Discovering Hawaii

Hawaii John Takes Us from Waikiki to the Arizona Memorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnWdAGRLNaA

There’s a fair amount of Hawaii Five-0 scenery in this video. Hawaii John (known to us as HJ) begins with a turn onto Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki. A caption tells us it is the entrance to the Royal Hawaiian Center; however, the historic hotel is not visible from the street. It is “hidden” behind upscale stores and next to the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. The Sheraton was seen in several episodes.

As HJ drives along Kalakaua Avenue, he passes the International Marketplace (as it now exists, although the quaint kiosks have been replaced by upscale stores). Across the street is the Moana Hotel, another historic hotel, known for the large banyan tree that grows in the middle of a terrace.

HJ turns from Kalakaua Avenue and onto Kapahulu Street. The Honolulu Zoo is barely visible from the street. Was an episode filmed there? I don’t think so, but I do think Magnum filmed there. After making his way through heavy traffic on Kapahulu, HJ passes Leonard’s Bakery as he nears the H-1 Freeway. Jack loved Leonard’s malasadas and bought them at this store.

The ride along the H-1 reveals little, although we do see a large dome on the right just after entering the freeway. It is an athletic arena at the University of Hawaii – Manoa. As we draw closer to city center, we see that tall apartment buildings are slowly (or not so slowly) replacing the low-built apartments from the post-war years. Good for the residents, but sad to those of us who remember Honolulu when high rises did not dominate the landscape.

Just west of downtown, the road splits with the H-201 going on to the west, while the H-1 cuts to the south, passes the airport, and continues on toward Pearl Harbor. At the eastern end of the Harbor, HJ turns off, onto Route 99, near its beginning. You may remember that McGarrett took Route 99 whenever he drove to the North Shore in those pre-H-2 years. Even now, one can take the H-2 only as far as Schofield Barracks before jumping a short distance to the east to pick up Route 99 on up, through the sugar cane, pineapple, and coffee fields, and to Haleiwa.

But I digress. Back to Pearl Harbor. We see overhead construction taking place. That is the HART (Honolulu Rail Transit) rail line going in. The first segment, from East Kapolei to the Aloha Stadium) is due to open on June 30th of this year. Segment 2, from Pearl Harbor, past the airport, and to Middle Street, is due to open in the summer of 2025, while Segment 3, from Middle Street to the Civil Center, is due to open in 2031.

The video ends in the parking lot of the Arizona Memorial. Only brief glimpses show us on the tour boat going out to the Memorial and entering the Memorial from the dock (HJ’s tour of the Memorial can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg-s5x_yJK4). We saw the Memorial on Hawaii Five-0 in a flashback scene in “Time and Memories” (Season 3) and in “Murder – Eyes Only” (Season 8).