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March 6
Bright and early once again, the team set off to Pearl Harbor. After a much debated sandal issue, we took the boat over to the USS Arizona. We all learned a ton about the attack on Pearl Harbor and paid our respects to the thousands of men forever entombed in the waters below. We also saw the USS Bowfish, a submarine, and the USS Missouri, the battleship where WWII ended, but they cost extra to actually visit. And to our surprise, Elea (Crockett) spotted a plaque with the decommissioned submarine named the USS Wahoo!
After our little history lesson, we headed over to the Aloha Stadium to find some bargains at the Swap Meet. The Hawaiian sun was beating down and the food was full of grease, but we sure made out with some good deals!
After returning to the hotel, most of us went to the local Waikiki beach. We saw hula Scott, who won the hula contest at Germaine’s luau, and floated in the water. Then the team ate dinner at Planet Hollywood. Post-dinner we wandered the main street of Kalakaua and got some Coldstone for dessert.
March 7
Monday morning already, and it was time to get back in gear for what we came here for…softball. We headed off for practice at the University of Hawaii and it was the first day we didn’t get lost! The sun was blazing and we were all happy to actually be sweating at practice. We got a lot of defense in and prepared ourselves for the games ahead.
After practice, most of the team went to Kailua Beach. The waters there were calm so no one got tossed around in the waves. The team got a little crazy with the cheerleading stunts and made a huge human pyramid. A few people floated around on rafts while Coty (Tolar), Meghan (O’Leary), Kat (Mirras), and Whit (Holstun) dug a deep hole in the sand and buried themselves in it. After a couple hours at the beach and a minor detour, they headed back and hit rush-hour traffic. Everyone split up in groups for dinner, searching for a restaurant without a long wait because they were famished!
Apart from the rest of the team, I became a Salmiery family adoptee for the day and joined them for an adventure over to the North Shore. We saw the lush Hawaii I was expecting, passed tons of pineapple farms, and stopped in a small surfer town for some shaved ice with ice cream in it. We saw gigantic waves, unlike I have ever seen, and a few surfers were out there braving the harsh conditions. Michelle and I searched around in a safe spot looking for neat shells and such, and ended us getting a surprise attack from the water as well. We watched the sunset behind the crashing waves and then headed back to Waikiki for dinner.
March 8
After an early rise for a team breakfast, we all headed out on foot to do some shopping since we couldn’t go to the beach due to our games later that evening. We hit up the International Marketplace where we continued to spend our money. With no beach, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful until we left for our first games against the University of Hawaii. We played well the first game behind Coty’s awesome pitching, but unfortunately lost 1-0. The tropical rain started to fall more and more continuously throughout the start of the second game, and we swear only when we were out on defense. It started to pour in the third inning so the game was canceled. After getting soaked from the rain we got some food at Jack-in-the-box, a new-found place for those east-coasters, and even ended up having our team meeting in the restaurant. It was almost 11 by the time we got home, so we all showered and crashed.