Day 18: Helicopter Ride & Teddy Bear Museum

Route around O'ahu

For my 25th birthday my dad and mom surprised me with the promise of a helicopter ride around the island - an activity that they'd done during their honeymoon and found to be one of the highlights of their trip. Having never been in a helicopter before, I was thrilled and a little nervous about the experience, but mostly excited to see first-hand some of the views that the island had to offer from the air. We arrived at Makani Kai Helicopters in time to watch a security video instructing us to keep our limbs away from the propellers and how to exit the helicopter in case of an emergency. Janine and I were had the front two seats of the helicopter, next to the pilot. We were loaded into the helicopter one-by-one and given headphones to wear to help with the noise and allow us to hear the pilot's instructions. Our pilot was an older Japanese gentleman who was very knowledgeable about the history of the island and kept up a running commentary during the course of our one hour flight. As I'd never been in a helicopter before, I was surprised when it took off in reverse then flew sideways for a bit before ascending into the clouds. I think I'd been expecting the helicopter's movements to be more like those of a plane - more linear and with fewer dramatic movements.

We took off from Honolulu and headed east then north along the windward side of O'ahu. From the air we saw the Sacred Falls, Polynesian Cultural Center, the Mormon Temple in Laie, Turtle Bay, aquaculture farms, and Kahuku Point - where our pilot pointed out masses of sea turtles amassed along the reefs. The tour continued along the North Shore where we saw Sunset Beach, Electric Beach, the Pipeline, and Waimea Bay. Over O'ahu's Central Plain we viewed the Dole Pineapple Maze and the "birthing stones" of Hawai'ian royalty. The last leg of our tour took us over Pearl Harbor, which was especially intriguing to me given that I had visited Pearl Harbor on land earlier in the week. At times the pilot would stop mid-air and turn the helicopter around 360 degrees to give us a full view of our location. We flew through pockets of rain, over misty mountains to emerge into sunny valleys, and over countless miles of breathtakingly turquoise water.

Janine & I in the cockpit before takeoff

Upon landing we were allowed to each take a picture in front of the helicopter. While waiting for my inner ear to adjust to being back on the ground, I purchased a DVD of our ride to show to dad and mom when I get back to NY. Janine and I both thank you so much for making this wonderful experience possible, Dad and Mom! I love you both!

In the time before our helicopter ride Janine and I visited Waikiki's Teddy Bear Museum, a family-friendly museum with hundreds of (slightly scary) animatronic bears like the ones that had frightened me at the Boulevard Mall growing up. Inside the museum stuffed animatronic bears were depicted riding dinosaurs, aboard the Titanic, scuba diving, riding motorcycles, playing basketball, carving Mount Rushmore, and having picnics, to name a few. An entire Elvis Animatronic Teddy Bear Exhibit exists, as does Bear-ack Obama (surrounded by world leaders), and Psy Bear. Many of these bears sang and danced; the Elvis Exhibit featured a 10 minute Animatronic Teddy Bear conference that was preceded by a video of Elvis arriving to Honolulu by plane and being attacked by mobs of adoring fans bearing leis. The entire exhibit took about an hour to get through and became less creepy as we progressed, perhaps due to extended exposure. There are few words I can use to describe the museum, so I'll let you use your imagination while viewing the pictures below.