entirely by sea, the “ALOHA” etched on its walls greeting thousands of ship passengers entering Honolulu Harbor.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-24-009.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Aloha Tower was placed under the control of the United States Navy, which restricted public access, shut off its beacon, and painted the once white building camouflage to minimize detection.<\/p>\n
As a control center for American military convoys in the Pacific, the facility maintained a high level of security, with Army sentries on patrol until 1947, when the camouflage paint was sandblasted off, and the building returned to civilian control.<\/p>\n
The University (part of it) is located just east under the shadow of the tower.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8016.jpg\")
We remembered seeing it on our last cruise to Hawaii!<\/p><\/div>\n
Megan’s dorm room was quite nice, and she had a room for two all to herself.\u00a0 Instead of being a math major, perhaps she might consider interior decorating?\u00a0 Na, just kidding!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8020.jpg\")
Looking good.<\/p><\/div>\n
Before Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) took over and renovated the facility in the 2010s, the building was the\u00a0Aloha Tower Marketplace, a waterfront shopping and dining complex.\u00a0 \u00a0It served as a commercial center featuring restaurants, retail shops, and tourist attractions before being repurposed into university dormitories and mixed-use educational spaces.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8024.jpg\")
The facility mods made it perfect for a school!<\/p><\/div>\n
We abandoned poor Megan to the cruel embrace of her textbooks.\u00a0 We escaped to a Spaghetti Factory conveniently parked next to the school, where we heroically tackled a glass of wine each before wobbling respectably back to the hotel.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-24-010.jpg\")
We decided NOT to take this mode of transportation back to the hotel.<\/p><\/div>\n
On our way to see Megan, we spotted the US.\u00a0 Army Museum, so we decided to stop on the way back to visit it.<\/p>\n
The USS Arizona Memorial Museum of Hawaii is a Department of Defense-owned museum housed in Battery Randolph, a former coastal artillery battery, at Fort DeRussy Military Reservation.\u00a0 The battery was transformed into a museum in 1976.\u00a0 The Hawai’i Army Museum Society (HAMS) was chartered in the same year with a mission to support the US Army Museum of Hawai’i.<\/p>\n
The museum’s collection contains two World War II armor pieces (the US M24 Chaffee and the Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go light tank), an AH-1 Cobra helicopter, and small arms indoors, as well as the battery itself.\u00a0 The battery’s 14-inch main guns were scrapped after World War II and have since been replaced with two 7-inch naval guns that were previously mounted on the battleship USS New Hampshire.<\/p>\n
The Japanese Type 95 Ha-Go Light Tank is located at the US USmy Museum of Hawai’i.
\nMuseum exhibits cover the military history of pre-Imperial Hawaii and the post-annexation history of the USS, including warfare in the Pacifre, including World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Korean War.<\/p>\n
The museum also includes a “Gallery of Heroes” honoring recipients of the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) or its equivalents, the Navy Cross and Air Force Cross (United States).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-24-011.jpg\")
During WWII, it housed two large guns capable of delivering explosives 14 miles away… Unfortunately, the guns on the battleships had a range of 18 miles!<\/p><\/div>\n
The story goes that the facility was to be demolished, but the contractor gave up after a few days; the wrecking ball kept getting wrecked.\u00a0 The place was solid reinforced concrete several feet thick.\u00a0 The government decided to use it for storage and then made it into a museum.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8029.jpg\")
We walked into every room along the corridor, and each room was filled with historical items and stories.<\/p><\/div>\n
We departed the museum with some newfound knowledge about Hawaii and WWII.\u00a0 I wanted to take the tank to the hotel because traffic was heavy!\u00a0 Mary said, “NO!”<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-24-016.jpg\")
CHARGE, FULL SPEED AHEAD.<\/p><\/div>\n
Back to the hotel with a quick stop at the MaiTai Bar to make selections from their rather amazing cocktails.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8030.jpg\")
This was a …ah…. perhaps…. I forgot, but it was good!!<\/p><\/div>\n
The view from our table was wonderful, and we decided we might go sailing if we had time.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8036.jpg\")
Colors of the rainbow.<\/p><\/div>\n
Between drinks, we managed to down a cheese plate, which was our dinner this evening.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8049.jpg\")
Just like The Silver Trumpet back home.<\/p><\/div>\n
We were full and ready to take on the world!\u00a0 Ready??<\/p>\n
What did the ocean say to the beach in Hawaii?
\nNothing, it just waved.<\/p>\n
Why are fish so smart in Hawaii?
\nBecause they live in schools!<\/p>\n
How do sea turtles communicate with each other?
\nWith shell phones!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8053-Copy.jpg\")
Mary picked out my shirt today!<\/p><\/div>\n
After “dinner,” we wandered onto the beach and watched the sunset.\u00a0 Now, it was time to go to the room, watch some TV, and crash!<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_8057.jpg\")
Bye, Mr. Sun, see you tomorrow!<\/p><\/div>\n
Tomorrow we are going to the Gym Meet and see Megan go through her routines.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/wp-content\/dailydiary\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2026-03-24-012.jpg\")
Hawaii time-lapse and real-time 4K footage series<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We woke up to this view of Diamond Head.\u00a0 We planned the day, then got ready to go to… the Elks, our go-to spot for meals. We took a cab to the Elks and enjoyed the sunshine and seeing all … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,235,184,236],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures","category-elks","category-just-us","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94819"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95007,"href":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94819\/revisions\/95007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lilesnet.com\/dailydiary\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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