Early on in the planning stages of our nuptials, Sarah and I agreed that she would be primarily in charge of the wedding day and that I would have complete creative control over the honeymoon. I certaintly had no quarrels with this arrangement and quickly found myself scouring the web, seeking out the perfect destination for our newlywed retreat. The options seemed limitless and ranged from private huts over the tropical waters of Bora Bora to romantic evenings in the streets of Paris, but everything seemed to be pointing to one place: Hawaii!
Having never been to Hawaii before, I decided the best approach would be to find out more about the fiftieth state to join the union and see what it had to offer. The first thing one will learn if they don’t know already is that Hawaii is not a single land mass but a collection of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Eight main islands comprise the state with numerous smaller ones scattered about. Of these eight, only four of the islands are large enough to have major airports and be considered true tourist destinations. These islands are: Kaua’i, O’ahu, Maui, and Hawai’i (commonly referred to as “The Big Island” to avoid confusing it with the state as a whole). Kaua’i, known as “The Garden Isle”, is the oldest and least developed of the four main islands. Its great for those who want to experience Hawaii in its most natural form but it severely lacks in resorts and big name attractions. O’ahu, known as “The Gathering Place”, is the most populated and therefore the most westernized of the islands. It features luxurious hotels, nightlife, and a few outdoor pursuits in addition to arguably its main attraction, Pearl Harbor. Maui, known as “The Valley Isle”, is easily the most tourist oriented island in all of Hawaii. From sprawling resorts to pristine beaches and native traditions to jaw-dropping landscapes, there are only a handful of things that Hawaii has to offer that are not available on the island of Maui. Hawai’i, known as “The Big Island”, is the largest of the Hawaiian islands, so large in fact that it is bigger that all the other islands in the Hawaiian archipelago combined. Hawai’i is also the only island in the Hawaiian islands where there is currently ongoing active volcanic activity. Once I had become quite the self-proclaimed expert on Hawaii’s history and georgraphy I concluded that Maui and the Big Island were the best choices for a romantic yet adventurous getaway. While Maui offered nearly everything we wanted, my desire to see lava flowing from an active volcano made the Big Island a mandatory stop.
Booking our trip was suprisingly much simpler than I had ever anticipated. At first I tried to arrange things using sites like Kayak & Priceline but quite quickly into this process I stumbled upon the CostCo Travel website and since Sarah and I were members of CostCo I figured I would see what they had to offer. A few clicks later and I had found a travel deal that seemed as if it had been made specifically for us. A two island trip including airfare, rental cars, and stays at two of the best resorts in the entire state for an unbeatable price. I couldn’t believe it and spent a few hours trying to find a better deal but nothing even came close. With confidence and excitement I presented my findings to my soon-to-be wife and she agreed that it had the makings of an amazing adventure. On Valentines Day we officially completed the booking process and began preparing for our time in Hawaii!
As active and outgoing as Sarah and I are, we already had nearly everything we would need for our trip so the day after our wedding, we simply packed up and put in early for a good night’s rest. Our flight from San Antonio left at 6:10AM so we got up early and Sarah’s parents dropped us off at the airport around 4AM. Check-in did not take as long as expected but if we had been any later, we would have been stuck behind several buses of army recruits who were flying out to different technical schools around the country. Once checked in and walking to our terminal, we came across some of my relatives who were also flying out and conversed with them until it was time to board our plane. Boarding was a breeze and before we knew it, we were in the air heading to our connection in Los Angeles. We slept through most of the flight and only stirred when we began our descent. Unfortunately LAX was overcrowded and our plane did not get a gate so we had to deplane on the tarmac and take a shuttle to the terminal. Our layover was a little more than an hour so once we finally made it into the airport, we quickly located a flight display and looked to see what gate our next flight left out of. Our excitement quickly turned to despair as we soon discovered that our flight to Maui had been cancelled due to weather. A few thousand miles away the Hawaiian Islands were bracing for what we would later learn is a very rare occurrence; a hurricane!
