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On Friday the band took what's called the Circle Island tour. Essentially we took a trip around Oahu while stopping off at some interesting places along the way. The first stop on the tour was Dole Plantation.
Before we got to there, our guides on each bus taught us some Hawaiian culture. We learned about the Hawaiian alphabet, how the islands came into existence and even why they're called the Hawaiian islands and not the Maui-ian islands (ask a student about this, they should remember!).
The Dole Plantation happens to house the world's largest maze and most of the band jumped in and tried to navigate it as quick as they could. Most took around 20-30 minutes to complete it. After that, they had time to stroll around and try out some pineapple ice cream or maybe a bowl of pineapple chili and pick up a few gifts for family members back home.
Our next stop was a barbecue lunch with 2 other bands on a beach. After lunch the band was able to hang out on the beach for a little while or play some volleyball or just kick back and hang out.
Of note though was an extremely interesting meeting between two Pearl Harbor survivors. As most know, East Lincoln's survivor - Allen Christenbury - served aboard the USS Whitney. It turns out that a band from Wisconsin brought along a survivor who also served on the USS Whitney. The two shipmates got to meet during lunch!
The other survivor is John Weinberger. The USS Whitney had something like 500-600 crew serving aboard and so the two never really crossed paths. But that didn't stop them from exchanging stories! It was truly a fascinating meeting to watch the two discuss their experiences and understand the history involved.
After lunch, the band boarded the buses and headed back out. We got to see the rest of the island that included a macadamia nut farm with incredibly delectable samples. We saw other areas where many films were shot plus the beach where the surfing triple crown competition takes place.
The last stop on the tour, before getting back to the hotel was Pali Lookout. This is a picturesque area overlooking the waters and a few towns. At this point we were running a little short on time, so we high-tailed it back to the hotel to grab a quick dinner, shower and dress for the parade.
The parade, as you may of read on the brief update, was fantastic. The parade route is a straight shot, though a little longer than some anticipated. With the weather being a touch humid, many band members were working hard and sweating hard at the end of the parade!
All along the parade route the crowd was 4-5 people deep and in some places twice as much as that. There were people everywhere and they enthusiastically applauded the Mustang Band after each time they played - and ask the students, they played a lot!
Here are pictures from the parade...
