Washington State: Kurt Cobain Memorial Park

 

A view from the park entrance. 

Pretty small, but powerful if you're a Nirvana fan

My wife and I were heading to the ocean and I made it a point to stop by the Kurt Cobain Memorial Park on the way. I heard about this place being built and I've wanted to check it out for a while now. Being from the Seattle area Nirvana and the grunge music was huge when I was growing up. I was a major fan of Nirvana as well as Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden, & Pearl Jam growing up. The death of Kurt Cobain hit the fan community pretty hard here!

We stopped by the park and my first impression was that it's pretty small. It's located at the end of a dead end street. I read that Kurt Cobain grew up a couple of blocks away from this park. The park isn't fancy by any means, but I have to say it is pretty cool for a fan to spend some time in the same area where Kurt hung out.

 

The main sign at the park giving a little history

of the area and Kurt. "His spirit flows with the tide

twice daily" 

"Cobain immortalized the bridge through music,

but now the bridge immortalizes Cobain" — Rachel Thomson

Something in the Way

The sign showing some of the lyrics that were

inspired by Kurt's time hanging out under the bridge

Some of Kurt's quotes on this granite memorial headstone

including "Drugs are bad for you. They will fuck you up"

(but the city mayor found the profanity offensive and

had the word "fuck" sandblasted away)

Kurt's Air Guitar

The backside of the "As You Were" memorial

The front side of the "As You Were" memorial

All in all, the park was pretty cool to see because I'm a huge fan. I wouldn't suggest driving to Aberdeen just to see this memorial, but if it's anywhere near a drive you're currently on...stop by and check it out!!

Virginia: Old Blandford Church & Cemetary

A view of the church from the outside...looks simple enough

Again while on my business trip I made some time after work to visit this place. I just heard that it was one of the nearby attractions, but didn't think it was going to be much to see. The first issue I had was that when I looked at the hours, it was only open until 5PM. I got off work and headed straight there thinking I would still have plenty of time to check everything out. I found out when I arrived that you're only allowed inside the church on one of their tours. Even though the tour had already started, they let me buy a ticket and join them in progress. The church itself isn't too large, so I was surprised there was an actual tour of the place.

I joined mid-tour and found out quickly it was pretty much all for the stained glass windows done by a fellow named Louis Comfort Tiffany. Check out a website about this guy here & his Wikipedia page here. I can now see why they only let folks inside with a tour guide. The stained glass windows are just plain amazing! The guide gives a lot of history about each window (every window in the church is a Tiffany stained glass masterpiece) and describes the detail that went into each piece of art. As you're looking at the window, you can see more and more detail that would probably be missed if there were no guide there. Another reason I can see for the tour guide is that these are basically priceless pieces of art now...they wouldn't want anyone doing anything stupid to them.

This window commemorates the state of Missouri.

I took this picture before they told me that no photos were allowed....oops

Unfortunately a picture just doesn't do it justice!

The church itself was built in 1735, but abandoned in 1806. After the civil war "The Ladies' Memorial Association" turned it into a memorial for the confederate soldiers that died. There is a stained glass Tiffany window for each of the confederate states. The Blandford Cemetery, one of the oldest and largest in America, is resting place of some 30,000 Confederate soldiers who lost their lives during the Siege of Petersburg.

Outside the church with the Virginia battle flag

Once the tour was over, I headed out and checked out the confederate cemetery on my own. The cemetery is very large, so I drove my rental car around and stopped at some of the more interesting sites. Check out the photos below:

Several tombstones in the cemetery 
ranging from very small to quite large

The Memorial Arch at Blandford Cemetery, constructed in 1913

Some of the different flags of confederate soldiers from different states

An angel headstone

The Bolling Family Mausoleum

The visit was a lot more interesting that I originally thought it was going to be. I was in awe of the stained glass inside the church and checking out the cemetery was a very solemn experience. In school of course we would be taught about the civil war, but I never gave it too much thought after that. In my child's mind at the time slavery was bad and the good guys from the North won the war and freed the slaves. Of course there was a lot more to that, and visiting places like this really help wrap your mind around all the sorrow and realities that go along with war. I would recommend anyone in the area to make this visit...just go before the last tour starts if possible :)

Virginia: Petersburg National Battlefield (Eastern Front)

Part of the Confederate Battery 5

I was in Virginia for a work related trip, but wanted to make the most of it and visit some historical sites. Unfortunately I had to work during the day and didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted to at the Petersburg National Battlefield. I got off work at 4PM and headed straight over to the Petersburg National Battlefield Eastern Front Visitor's Center because it closes at 5PM. At first I thought this was a little early, but after I arrived I found out only the visitor center closes at 5PM, but the park stays open later.

The staff inside the visitor's center was very nice and helpful. I watched a short informational film inside the visitor's center, which I really recommend to anyone who is going to visit this park. The film is informative and will get you in the right frame of mind when going out to explore the park.
I wasn't sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised that all the historical spots are part of a driving tour. I was given a brochure which explained details of each of the spots. You take your own car on the drive and go at your leisure. The first spot is right behind the visitor's center and is the Confederate Battery 5.

Another canon from the Confederate Battery 5

located behind the visitor's center

I have to confess that I was in somewhat of a hurry. It was still cold out and I was looking forward to eating dinner. I still wanted to see as much as I could, but wanted to do it at a fast pace. The nice thing about the driving tour is that it's self paced. I decided to only stop at a portion of the areas I thought looked interesting enough because of this. If I had the time, I would have taken much longer and probably walked around the trails at each of the areas. I love historical sites like this...you can just feel the history as you're walking around.

My next spot on the journey was Battery 9. This stop has a lot to look at. There is recreated siege fortifications and samples of what soldier's shelters looked like. There are educational boards to read and we learn here that this is the place black union troops had their first major success of the war in Virginia.

"At the Confederate Battery 9. Black troops captured this position

during the first day's fighting"

Example of the siege fortifications

Siege fortification with a canon

More of the siege fortifications

Example of a soldier's Hut used by Union soldiers here during the 
winter of 1864-65. Four men would occupy a hut like this...
thousands of these huts were built during the seige of Petersburg!

After looking around I then drove my car to the next spot I decided to take a look at...Fort Stedman. Here are a few photos taken there:

Next up, right down the road was Fort Morton. Not much to look at except a row of canons:

After getting in my care and heading down the road a bit more, I came upon "The Crater". The short video I watched at the visitor's center and other stuff I've read about the siege of Petersburg all mention "The Crater". Union forces dug a tunnel under the Confederate line, then filled it with 320 kegs of gunpowder. There was a massive explosion in the early morning which immediately killed 278 Confederate soldiers. What could have dealt a death blow to the Confederates turned out to be a Union disaster. Union soldiers didn't take advantage of the surprise and when they did end up attacking, the Confederates were able to regroup and maintain their line. All in all Union casualties were 3,798 and Confederate casualties were 1,491. 

Monument at "The Crater"..."To the memory of William Mahone...
A distinguished confederate commander whose valor and strategy at the 
battle of the crater July 30, 1864 won for himself and his gallant brigade undying fame"

The remnants of "The Crater"

This was the last of the historical spots that I visited. At the end of the driving tour before exiting there was one last monument that I checked out before leaving:

"In memory of the soldiers and sailors from Massachussetts who lost their 
lives in the armies of the Potomac and James in various battles in Virginia 1861 - 1865"

All in all a pretty cool visit. I would recommend this trip to anyone in the area. The cost is a nominal $5, but well worth all the history you're able to see and take in. I just wish I had the entire day to leisurely visit each of the spots and take the walks down each of the trails.

