Germany : Flag Your Cards, Know How to Read a Map and Stay Calm

We have finally made it to our documentation of Germany from December 2011! Here we go...

Before leaving on an international trip,

be sure to notify your credit and debit card providers

. 

Someone... possibly by the name of Whitney {me}...

may have

forgotten this crucial step on our Germany trip. When we approached the Hertz desk, we tried our two cards only for each one to fail. 

I felt sick to my stomach. 

The Hertz employees were awesome and worked with us hand-in-hand. We are incredibly thankful for bank security BUT we couldn't reach the company we banked with

at the time

because they don't have a 24-hr access line. With our time change, we were forced to wait a few hours in the airport. So we walked upstairs with our American dollar bills and chowed down on the always internationally reliable McDonald's.

They only offered McMuffins... no biscuits but that's ok.

We finally settled the issue with the bank and Hertz, packed our bags into the new rental car for the trip, and JD turned the car on... only to find out it's a manual. 

Neither of us can drive a manual.

So we unloaded our bags and trekked back up to the Hertz desk.

No automatic cars are available for another hour.

Walk around airport.

Whew! Automatic car is now available. We add a GPS onto the package and load the new car up.

Set out in our VW Golf from the Frankfurt airport to Ramstein-Meisenbacher. 

GPS doesn't work. Fortunately, there's a map. 

A very hard-to-read map.

Four hours later (should've only taken one hour), we arrive to our destination! 

Even with the absolutely terrible luck throughout our arrival, my jaw dropped as JD drove through the lovely, quaint towns that were more beautiful than even the greatest photographer can capture. 

The Lord is gracious in even our most frustrating moments.

We've been on a number of trips but this was, by far, the most terrible way to start one out. 

And yet, it ended up being a favorite trip of ours overall.

Prepare for our greatest attempt as we send you through a journey of one of the most whimsical countries on the planet.

Have you ever had a time where things were terrible and embarrassing in the beginning but the outcome was better than you could have ever dreamed?

Hawaii : Pearl Harbor, USS Missouri

Happy November!! Hope y'all had a wonderful Halloween!

After visiting the

USS Bowfin

, head over to the loading area and take a bus over to the massive USS Missouri. 

This battleship, the site of the Japanese surrender during World War II, is certainly a sight to behold.

The bus ride lasts a few minutes. Oddly enough, the USS Missouri is right beside the Arizona Memorial on the water. 

The floorboards are made of teak wood, making it basically indestructible. Teak wood is rare worldwide. It is mostly produced in India, although there are endangered varieties found in the Philippines and Myanmar. 

Photo Credit to Kamikaze Images

You have to look pretty hard but do you see the fighter plane that is in the top left-hand corner? The Japanese Kamikaze pilot actually crashed into the USS Missouri on April 11, 1945, in Okinawa. There are still dents, to this day, on the starboard side of the USS Missouri.

Chillin' and chattin' in the Captain's Chair.

One of my favorite jewels on this ship was the antique or vintage items lying around. We're fans of Coca-Cola but this Pepsi-Cola dispenser held a retro vibe that I fell in love with!

The "Mighty Mo" docked at Pearl Harbor infinitely on 1992. What made it so significant to Pearl Harbor? The USS Missouri was the gathering place of American and Japanese soldiers as the Japanese chief signed "The Instrument of Formal Surrender of Japan to the Allied Powers", thus ending World War II.

Guided by a Veteran:

You won't find a lazy tour guide here! The only guides on this battleship are retired military veterans who have a passion for history and service to their country.

Time Crunch:

Try to allot a fairly sufficient amount of time to tour the battleship, maybe between 1 to 2 hours. The ship has special nooks and crannies with lots of info about the ship, military officers and history of its fights. 

USS Missouri Stars in a Movie:

Have you ever seen the movie

Battleship

? Most of it was filmed on this ship. How crazy is that!? JD and I had never seen this movie prior to the tour but we watched it on the flight back home. 

Hawaii : We Wanna Wailana

My fingers have been tinglin', ready to show you photos of our adventures in Hawaii... now that we're back home, we can!!

JD had more days off from work this year to play than he did last year. We wanted this trip to be more organic and spontaneous than last year's trip of a

luau, hula dancing

, and

swimming with dolphins

and

sharks

.

First Stop: Wailana Coffee House

These coconut pancakes are the bomb diggity. What's the white syrup? More coconut, of course!!

If you ever go to Oahu, please stop by Wailana Coffee House for these pancakes. The eggs were gross, but the pancakes and bacon were phenomenal.

