Dang, where do I even begin?
WE WENT TO FREAKING HAWAII!!!!!
I still can't believe we went. Well, here's sort of a play by play of our trip :)
on the plane, "we're going to Hawaii!!"
The plane ride wasn't bad, the only bummer is we didn't have a window seat (womp womp). I thankfully slept for a while (I can sleep anywhere, really). Once we landed, we went to pick up our rental car.
We got our car, and off to our hotel we went! We were about 45 minutes from our hotel, so we had a nice drive over, just being in awe of Maui's beauty. Windows down, and Jack Johnson playing in the background.
5 minutes into our drive I started crying (yeah yeah). Hawaii is a place I have always wanted to go to, seriously since I've been young. So to be on this gorgeous island with my husband, was a little overwhelming, and I was just way too happy.
We got to our hotel, and enjoyed the view from our room.
Our plane landed about 1:45pm, and by the time we got to our hotel and settled in, it was about 3 or 3:30? We immediately went snorkeling.
The water, it's so warm!! How will I ever be able to go back in the ocean here in California, it just won't be the same.
While snorkeling we saw 2 sea turtles!! I was so happy, I was hoping to see one! We didn't take any cameras out for this, we just wanted to enjoy it.
After snorkeling and swimming, we went back to the room and washed up for dinner.
We found "Hula Grill" close to our hotel. Just about a 5 minutes walk on the beach. Really good, and decently priced (just what we like). I had fish and chips for the first time, so good! (I've been eating more fish recently, and i ate a lot here in Hawaii)
Walking back to our hotel we realized there were so many stars. Oh my gosh, so beautiful. Definitely not like at home, you can see SO MANY! It was amazing, and Frankie absolutely loved it (science nerd<3 a="" and="" at="" beach="" do="" it="" look="" made="" night="" on="" p="" since="" stars.="" the="" then="" to="" tradition="" walk="" we="">By the end of this day, I couldn't believe we hadn't been here a full day! I was already having so much fun. I couldn't wait for the rest of the weeks adventures.
Monday.
With Hawaii being 3 hours behind California, I woke up so early. I really tried to go back to sleep, as i love sleeping, haha, but I just couldn't.
We went to Starbucks and got ourselves some Kona coffee (hollaaa). Then walked around the mall that they had right next door, it was so empty! After that we went to the grocery store and got some water for the week and some things to make lunches a couple of the days.
After that we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool for a while, then played in the ocean.
For dinner, we went to Hula Grill again. :P
Tuesday.
We went on a freakin helicopter ride!
First time for both of us on a helicopter, it was so rad. Since we both weighed the lightest out of everyone riding, we got to sit up front (hollaaaa!)
We saw the most beautiful views (as if what we had already seen wasn't beautiful enough). It was an awesome experience being able to see this island from a birds eye view.
This view was awesome. This was also the time when the helicopter went sideways a little bit, like going around the corner? It was really cool, buuuut I get extremely bad motion sickness, and that just threw me over. haha. Not too much longer later, I had to use my "comfort bag" (so funny). Yeah that wasn't fun. But, it was over quick and, at least no one heard me right? ;)
After the ride, we went to lunch near by at Coconuts. Fish & Chips and Fish Tacos, so delish.
We went to a random beach after lunch, and hit the jackpot. Makena Beach is where we ended up, coral reefs literally just right there. So rad. It was so cool swimming with these beautiful colorful fish. Fish that you normally see in peoples fish tanks, or at aquariums :P
We stumbled across THIS GUY!
I screamed I was just so excited. He swam with us for a bit, and we were STOKED! It was theee coolest.
Oh and then we came across this guy. So crazy. So rad. We did keep our distance though.
Look closely and you'll see the stingray.
After snorkeling for a while, we just laid out and hung out for a bit, then went to Wailea Shops. We got some ice cream and coffee, and walked around.
We drove back to our hotel, and for the 3rd night in a row, we went to Hula Grill for dinner. Heeyyy when you find something good and well priced, why spend over $100 on food somewhere else, am I right? HA
Wednesday.
ROAD TO HANA!!!
We left about 7:15am, it was about a 3 hour drive from where we were. About an hour into our drive I took TWO Dramamine. I didn't feel sick the entire time!!! WAHOO!!! I was so stoked on that because I thought for sure I would.
The drive was so beautiful, basically driving through a rain forest! It was awesome. We stopped a couple times, our first stop was this cool place:
We also stopped at a random place and had some fish tacos.
Our other stop, was AWESOME!
Exploring in caves!
Black Sand Beach!!
Swimming in caves!!!
The hike to Waimoku falls was so, lovely. It was so cool!! During times we were seriously walking through a bamboo forest, no joke. Amazing.
The hike was definitely worth it.
yup, we went past the "do not pass this point", and went under the waterfall.
After this, we went back down to the actual "Seven Sacred Pools". We of course did some cliff jumping :)
We made our way back to the hotel, and all in all it was about a 13 hour day. Yeah, so long. It was worth every, single, second.
We were so wiped, we literally just picked up food by the hotel and ate in our room. Then crashed.
Thursday.
This day, we celebrated 3 years of marriage. It was a real relaxing day, and just so perfect. We slept in, and started our day with lunch at the Cliff Dive Bar.
While we were eating, this little guy was brave enough to fly over and just land on our table, with his beak open hoping for food.
After lunch we relaxed at the beach :)
After a few hours, we went and cleaned up, and headed over to our Luau!
It was about a 20 minutes walk from our hotel, so we enjoyed our nightly beach walk and star gazing on the way back. Beautiful, as usual.
Friday.
Each day we were able to sleep in longer and longer, which was fab. We made a stop at Starbucks (had to get my fix) and went to Makena Beach again!
It was pretty windy, which made the waves a bit crazier than the last time we were there. Which then made the water not as clear for snorkeling. That was ok though, it was still so pretty, and we did see a sea turtle again, just not as close. We still had fun :)
If you know me, you know I LOVE the beach. It's seriously one of my favorite places. BUT, I hate sand all over me. I don't mind my feet, but I hate when it's on my towel, or gets on my hands or legs or anywhere else. Well, when in Maui...
I learned to just not care while I was there.
We went back to our hotel and relaxed for a bit, then went to Tempenaki Dans for dinner, it's basically a benihana. It was SO DELICIOUS! oh my so so good.
We went for a beach walk after dinner, and of course were amazed by the stars. It was just like we were in a dome of stars, they were everywhere. I think we saw the most this night, such a pretty sight. Frankie was in love.
Saturday.
We started the day with going to Starbucks, mainly to get the new Hawaii gift card!! Yay! (We collect all the different kinds, so we were stoked to be able to get this)
We drove to the Haleakala crater. That was an awesome sight. We were above the cloud line!
above the clouds+hanging on a volcano=super rad.
We brought our own lunch today, and after exploring for a while, we ate in the car :)
We were going to stay for sunset, but it was like 3 hours away, aaaand we didn't want to stay around or do any hiking. haha
We eventually made it back to the hotel, and for the last time, we went to Hula Grill for dinner. We literally became regulars.
Sunday.
Our last day. So so sad.
I think we initially planned to get up early and get breakfast. I don't know if we ever decided or not.
I don't know what time, but an alarm went off early in the morning. I grumbled to Frankie, "why do you have an alarm??" He turned if off and we fell back asleep.
Once we woke up, we got a small breakfast around our hotel, and brought it back to our room and ate on our balcony for the last time.
We packed up, and checked out. Luckily, our flight didn't leave until 9:45pm, so we had all day!!
We hung out at the pool for a bit, then at the beach for the last time. It was wonderful.
We changed, and headed to Coconuts again for some grub before our flight since it was near the airport.
The drive to drop our car off was fun. The windows were down, we had Jack Johnson playing, we really just took Hawaii in. We left the same way we came: extremely happy.
And maybe a little more tan ;)
This entire trip, was truly my dream vacation. Some may think, dream vacation?? It's "only Hawaii". But to me, its HAWAII!! Freaking Hawaii. It was an unforgettable vacation, which we truly enjoyed every single day, every single minute. I again, still can't believe we went. I went on my dream vacation with my dream man :p We celebrated 3 years of marriage while there, which have been pure bliss. Marriage has been humbling, and yes at times hard, but it's so rewarding. I love living life with Frankie.
So thanks Maui, for an absolutely amazing trip of a lifetime.
