O'ahu - Hawaii - page 40

The recently renovated main gallery, the Hawaiian Hall , resides inside a dignified
three-story Victorian building. Displays covering the ancient history of Hawaii include a
pili -grass thatched house, carved kiʻi (deity images), kahili (feathered staffs used at royal
funerals and coronations), shark-toothed war clubs and traditional kapa cloth made by
pounding the bark of the paper mulberry tree. Don't miss the feathered cloak once worn
by Kamehameha the Great, created entirely from the yellow feathers of the now-extinct
mamo - some 80,000 birds were caught and plucked to create this single adornment.
Upper-floor exhibits delve further into aliʻi (royal) history, traditional daily life and the
close relationship between Hawaiians and the natural world.
Fascinating exhibits inside the adjacent two-story Pacific Hall , reopening after renova-
tions in late 2013, cover the cultures of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. You could
spend hours gazing at astounding and rare ritual artifacts, from elaborate dance masks
and ceremonial costumes to carved canoes and tools of warfare. Next door, the museum's
modern wing, the Castle Memorial Building , hosts traveling exhibitions.
Across the Great Lawn, the state-of-the-art, family oriented Science Adventure
Center uses eye-popping multimedia exhibits and demonstrations to explain Hawaii's
natural environment, letting kids walk through an erupting model volcano and virtually
take a mini-sub dive. Screened several times daily, planetarium movies highlight tradi-
tional Polynesian methods of wayfaring (navigation), along with astronomy and the tele-
scope observatories atop Mauna Kea. Daytime showings are free with your museum ad-
mission ticket.
A gift shop off the main lobby sells topics on the Pacific not easily found elsewhere,
as well as some high-quality Hawaiian crafts and souvenirs. The on-site Café Pulama
serves local and Hawaiian plates, lighter lunches, drinks and desserts. Check the museum
website for special exhibitions and events, including summer concerts under the stars,
family-friendly activities and after-dark planetarium shows.
From Waikiki or downtown Honolulu, take TheBus 2 to School St/Middle St to the in-
tersection of School St and Kapalama Ave; walk one block makai (seaward) on Kap-
alama Ave, then turn right on Bernice St. By car, take eastbound H-1 Fwy exit 20, turn
right on Houghtailing St, then left on Bernice St. Free on-site parking.
National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific CEMETERY
( 532-3720; www.cem.va.gov/cems/nchp/nmcp.asp ; 2177 Puowaina Dr; 8am-5:30pm Sep
30-Mar 1, 8am-6:30pm Mar 2-Sep 29, 7am-7pm on last Mon in May; ) About 2 miles
northeast of downtown Honolulu surrounded by freeways and residential neighborhoods
is a bowl-shaped crater, nicknamed Punchbowl, formed by a long-extinct volcano. An-
cient Hawaiians sacrificed to appease the gods now share the crater floor with the buried