I love going to the Bishop Museum and have been a couple of times but haven’t been for about 7 years. During COVID it seems they took some time to re-do some spaces and shut down others. We ventured out of the West side early, and of course hit the usual traffic in town, but had Beverley to navigate us into a smooth arrival. We also had a new guest accompanying us- my 13-year-old Godson Raiden! (Yay!!)
The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaiʻi State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu. Founded in 1889, it is the largest museum in Hawaiʻi and has the world's largest collection of Polynesian cultural artifacts and natural history specimens. Besides the comprehensive exhibits of Hawaiiana, the museum's total holding of natural history specimens exceeds 24 million.
Charles Reed Bishop (1822–1915), a businessman and philanthropist, co-founder of the First Hawaiian Bank and Kamehameha Schools, built the museum in memory of his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop (1831–1884). Born into the royal family, she was the last legal heir of the Kamehameha Dynasty, which had ruled the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi between 1810 and 1872. Bishop had originally intended the museum to house family heirlooms passed down to him through the royal lineage of his wife.
Once inside we explored all the artifacts and history specimens. I’m sure, for a teenager, there were some boring parts, but all in all, we learned some things! They (the museum) have done a wonderful job showcasing artifacts from Polynesia and all over the Pacific and they are displayed with literature explaining origin and use. The lighting was awesome for physical viewing, but not for taking pix inside. While I captured the essence of the place, the focus was a little off, so not my best pix!
Once we were done with the main museum, we headed outside to explore another building, but it was closed as well as the planetarium also. So, we headed to the science building….and oh what a treat that was!
Housed inside this unassuming steel building is a volcano, wind machine, lava rock and the biggest cockroach I’ve ever seen! Raiden explored every inch and came back to me saying there was a secret tunnel, and there was! It was a representation of going through a lava tube and they had black lights illuminating petroglyphs and had Hawaiian music playing throughout the tunnel. It was the coolest thing! We loved it so much we dragged my mom through it! Unfortunately, no pix turned out well in that tunnel, so I have nothing to show you!
After we finished playing lava-tube explorer, we ended our tour and headed through the misty rain back to the car. We were hungry, and apparently my athletic Godson doesn’t eat Taco Bell (I know…..what??) so we all agreed on Raising Canes and that’s where we ended up for lunch. I asked Raiden what he like the most out of the tour and he said the wind machine and tunnel. I’d have to agree!
Next week will be an awesome adventure and I can’t wait to share the shenanigans we cause with his one! Stay Tuned……
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