Finding the Enduring Hawaii

Journeys into Hidden America Beyond the Interstate & Beyond the Campaign Trail

• Remembering Pearl Harbor Generations Later

This year will mark the 83^rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

In its time it was a shattering and life changing event that impacted multiple generations profoundly. It was sort of the 9-11 of its time.

However, many who lived through that time are either elderly or have passed.

There are still annual ceremonies to mark the occasion, but fewer who actually lived back then are around to relate what happened then – let alone observe it in a first-hand manner.

There is a museum and memorial at Pearl Harbor that tells the story, and moves those attending. Yet, as the years pass, the tone of the observance seems to have changed.

"I see their faces right before me, and know they're gone," said Pearl Harbor's chief historian, Daniel Martinez of the change from those who lived  the moment to those who are trying to remember to maintain a remembrance from an earlier generation. And with each passing anniversary, he worries the collective memory of December 7th is fading.

"Most of the young people that come here don't have a clue what happened at this place," Martinez said. "They don't even know who won the war. How will we remember World War II after they're gone?"

The memorial will continue to exist. But who will attend and how will they remember it ?

Will it continue to be part of our collective national memory or a gesture honoring those who sacrificed from another place a time ?

Image: Department of Defense

• Obama’s Hawaii

Many home states of former presidents end up becoming the site of Presidential libraries. Hawaii, however, is not one such situation. Though the 44^th president of the United States grew up there, the Barack Obama library is being constructed in Illinois, Chicago to be exact.

But one can experience Barack Obama’s Hawaii very easily. It is not in the form of large buildings or monuments, but rather in everyday places around Oahu. Many of them are gorgeous spots in their own right, but are mentioned within the context of being Obama favorite haunts as well.

Hawaii Magazine recently chronicled those places in article. They include a place where he buys shave ice, another spot at Hanauma Bay where he snorkels, East Honolulu, a scenic lookout Puʻu Ualakaʻa State Park, Honolulu, and where he enjoys Vietnamese food in Chinatown.

The full article can be found here: https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/visit-the-places-where-president-barack-obama-frequents-on-oahu/

Dept. of Land & Natural Resources

• Hawaii’s Interstate Roads that Do Not Go Interstate

We had always heard  how the interstate highway system was built to tie the nation together,

For example, I-95 stretches from Maine to Florida .  Similarly I-80 runs from New Jersey to California, and I-90 from Mass to the Pacific in Washington State.  They were built, we were told, to bring us together through vehicular travel in ways that were not previously possible.

So, it was in a bit of a bemused state that we were asked to consider why there would be an Interstate highway in Hawaii.

There are roads marked as “Interstate” though the lettering and numbering is a bit difference.

And they are all within the limits of Hawaii. There is nothing interstate about that – even allowing that one of the roads leads to an International Airport.

We are told that the designations, in fact, have little to do with where roads actually go.

Instead, they point to the journey of monies.

It is true that Interstate was intended to refer to a network of freeways and highways that cross over state lines. Interstates as first created were part of the national highway system that was formulated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Intrastate highways, under this reasoning, were so described as they do not cross state lines.

However, the fact is that there are four Interstates in Hawaii, all located on O'ahu. They are built to mainland standards. The first three routes (H-1, H-2, and H-3) were approved in 1960, while an auxiliary route (H-201) was added in 1989.

In 1959, after Hawaii became a state, Congress felt both Alaska and Hawaii needed to be included in the interstate highway system, granting the new state of Hawaii 50 miles of this high-speed, limited access freeway for the highly populated island of Oahu.

The "H" in the route numbers refers to the order in which the routes were funded and built. The first three routes, H-1, H-2, and H-3, were approved in 1960 after President Eisenhower signed the Hawaii Omnibus Act, which removed the restriction that the Interstate System could only be designated in the continental United States.

So, for the record, an interstate does not have to travel from one state to another to be a designated federal interstate: I-4 crosses Florida from Tampa to Daytona Beach and never leaves the state. Hawaii has a similar situation. So too does Alaska and Puerto Rico. By the way, The Alaskan interstate system connects to Canada, and due to natural constraints does not meet all the typical interstate standards (they are waived).

In Hawaii, One look at a Hawaii road map will reveal that all of Hawaii's Interstates are on Oahu, where almost all the major military bases are located. And, as Oahu has been a target of enemy attack in the past (remember Pearl Harbor), it's hardly a surprise that Oahu would have a need of defense-oriented highways, even if those highways don't cross state lines or even coastal boundaries.

What makes an Interstate an Interstate is its having been funded from the federal government according to the rules of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways (the formal name of the Interstate Highway System). H-1, H-2, H-3, and H-201 were all funded by that system and hence can call themselves Interstates.

The key to the answer is actually the word "Defense," something that was high on the list in President Eisenhower's mind when he conceived of the idea of what would become the Interstate system. Inspired by the German Autobahn system, and taking a page out of his former enemy's playbook, he envisioned a system of highways that would not only facilitate the movement of people and goods, but also to rapidly mobilize supplies and troops in the event of enemy attack.

In the name of national defense a highway system was built to allow a faster and more efficient movement of goods.

And, such system was being rolled out on a national basis – that taxes and monies could pass from one jurisdiction to another to assure that the network of roads and bridges would be a national network serving the national interest.

Hawai’i was being taxed for the mainland’s Interstate system, starting at statehood, so rather than cut the state’s federal gas tax, in the 80’s 90’s Washington DC dumped in a number of billion dollars to connect the various defense department sites with the islands population centers.

So, an interstate doesn’t need to leave the borders of the state it’s in, and clearly those in Hawaii don’t.

Image: Wikipedia

Image: Wikipedia

• Remembering  someone special

Any words about Hawaii invariably have us thinking of Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole.

May his memory continue to be a blessing

• In Search of Old School Hawaii

Not too long ago we were surfing the internet in search of “Old School” Hawaii, but I guess I made a mistake because search results came up on the  topic of “Old Florida”. The information was interesting but not relevant to this Journey into Hawaii. That is, except for the introduction. We really liked it (With thanks to Florida for Boomers): https://www.floridaforboomers.com/finding-vintage-old-florida/

“One of the first things people learn when moving to Florida is that all of the most popular tourist destinations actually do a pretty bad job of demonstrating the laid back lifestyle that Florida used to be known for”.

“Hence the birth of the ‘Old Florida’ concept”.

“Back before tourism was such a big business, Florida was known for a slower pace of life with small towns and family owned shoppes and restaurants. But that Old Florida tradition still lives on today, you just have to know where to look for it”.

Taking that same approach for Hawaii here is a starting point in search of “Old School” Hawaii – at least Oahu:

https://www.internationaltraveller.com/north-america/usa/hawaii/finding-old-school-oahu-hawaii/

Do you know a great place to experience that “old school” feeling? If so, please let us know. We promise not to spread it around too far.