The Errol Flynn Blog

I remember walking the length of the Ala Wai Canal in 1969 as a young sailor based at Pearl Harbor. Hawaii 5-0 was still in production. The overpass seen in the video at the yacht harbor is Ala Moana Bvld. Years later, I took my fourteen year old daughter to Honolulu to vacation and see the old sights. It had changed much more than I expected. This overpass is still there. I took a picture of my daughter with the canal in the background. Looking at a map today, I see two large piers that were not there in my day opposite this overpass. It was all open sea. I never expected to see the Sirroco sailing in that water. Back in the day I knew, there were few high rise hotels, and the bus took you from Pearl all the way to Waikiki with one transfer in an area sailors called “Sh#t Street”. Forgive the common language but this is historically accurate. You had to walk along the street to get to the next stop past curio shops and open doorways where smiling lady Gypsy’s stood inviting you into Houses of Special Integrity. My daughter and I took a bus back from Pearl Harbor toward Waikiki, and I recognized nothing along the way. All high rise buildings where single story structures and flat land had been. Then we turned a corner and I got a sense of deja vu. We entered a two block area of undeveloped street. Looking from my windows I realized this was all that is left of S Street. The one with those smiling ladies. Errol would laughing right now.