Here is the view from our first hotel, the Doubletree Hilton. Rain, rainbows and murals of flipping whales.

Oh yes. The wonderful employees of the Doubletree greeted us with hot chocolate chip cookies and we were pumped. 

Originally, because of our late reservations, we had to break up our stay into several different hotels. But, being the awesome and persistent husband he is, JD called the Hilton Hawaiian Village at least five times the week before we arrived and he finally got us a room there for a consistent three weeks. We did have to stay at the Doubletree two nights when we arrived but it was much better than our previous plans of having to switch hotel rooms several times a week. Everyone was super nice at the Doubletree and the rooms were nicer than the Village... but the Village has way more activities so I was happy there while JD was working. If you're going to vacation in Waikiki, we would recommend the Hilton Hawaiian Village. 

Here is our map from Honolulu to the North Shore, our favorite area on Oahu! More to come about that  next post...

September 20: Travel Tips from Day One on Oahu

We left for the airport at 4:35 a.m. Our friend Davy was super kind to provide our transportation to the Oh-So-Easy-to-Navigate Huntsville airport. The airplane ride to Atlanta lasted about 35 minutes.

For those of you that don’t normally ride planes for such short trips, you are not about to crash when you start going back down right after the pilot announces that the plane has just reached top ascension.

I was pretty certain we were going to die before we even made it onto our flight to Oahu. Absolutely terrifying. Thankfully, my husband appeased my worries.

After landing in Atlanta, we walked from Terminal “B” to “E” (about a 15 or 20 minute walk), which set us up well for the 9 ½ hour plane ride we were about to embark on after our 2 hour layover of Caribou Coffee and McDonald’s. Mmm.

Side note about traveling: If you have time to walk from terminal to terminal, do it! Don't take the easy route by riding the tram or moving sidewalk. Get some exercise in, especially before a long trip. It will reduce swelling and possible dangerous blood clots. Also drink lots of water and walk around on the plane during long flights to revitalize blood circulation.

The 9 ½ hour trip really was not that bad. JD and I entertained ourselves by reading books, watching movies on the sweet Delta TVs on the backs of the seats in front of us (Bridesmaids and Pirates of the Caribbean IV) and I tried my hand at crocheting. Key word:

tried

. I’m still trying to get the hang of it. Let’s not forget the never-ending bags of pretzels, peanuts, cookies and [diet] Coke. We had both dinner and lunch (in that order). I suppose both meals deserve the title of “airplane food”… not too delicious.

Picture taken at Paradise Cove in Hawaii during our luau adventure.

And then – there it was – the island of Oahu. The indescribable beauty of Hawaii from the view of the airplane literally brought tears to my eyes. Literally. The ocean was so clear and blue with a light green tint flowing up to the shore. We landed safely as JD consoled me saying, “Are you crying? Are you OK?” I sighed and thought to myself, “I have arrived. I can't believe I'm almost finished with my “Things to Do in My Lifetime” List. All I have to do now is see Stomp on Broadway and go to California!” I continued to allow tears of excitement to fall from my eyes. I couldn’t believe I was finally in Hawaii… more importantly, with my sweet husband!

We went through the airport, grabbed our luggage and went in search of Hertz, our faithful car rental company. We waited about 15-20 minutes for a bus that drove us about 10 yards. [We most certainly would have walked if we had known it was that close!] A tiny white Nissan Versa Rent-A-Car awaited our arrival. Our luggage barely fit, but we managed. The traffic on Oahu is pretty vicious. It took us an hour to get to our hotel, which is technically 8 miles from the airport. You’ll hear more stories about that topic later.

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Our first eatery was none other than Bennihana’s located in the village. Though it is not exactly Hawaiian cuisine, we love Japanese food and were exhausted. Therefore, it seemed like the best choice... and it was. This water mill captivated my attention every time we passed by the restaurant.

The Hilton Hawaiian Village is jam-packed with lovely employees and fantastic customer service. The front concierge hooked us up with a room in the tower of our choice.

They also gave us a coupon book for all restaurants and shops in the Village, a free Hilton Hawaiian Village beach bag, and a free ukulele CD by one of the state’s top ukulele artists.

As soon as we got settled in, the sushi and hibachi chicken resting in our stomachs cried out for a 16-hour hibernation period. Oh, the guts and glory of traveling. We have found during our travels that sleeping after a long flight is not rest.

Regardless of how many hours we sleep, our bodies still feel pretty gross and our minds hazy. “Rest” comes in the nights to follow.