The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Honolulu's World War II Landmarks-- Part 2

HOTEL STREET in China Town, once a hotbed of prostitution operating with the knowldege of the U.S. military.  This was the center of much off-base action in the book and movie "From Here to Eternity."

Today it is an area of restaurants, bakeries and lei shops.

PAGODA-LIKE BUILDING--  was  the site of the legendary, now-closed Wo Fat restaurant, the oldest restaurant in Hawaii.  The producers of the original "Hawaii Five-O" TV show named their arch villain after the place.

Another of the few remnants of the World War II era is the neon sign of the HUBBA HUBBA,  no longer in business. The place was an "infamous exotic dance hot spot.  The risque neon sign is all that remains of the run-down building that was boarded up in 1997.

There is a historic area between Bethel Street and Aala Triangle.

LA MARIANA SAILING CLUBis in industrial Sand Island between Pearl Harbor and Honolulu.  However, its tiki-themed bar didn't open until 1957, but it is a prime example of a World War II watering hole.  (Could it have been the bar shown the night before Pearl Harbor was attacked in the movie of the same name?)

HALE KOA is a modern concrete hotel near Ft. DeRussey Park with absolutely no 1940s ambience, but is a recreational center for military and veterans.  They serve the strongest mai tai in Waikiki and a good place to meet Pearl Harbor survivors.

Taking a Trip Back Into History.  --GreGen

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