Hawaii: Kualoa Ranch

The beautiful view at Kualoa Ranch while we were waiting for the short bus

We were looking for something a little different to do with the kiddos while in Hawaii. After looking at a few different options we decided to try the Zip & Dip at Kualoa Ranch. We purchased all our tickets at the MWR office during our visit to Fort Shafter. I recommend anyone who is active duty or retired military to get any tickets they can at the MWR, you'll get better pricing. Unfortunately for us, the Zip & Dip was sold out, but we were able to purchase just the Zip portion (Treetop Canopy Zipline Tour).

The drive from Waikiki to Kualoa Ranch took us about an hour and we had to get up fairly early to make it there by 8:00AM, the kiddos weren't too happy about that. Plugging the address into the GPS was easy enough and we found it without issues. The first thing we noticed was how beautiful the place was. Once we checked in we waited for our short bus to give us a ride to the ziplines. The ranch actually offers several activities you can sign up for. I wish we came across this place earlier in our trip, we probably would have signed up for a few more things (Horseback Tours, ATV Tours, Movie Site Tour, and more)

Nine of us headed out on the short bus. Our driver gave us a guided tour of the Kualoa Ranch during the ride showing us where various movies have been filmed such as Jurassic World and 50 first dates (and many more - there have been more than 50 Hollywood movies and TV shows filmed at the ranch) Once we arrived at the zipline arrival area, we all got off the short bus and geared up with the help of the 3 guides that were there to help. The gear includes a harness and a helmet. They have free lockers for anyone who wanted to leave items there. We were told we can take pictures and do whatever, but if anything is dropped it will be lost forever. (we used our iPhones to snap pictures and short videos while on the waiting area for each of the ziplines, I also had my son use our GoPro during the zipline with express instructions to hold it with a death grip!). The zipline adventure includes 7 ziplines ranging from 200 feet to a quarter mile in length!

Our guides were awesome and the ziplines were a lot of fun. Everyone enjoyed the views, which were so beautiful...we all just soaked them in. We couldn't stop taking pictures of everything around us the entire time. I would recommend checking out Kualoa Ranch to anyone interested in movie history or just wanting to have some fun and adventure. We all had a complete blast!!

Another view while at the ranch waiting for our short bus

One of the amazing views during our Treetop Canopy Zipline Tour


 

My son making his way down the zipline

A photo to show you one of the short trails we took to one of the stations

This was the start of the quarter mile zipline

Watching my kids do "the coconut" down the quarter mile zipline


 

One of the suspension bridges we crossed

Another view of us ziplining


 

A picture we took with the GoPro of the entire valley
You can see some of the trail and 
one of the zipline stations below 
 
 

On the short bus ride back to the ranch...a view of
Mokoliʻi (Chinaman's Hat)

Hawaii: Pearl Harbor

One thing is for sure...when we visited Hawaii, I wanted to make sure the kiddos took a little break from the beach and visited Pearl Harbor. They knew what they had learned in history class and what they've seen in the movie Pearl Harbor, but I wanted them to take in a little bit of history. I wanted them to see Pearl Harbor. Walk around where the attacks took place and let all of what happened really sink in.

Pearl Harbor is Hawaii's largest tourist attraction! Some of it's free and some places do cost a small fee. The first thing I did was start planning my trip. I didn't want any surprises when we arrived. The first (and very important) thing I learned was that even though the USS Arizona Memorial is free, it is very important to reserve your tickets! The tickets are free, but they only give out a limited number each day. I went through a little bit of a panic when I tried to reserve my tickets online a few days before our planned trip and there were none available. After a little more reading though I found out that there are also next day tickets available starting at 7AM the day prior to your visit. I promptly set my alarm for 7AM and I was able to reserve tickets for the family...crisis averted!! Tickets book up quickly, so I suggest getting them early...up to 2 months in advance.

To reserve tickets go online at: www.recreation.gov or call 1-877-444-6777. (There is also 1,300 walk-in tickets available at the Pearl Harbor Visitor's center, but I'm sure those are gone pretty quickly...so I wouldn't recommend taking that gamble unless you have no other alternative. The visitor center opens at 7AM)

We took our rental car there and easily found parking, although it was a good walk to get to the entrance. Once there we headed to the ticket counter and picked up our USS Arizona Memorial tickets and I also purchased USS Bowfin & USS Missouri tickets as well. There is also the Pacific Aviation Museum, but we chose not to partake.

