Bremerton (CA 130) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 19 text:

Renling cars or laking guided lours, we saw places like Kailua Beacli, on llie ollier side ol llme island lrom Waikiki, and llie Mormon Temple, surprisingly wlmile againsl ll'1e l-lawaiian green background and llfie miles ol coaslline, marked by black volcanic rock, and llie pineapple and sugar beel lields inland. ll was somellwing lo see: somelliing a lol ol us liad .never seen belore. So we slayed and loved il, wlriile llie lwol scoop grew lnoller every day. il-lie rumors al lasl cryslallized inlo orders and by April 4, aboul a week aller we arrived, llie sliip was sclieduled lor a lrial run. We liad gunnery praclice oll Kalioo- lawe, reminding us wlial we were really oul lliere lor, and even- lually we arrived al llie porl ol l-lilo on llie large, bul llwinly populaled island ol l-lawaii. Willm only one week end lo spend lliere, llfie local people pulled oul llwe slops lo slwow us a good lime. We were ollicially welcomed by dignilaries and llien enioyed a l-lawaiian slwow, replele willi music and dancing, on llie lanlail. Once asliore we all became lourisls again. I Downlown l-lilo liad lillle lo oller aller llie slwine and sparkle ol l-lonolulu, bul we did manage lo cover llme island on lours and see some ol llie world's mosl beaulilul scenery. The big allrac- lion was llie volcano craler al l-lawaii Nalional Park, nol lar lrom llie cily. We lell l-lilo llwe lollowing lvlonday aller a wliirlwind week end, enroule lo Pearl. Bul our main gears locked again, so il became a slow sliullle back lo Waikiki. ll wasn'l bard lo lake, being in l-lonolulu again, llial is, lor lliose ol us wlio could slill musler up some spending money. And yel il was dillerenl.Tl'1e sun was as warm, llme drinks as cool, bul llwe word was oul ll1alwe'd soon be on our way lo Korea. Wlmen we pulled oul ol Paradise on April 29ll1, bound lor Japan and llme bombline oll Korea, all ol us were wondering .... Q

Page 18 text:

HAWAII 20 APRIL, 1952 . ln fhe middle of a warm day, fhe kind you see painfed on fourisf folders, we arrived in Pearl l-larbor. lmmediafely upon arrival fhe rumors were born and grew and grew and grew . .. We would be in l-lawaii for fwo weeks, for a monfhg no, fhe re- pairs on our engines would be foo much for local hands: we were heading back fo fhe sfafes. P Well, everyone had fhe hof scoop, so insfead of waifing around fo find ouf how wrong everyone was, we sef ouf fo ex- plore fhe Paradise of fhe Pacific. , W There were plenfyof us, and from fhaf firsf nighf when we hif fhe beach, l-lonolulu knew we were fhere. From Soufh l-lofel Sfreef fo Diamond l-lead. Spliffing fhe local cab fares-fhey needed spliffing+or riding fhe badly named l-lawaiian Rapid Transif, we all managed fo sfraggle info fown. - There was more fhan enough fo see, especially along fhe Waikiki Sfrip, where fhe nighfclubs sfood shoulder fo shoulder, beckoning us fo fry wild concocfions of rum, like Planfer's Punch, Shark's Toofh cockfails, and Navy Grogs. We gof off,-fhe bus far along Kaulakaua Boulevard and began walking. There was fhe Seven Seas and Lau Yee Chai's, smoky and dark where a loud floorshow was in progress, and fhe Tropics and Don fhe Beachcombers, if you had fhe money, and maybe, iusf maybe, a liffle while af fhe Royal l-lawaiian l-lofel. Purfher down fhe beach lay fhe Moana l-lofel, where some of us on fhaf firsf affer- noon heard fhe radio broadcasf l-lawaii Calls. We saf fhere wifh a perfecf view of Waikiki, one of fhe world's famous beaches. Af firsf, I guess mosf of us seffled down af Waikiki, dawn fo swimming and geffing fans, buf affer a fime we discov- ered fhere was more fo fhe island fhan fhe beach. WJ'

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. . LOOKED AROUND.. WE TIED UP . . AND SETTLED ON A COURSE OF ACTION' . . . SAW THE SIGHTS . . . audi, 5,,,,,,m ,9mq,.m,.n,1,51,.,,,1,g: uumnnurrf: