Wow, where do I start. It was July of 2021, Andrea and I boarded a flight to Hawaii. We decided to bypass a long layover and left the Tri-Cities heading to Dallas and then off to Honolulu. Talk about an exciting flight! It was the first time that I have flown over a huge body of water without any sign of land, kinda scary. Luckily we preloaded some TV shows onto our tablet and tried to pass the time, lost in some media.

After what seems like forever, we made IT! However we still had to be “processed” since covid was still pretty active. An hour or so later we found ourselves outside of the airport and officially on our honeymoon!! We hailed an Uber driver and made our way to the room we would be staying for the next couple weeks. The setup in the room was nice and simple one: a bed, a tv, a microwave, a bathroom (with a shower head that could blast paint off the wall), and the best of all, an awesome view of the city.

The next few days we spent visiting Diamond Head, the Van Gogh Experience and a sunset cruise. We also started to try out the different local food places and one I fell in love with, Sam’s Kitchen. When we started to look at things to do while on the island of Oahu, hiking Diamond Head was at top of the list. It is a very interesting place. You have a crater from a volcano, bunks that were used by the military, and a 360 degree view at the top. Afterwards we stopped by and got ourselves a very tasty pineapple smoothie. We got lucky with the Van Gogh experience. We had no idea it was taking place during the time we were staying, and to sweeten the deal, we could see the convention center from our room.

Sam’s Kitchen was recommended by multiple people and I am glad we asked. It was off one of the main roads so you could have easily missed it if you didn’t know it was there. They have this spicy garlic shrimp that hit the spot, especially when paired with plantation tea. Now the sunset cruise was something else. We did what no one should ever do, and that is book all of our adventures at the last moment, yeah, don’t do that!! However the good Lord was watching over us and we were able to schedule 95 percent of the things we wanted to do. So back to the cruise. We wanted to head out on the sea to watch the sunset, kinda romantic right? Well… this cruise just happened to be a “booze” cruise. What is that you ask, well imagine a club that was BYOB and out on the ocean. We don’t drink so I will admit I was a little worried how the night would unfold but truth be told, it was an amazing night! It is a memory that I am happy to have and share with others.

The remainder of our honeymoon was jammed packed full of adventures and sightseeing. We found ourselves back out on the sea for a couple of those adventures, the first being some scuba diving with the turtles. Unfortunately I somehow lost the video footage but that’s ok. We celebrated our unity with a tasty dinner later that evening.

Pearl Harbor was our next stop and it was mind blowing to spend some time reading the plaques and hearing the stories of the heroes and those that lost their lives. We had very limited time to explore and this is one thing that I want to come back to and spend the day.

Wow, so this is the end… right? Haha, no way!! Next on the agenda, how about some parasailing, a hike, and a relaxing day on the beach. I was somewhat nervous about the parasailing since I am afraid of heights but I did not want to miss out on something amazing. By the time I knew it there was a sense of peace over me and I was having a blast! Another thing we enjoy is waterfall chasing, so that’s exactly what we did. The landscape in Hawaii is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It was a jungle and then a forest and before you know it you are back at the beach. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

A beach day is exactly what we needed after doing all the hiking, walking and nonstop activities. But this beach day was one that we could have not predicted. As we were getting our beach chairs from the local place, we saw a Hawaiian monk seal lying 50 feet from our spot. WOW! They had the seal roped off so no one would disturb it while it took a snooze, but you could take pictures from the a distance. Sharing the beach with a seal, check! Now if that wasn’t exciting enough, we were approached by a YouTuber to be on his video Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader. If we get 5 questions correct, we win a $100!! Well we had a strong start but almost got our last question wrong. Luckily he gave us the option to get another question, which we did, and thank goodness I have a smart wife! CHA-CHING!! Winning a crisp benji on the beach in Hawaii, check!

After the crazy day at the beach it was time to get back to the adventures. Our remaining time on Oahu was going to be packed with fun in the sun and under the sea. Yep, under the sea, but we weren’t hanging out with SpongeBob, no we were diving to the depths of the ocean via a submarine tour by Atlantis Adventures. They took us out to the dive spot where they placed old airplanes, boats and other structures along the bottom of the ocean. It was another amazing tour added to the list. A hike to Manoa Falls was followed by a muddy trek up to Nu’uanu Lookout. The next couple days included a few bike rides and kayaking out to a island that was a seabird sanctuary.

This brings us to our last days, one more big day of amaziness! Let me set the scene. Right outside our hotel sat a Polaris Slingshot rental shack that I drooled over day after day. Well not this day thanks to our luck at the beach and a friendly reminder from my buddy Larry. He told me.. aren’t you on your honeymoon and in Hawaii, go all out! Thank you Larry! So we rented a Slingshot, got dressed in our matching Hawaiian clothes and started making our way to the North Shore. We stopped at various places along the way including a blowhole, a paved hike to a lookout and to another waterfall. We got rained on, we sang as loud as we could, we took turns driving and we soaked in the blessings that we have been given. Before we had to turn the Slingshot back in we took a cruise in the early am to catch the sunrise and say goodbye to the closest thing to paradise that I’ve been to. It was amazing, day to day. The aloha vibe could be felt and I honestly felt like I belong to the island. I miss that place and one day I shall return but till then, I will cherish these memories and share them to whomever will listen. I do apologize for the length of this post but to tell the truth, this is compressed the best I could do. 2 weeks with over a thousand pictures/videos, yeah that’s tight squeeze. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this adventure, thank you for taking the time, and if you have your own island story I would love to hear it!! I’ll leave you all with more pictures, thank you again.. till next time captain out..