We were so lucky to spend 5 days in Oahu and 7 days in Kona on The Big Island!
Watch some of our honeymoon video by clicking on the "play" button in the middle of the pic.
Oahu
Day 1
June 5, 2006
The weary newlyweds at 5:30 am the morning after the wedding, but we eventually made it!
A cool thing about our journey was, I had given my friend our camera and our video camera.
She took pics and taped some of our ceremony and reception and it was so awesome to watch it during the journey to Hawaii!
In Oahu, we stayed at the Outrigger Reef
on Waikiki Beach.
It was a nice hotel with a GREAT location ON WAIKIKI BEACH and was perfect for honeymooners on a budget that want to be near the action.
The hotel did send us free champagne as a welcome/congratulations gift.
After arriving, we checked into our hotel and got cleaned up and we were off to
La Mer at the Halekulani.
We clean up pretty good.
The breathtaking view from our table. Diamondhead on the left and the sea to the right.
Our absolutely SPECTACULAR dinners. They served us champagne immediately after we sat down.
The dining room was so quiet, the wait staff was attentive yet unobtrusive.
It was the best meal of my life. It was so relaxing especially after all the excitement of the wedding the day prior.
We enjoyed our meal, including "that" dessert as we watched the sunset beyond "the perfect palm tree."
We could hear soft Hawaiian music being played at
House Without A Key.
It was so relaxing and perfect, the absolute BEST way to celebrate our first day as man and wife.
Day 2
June 6, 2006
We started out with breakfast at the Shorebird in the Outrigger Reef, which is an open air restaurant that overlooks Waikiki Beach.
The Outrigger offers free vow renewals on the beach for their guests on Tuesday and Friday mornings,
so we got to watch that while we ate breakfast. How romantic!
These pics were taken at the bus stop in front of Fort Derussy.
A cab driver ended up driving by and offering us a ride to Diamond Head for $3 each person. So, we did that.
We did NOT rent a car for our entire stay in Oahu, it wasn't necessary!
Parking at the Outrigger was $18 a night. We did rent a car one afternoon (Day 3)
and (Day 4) we took a shuttle to Pearl harbor from the hotel and it was $10 each roundtrip.
With the price of a car AND parking, I don't think we needed a car in Oahu.
We made it to Diamond Head and we WERE ready for the climb!
An overlook along the trail and a one (of 2 sets) of staircases to get to the top.
We made it to the top and were rewarded with a fabulous view!
It was a clear day and you could see some of the other Hawaiian islands in the distance.
We took another cab ride back to Waikiki, shopped around a bit and then went back to our room for a shower.
We went to Michel's for dinner where they flambéed the lobster for our bisque AT our table!
The view from our table was GORGOUS! Beautiful sunset and outrigger canoes...
it was unreal, like a living postcard.
Our dinner was scrumptious and the chocolate Grand Marnier soufflé was divine!
We returned to our room that night to be greeted with an AWESOME spead sent to us by some knotties ;)
Thank you ladies! Wedding planning was a fun roller coaster to ride!
Day 3
June 7, 2006
We started out having breakfast at the Chief's Hut at our hotel where I had the BEST pancakes EVER!
Macademia nut pancakes with this yummy mac nut sauce that was so scrumptious!
We walked over to Budget and rented a car for the day and then we headed over to Hanauma Bay.
Hanauma Bay, where we caught some rays and went snorkeling.
Note: Hanauma Bay is closed on Tuesdays for marine research.
Since we had a rental car that day, we drove up the coastline and stopped at some scenic overlooks.
After a shower, We went to Sam Choy's for yet another yummy dinner.
I ordered a Mai Tai and we watched the staff hard at work making yummy food in the open kitchen.
Day 4
June 8, 2006
This was our last full day in Oahu, so we decided to spend it at Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial.
Note: You CANNOT bring bags or purses to Pearl Harbor, there are lockers, so if you don't need it, don't bring it.
Some pics of the Memorial and the round thing is a turret on the Arizona where a big gun sat.
It was a really moving experience to be there and so difficult to imagine war occurring in such a beautiful place.
That evening we had dinner at the Shorebird restaurant in the Outrigger Reef.
It is a neat restaurant where you order your choice of cuts of meat,
then season it and cook it yourself according to suggested grill times.
Greg really enjoyed this, all the fun of cooking and NO clean-up!
After dinner we went to
House Without A Key
where we enjoyed some sunset cocktails while watching Hula.
This was the ABSOLUTE BEST way to relax at the end of the day.
