Everyone else in our group was tired from the snorkeling and the Arizona Memorial, so they went back to the hotel. Andrew and I, however, were not going to come this far and NOT spend a couple of hours crawling over the battleship U.S.S. Missouri when we had the chance... so off we went!

The Missouri is one of the last "great battleships" of the U.S. Navy. She has a long and storied history, with the most historically important part being that it was on her decks that the Japanese surrender was signed to end WWII. There is a plaque on the "Surrender Deck" that marks the exact spot:

Now... we all know that battleships are big... and their guns are big... but damn. These are some BIG GUNS ^TM.

Notice, also, the wood decks in the picture above.

To give some perspective... here's Andrew standing next to the #1 turret:

... and the requisite artsy-fartsy shot:

Oh yeah... the anchor chains are pretty big, too.

Okay! Let's go below decks and poke around, shall we?

The officer's cabins (#1 below) are much nicer than the enlisted crew bunks (#2 below)...

... but at least the Marines had their own office:

We thought it was pretty appropriate that the chow line was known as the "Truman Line":

Back up on deck, Andrew crawled up into the #3 turret:

... while I sat in the Captain's chair and gave the orders. "Take us... that way"

A good view of the Arizona Memorial from the Missouri

... and a nice Hawai'ian rainbow to end the day.

Tomorrow's a travel day as we take the entire family from Oahu to Kaua'i for the rest of our vacation... see you on the next island!