The USS Bowfin

Our first stop was the USS Bowfin. The USS Bowfin is a WWII submarine. We were given audio headphones to use while touring the submarine. Each of the areas had a different number we could punch in and we would hear an audio presentation that pertained to that particular area. The tour was pretty cool I think. You get to walk around the sub at your own pace and see how small and cramped everyone must have been while working on it. It's pretty crazy to imagine!

On the deck of the USS Bowfin

Looking back to the shore from the deck of the USS Bowfin

After the USS Bowfin, we slowly made our way to the USS Arizona Memorial theatre. Each ticket group has a designated time slot for the tour. The start of the tour is actually a 23 minute documentary film inside the theatre. The documentary shows everything that led up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and then the attack itself. It really set the tone for what we were about to see next.

After the documentary we all gathered onto a passenger shuttle boat to the USS Arizona Memorial.

The view of the USS Missouri from our shuttle boat 

heading towards the USS Arizona Memorial

The documentary was great and the memorial is nice, but I wished you could see a little more of the actual ship. The USS Arizona Memorial is placed directly above where the USS Arizona sank. You can see bits and pieces of the ship, but not much. I've seen photos taken from the air and it's pretty amazing seeing the entire ship under water. Unfortunately there is not much to see from the memorial itself. There is a list of names of the crew members that died, that ended up being a little too much for my wife who couldn't stay in that portion too long. It just hit her a little too hard after watching the documentary and knowing that all those sailors died in the ship and are still down there.

 

 The Shrine Room containing the list of names of the 

USS Arizona crew that perished

Inside the USS Arizona Memorial

Looking up at the US Flag flying above the USS Arizona Memorial

After a set period of time (plenty of time to take it all in), the shuttle boat takes everyone back to the Pearl Harbor visitors center. We got off and had a little lunch next where the USS Bowfin is located. They sell hotdogs and there are vending machines selling all kinds of drinks. Not the healthiest lunch, but it did the job.

Finally we headed to the USS Missouri Memorial. To get there we had to board a shuttle bus that drove us over to Ford Island. This is the only way to get there as a civilian. The shuttle buses are constantly making a round trip with stops at the Pacific Aviation Museum as well. We got off and headed to the "Mighty Mo".

Walking toward the Battleship Missouri

The USS Missouri was actually located at the naval shipyard in Bremerton where I'm from. I remember as a kid going on the decks and playing around on it. There was a lot of controversy and uproar in the local community as it was "stolen" from us and moved to Pearl Harbor. Even though it sucks that we no longer have it in the Pacific Northwest, I think having it in Pearl Harbor makes it available to a much larger audience. There are a lot more people that see it now than there ever was at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton.

Once on the USS Missouri you can choose to either walk around and explore on your own, use an audio device similar to the ones we used on the USS Bowfin earlier, or go on a guided tour. We chose to use the audio devices and just explore on our own. The kiddos took off and I didn't see them again until we where finished. We slowly made our way on deck of the battleship and then went through the inside where you can see where and how all the sailors lived and worked on the ship. It was all pretty cool, although not as many areas to access the audio tour as the USS Bowfin had. It was all interesting...I think if we didn't have the kiddos with us, we probably would have went on one of the guided tours just to hear some additional information.

The big guns on the deck of the USS Missouri

 

Bunk beds and lockers the sailors had to use...still cramped,

but not as bad as the USS Bowfin!

 

A room for the higher ranking obviously

 

Looking out over the big guns to the USS Arizona Memorial

 

A closer view of the USS Arizona Memorial from the deck of the USS Missouri

All in all the trip to Pearl Harbor was a great trip. I recommend this trip to anyone who is visiting Hawaii. Great to see the history up close and personal.