The next morning, our first target was Diamondhead, the remains of an extinct volcano, and particularly the summit of Diamondhead, 760 feet above the surface of the island. We faced the 1-3/4 mile uphill climb, the dual staircases, one with 99 steps and the other with 76, and the 225 foot long tunnel to the observation platform, where breathtaking views of the west side of the island greeted us.

After hiking Diamondhead, we drove down along the shoreline and stopped along the waterfront.

After Diamondhead, we were hungry, so we stopped by a local mall to have Cinnabon before setting off for our next destination, which was the 400-acre Ho'Omaluhia Botanical Gardens. These gardens were built by the Army Corps of Engineers to provide flood protection for the town of Kane'ohe. As a rainforest garden, the garden specialized in Polynesian plants and other plants that were brought to Hawai'i by early settlers. With overcast skies, the gardens were fairly empty. The clerk at the information station gave Rebecca a bag of Cheerios to feed the ducks along the pond so we headed off through the gardens in search of waterfowl.

After a breakfast of only cinnamon buns, we were getting hungry at the gardens, so we climbed into Buster and drove over to Kailua, where we had lunch at the Formaggio Grill. The restaurant was very nice and served excellent, albeit slightly pricey, food. After lunch, we decided to drive down the southernmost part of the island, stopping at Waimanalo Beach and Sandy Beach Park

As the afternoon was still young, we opted next to check off one of the other 'must-see's' of our time in Oahu, the Punchbowl and the National Cemetary of the Pacific. The Punchbowl is another extinct volcanic crater and marks the final resting place for servicemen lost in wars in the South Pacific. Aside from the monuments listing the names of those missing in action from wars in the Pacific, the cemetary features a series of mosaics telling the history of war in the South Pacific, starting with World War II and continuing through Viet Nam.

We stopped by the Ward Center on the way back to the hotel to do some souvenir shopping and had dinner at an old stand-by of ours from our days in Atlanta, The Old Spaghetti Factory, coincidentally learning that the OSF in Atlanta had recently closed. After a dinner of mizithra cheese and meat sauce, we returned for our last night at the Doubletree.