Day 5
June 9, 2006
Our last morning in Oahu we wandered around Honolulu and stumbled upon the
Duke Kahanamoku statue.
Click on his name to see a live cam of the statue.
I thought this place was so funny! Tee hee!
Kona, Hawaii
Day 5
June 9, 2006
After spending the morning in Oahu, we left to spend a week in Kona at the
Kona Hawaiian Resort on the Big Island.
This pic is from the Kona Hawaiian website, but the lower level of the the middle building was OUR UNIT!
Right behind the picnic tables (there aren't any picnic tables in that spot while we were there).
Our living room and kitchen
The guest room and master bedroom. I LOVED how our room was open, with the jacuzzi tub right there.
We got ready and went to Huggo's, where we watched another GORGOUS sunset while eating more scrumptious food.
Day 6
June 10, 2006
We were out of bed early and on the road to Hilo where we caught up with
Blue Hawaiian Helicopters
for an arial tour of Kilauea volcano.
We did the Circle of Fire plus Waterfalls tour and we LOVED it!
We saw piping hot magma as we flew over the volcano AND at the shoreline where the lava flows into the ocean.
Our pilot was Will Curry and he did a GREAT job narrating as we flew over so many SPECTACULAR sites!
It was awesome and amazing to see just how much lava there was, its effects and the power the Earth has.
After our helicopter ride, we stopped by the Lava Rock cafe for lunch. (It wasn't very good)
Then we were off to the Volcanos National Park, to see what we could see on foot.
That is a WHOLE LOTTA LAVA!
Petroglyphs... a sea turtle and newlyweds! Notice the big rock the lady has on her hand ;)
Kilaeua has been errupting since 1983 and at one point crossed this road en route to the sea.
We made the hike to the lava viewing point and were rewarded with a show of Nature's fireworks. Amazing!
Day 7
June 11, 2006
Meet Thurston, he was one of our breakfast partners in Kona.
After sleeping in after all that hiking, We spent the day at the pool, reading, enjoying the jacuzzi and planning the rest of our excursions.
Day 8
June 12, 2006
We took a day to walk around the town of Kona, shopping and exploring where we had lunch at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company. It was very good!
After spending some quality time in the jacuzzi, we got dressed in our Aloha outfits and headed to Jameson's for a beautiful dinner.
The food was so very good and the sunset was pretty to watch.
Then we headed back to Huggo's for a few cocktails. Yum!
Day 9
June 13, 2006
We decided to take the Fair Wind
snorkel cruise to Kealakekua Bay where Captain Cook's Monument is located as well as some of THE BEST snorkeling in Hawaii
We saw SO MANY beautiful and colorful fish... the underwater camera doesn't do the view justice.
We even saw a humuhumunukunukuapua'a! I was SO EXCITED to see one!
(It is the state fish of Hawaii and has the craziest name.)
A sea turtle! We saw one in the harbor when we docked after our cruise was over.
Day 10
June 14, 2006
We pretty much spent the day in the jacuzzi at the resort.
Then we headed over to the park where we had Honeymoon portraits taken by Toby Hoogs.
I'm so glad we did the portraits. It was a fun shoot despite the uncomfortable rocks we had to walk on!
We had a FABULOUS dinner at the Kona Inn, which had another GORGOUS view!
Day 11
June 15, 2006
For our last dinner we went to Pahu i'a at the Four Seasons in Kona where we celebrated with champagne.
Yet again, we were treated like royalty with wonderful service, scrumptious food and a FABULOUS sunset.
Yummy!
Day 12
June 16, 2006
Aloha!
Our flight wasn't until 7 pm, so we said goodbye to Thurston, spent the day shopping and wandering around Kona and then left for the airport
But in the airport I FINALLY got my drink with an umbrella in it!
HOME
Day 13
June 17, 2006
We made it home, but someone "decorated" while we were gone!
Honeymoon Review
Best Food
1 La Mer (Oahu) at the Halekulani - THE ABSOLUTE BEST MEAL OF MY LIFE!
2 Michels (Oahu)
3 Pahu i'a (Big Island)
4 Huggo's (Big Island)
5 Jameson's (Big Island)
Chocolate Covered Macademia Nuts (Hawaiian Host dark brown box... yummy!)
Macademia Nut Pancakes with Mac Nut Sauce
Best Experiences
Diamond Head (Oahu)
Helicpoter Ride/Volcano National Park (Big Island)
Snorkeling in Kealakekua Bay (Big Island)
Relaxing in the hot tub with my husband
Watching AMAZING sunsets!
