Eight Years

Today is Kenny’s and my 8 year wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful ceremony and reception, but I’m not going to talk about either of those this year. I’m going to talk about Hawaii, the location of our honeymoon.

We traveled to four of the Hawaiian islands over the course of 17 days. It was absolutely amazing. Hawaii is gorgeous, and I’m so glad we got to see so much of it together. So today, in honor of our 8th anniversary, I present 8 of my favorite memories from our honeymoon (in no particular order). Enjoy!

1. The food (and the beer!): We tried so many different types of food while we were in Hawaii. We tried local cuisine, had some of the best sushi in our lives, tasted multiple new tropical fruits, and ate so many other delicious meals together. We also sampled lots of local brews: we tried beer from five different breweries (and also visited one winery on Maui). Kenny was in heaven!

2. Ziplining on Kauai: This was by far our favorite thing we did. We drove to the North Shore of Kauai and Princeville Ranch Adventures for a morning of ziplining. We loved everything about this adventure. Our guides were fantastic, the scenery was gorgeous, and the experience was one we’ll never forget.

3. The Holualoa Inn on the Big Island: We stayed at three different types of accommodations on each of the islands we visited (we were only on Oahu for half a day on our way home). However, my absolute favorite place was the Holualoa Inn on the Big Island. Talk about breathtaking; I didn’t want to leave! We were in the Hibiscus Room overlooking the inn’s backyard and the hillside below. We often sat up in the crow’s nest to watch sunsets. And we ate some of our best meals here; the breakfasts were out of this world.

  

4. Helicopter ride all over Kauai: This was a first for both of us. Our pilot was fantastic, flying us all over the island and giving us stunning aerial views of the sweeping canyons, lush forests, rugged coastlines, and plentiful waterfalls that call Kauai home. So pretty.

5. The huge storm on Maui: On the second or third night of our trip, a huge storm moved across Maui, effectively shutting everything down. We ended up talking to a few locals who said they hadn’t seen a storm that big in a very, very long time. The big storm meant that all of our plans got ruined. We were supposed to go SCUBA diving on Molokini, but we couldn’t. We were supposed to go on a sunrise bike tour down a volcano, but we couldn’t. We were supposed to take a day trip to Lanai, but we couldn’t. We were supposed to go to a luau, but we couldn’t. So we had to come up with other things to do. We put a lot of miles on our rental Jeep, discovered a few places we probably wouldn’t have, and even took in a movie at a local mall. We made the best of it!

6. Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island: This place was incredible. SO much to see; we only did a fraction of the park with the time we had. No active lava flows, but we did see lots of steam rising from within the two huge craters, as well as cooled lava from previous eruptions. And we even walked through a gigantic lava tube. So cool.

7. Snorkeling and SCUBA diving on the Big Island: We did two big ocean excursions on the Big Island. Snorkeling in K-Bay was first, followed by SCUBA diving. Both were amazing; Kenny did great on his first dive experience!

8. Exploring Kauai: Kauai is the smallest island, and we drove all over it. We saw waterfalls, lots of wildlife (fricking chickens), and a picturesque lighthouse. We got up close to the famous Na Pali coast, drove through the head of the Wailua River, and even went spelunking (kind of). We played around on lots of different beaches (including one made out of old car parts) and hiked through beautiful state parks. So much to do!

I can’t believe this trip was 8 years ago. It’s truly unbelievable how fast time flies.

Happy Anniversary, Baby. I loved you then, I love you now, and I’ll love you always.