For this first time in a few years the Blue Angels visited Hawaii as part of the Kaneohe Bay Air Show. It was spectacular! I had decided to buy two grandstand seats for the show so on the first day I brought my friend Caroline and we sat right at flight-line center in some bleacher seats with our own separate bathrooms. I think it was worth the money for what we got. I took approximately a zillion pictures but I’ll pick a favorite few.

They had some airplanes on display, including one from Westover that had the patriots logo! It’s hard to tell but I’m pointing at my Red Sox hat and the logo.

I can’t tell you all the planes we saw because there were too many to remember, but yes this one is upside down and no I didn’t rotate the image.

The ospreys we see a lot here.

They had some fun fillers, like a coast guard mock rescue and a corvette racing a plane.

The blue angels were a real highlight. The first qualified female flew one!

I think this next picture is a really great demo of how close they get. The rest are more 2D so it’s harder to really capture.

Two of these following planes are upside down!

Could not recommend going to see this in action enough. It was amazing. I will say that we lucked out car/driving wise. They directed us to a garage far from the event, which sounds like a disadvantage, but they had a bus route and one took us there. At the end of the show, we were so far away from the traffic center that we got out really easily. We did walk back to our car, but we mostly sat all day so it was actually nice. People that parked at, say, VIP parking, were waiting 2+ hours to get out. We showed up to the base at 10AM and probably got to the show at 11am, which all in all was great.

Day 2 Jess and I rode our bikes to a friend’s house that lives up on a hill on the flight-line. That was crazy! I decided not to take my camera because I really wanted to enjoy the moment. I don’t regret it, but I did miss out on some epic pictures. Day 1, there were only 5 planes in the blue angels formations because one of the planes hit a bird. Day 6 they all flew. It was nice to experience both – I liked hearing the commentary from the announcers for Day 1, Day 2 it was nice being away from the hustle and bustle and enjoying our own food and bathrooms.

So as long as you plan accordingly, you’ll enjoy it!