We hastily made our way to the United Airlines Customer Service desk where we soon found ourselves at the tail end of a long line composed of very disgruntled men, women, and children all dressed in different variations of floral patterned shirts, swim trunks, and flip-flops. It was obvious that we were not the only ones on the cancelled flight and we would have to wait our turn. As the line continued to grow, so did the restlessness of the crowd. Eventually a customer service agent announced that United Airlines had setup a temporary team of phone reps who we could contact to discuss our options instead of waiting in line for one of the handful of agents at the desk. Sarah quickly dialed in as I held our place in line and soon enough she was on the phone with someone informing her that we may be stuck in Los Angeles for a few days. I asked her to inquire about the other islands and other options that we had available today and she obliged. A few moments later the rep on the phone advised us that a plane was boarding for Kauai with two seats left and that if we ran over to the gate we may have a chance at catching it before it departed. It was going to be the last plane leaving LAX for Hawaii until the storm cleared and that we could call back to arrange a flight from Kauai to Maui when we arrived. We both agreed that it was our best shot and accepted the challenge. We did our best impression of the family from the movie “Home Alone” and likely set land speed records as we made our way over to the gate for our new flight. The lady was moments from closing the door when we arrived and she quickly changed our tickets over so that we could board. Unfortunately our change in itinerary meant that we would not be sitting together but it was a small price to pay as our plane took off and we were soon on our way to the Aloha State! After a while I made small talk with the two younger gentleman sitting next to me and it was eventually brought to light that my new wife was having to sit by herself due to our disrupted travel plans. As soon as they found out, the older one offered to switch with her so that we could sit next to each other and although I was initially hesitant, I accepted his generosity and once the fasten seatbelt light went out, they made the switch. Sarah and I and quickly began to game plan our ground game for when we landed and then enjoyed “The Croods” until we began our descent into Kauai several hours later. Once in the airport we sprung our plan into action and quickly looked to see if any more flights would be leaving for Maui that day. Fortunately our luck had not run out yet and there was just one more flight heading to Maui, departing in little more than an hour! We hurried over to Hawaiian Airlines counter where we were advised that there were only a handful of seats left and that we would be wise to go ahead and book them right then. After trying to get United on the line for nearly an hour (still likely inundated with other Hawaii bound travelers stuck in LA), we eventually gave up and bought the two tickets to Maui ourselves. Soon enough we were boarded an on our way to our original destination! The Hawaiian Airlines flight was brief and we flew over Oahu on our way. The weather was clear at first but the further we traveled, the worse it got. The landing was quite possibly the roughest one I’ve ever experienced and I definitely breathed a big sigh of relief once we were on the ground.
Ultimately we arrived in Maui only two hours behind schedule and when we finally got off the plane we entered what more closely resembled a ghost town than an exotic destination airport terminal. Almost all flights in were cancelled with the exception of the ones flying in from the other islands. We quickly made our way to the United Customer Service Desk to inquire about my checked bag which had gone largely forgotten amongst our scramble to actually get ourselves to our destination. Sure enough, it was sitting in LA waiting for a plane to catch a ride on so we left our hotel information and requested it be delivered as soon as it arrived. In the meantime, United gave me an allowance to get some clothes to hold me over until my bag and I were reunited. Once we finished up there, we headed to Budget Rent a Car to pickup our rental and again we were greeted with a near empty building. There was no line which allowed us to walk right up to the counter, sign a few papers, and get on our way. The weather was continuing to grow worse and though we were hungry and a bit travel fatigued, we immediately set out for our hotel. The distance was a short one, but the drive took quite some time thanks to low speed limits and heavy rain. Eventually we made it to the Fairmont Kea Lani and thanks to the hurricane conditions that were now in full force, we happily agreed to take advantage of the valet service. From what we could see the hotel was beautiful though the tremendous downpour limited our view in every direction. Check-in was breeze as once again we were one of the few people who actually arrived as anticipated. As we entered our room we were greeted with a personalized note thanking us for choosing the Fairmont Kea Lani as our honeymoon destination and a delicious dessert for us to enjoy. Unfortunately due to our late arrival, sugar ants were having their way with our dessert but we were just happy to have made it. Excited, hungry, and missing part of our luggage we attempted to go to a nearby mall for supplies and food. Unfortunately nearly everything was closed so we got a few things at the convenience store and made our way back to our resort. Our only option was room service so I ordered up a Pepsi and a pepperoni pizza while Sarah got a large spaghetti plate for herself. We ended up falling asleep before the food even arrived but woke ourselves up enough to refuel before calling it a night.
The next morning we were originally scheduled to take a helicopter tour over western Maui but we had to cancel due to weather concerns the day before. Instead we had a nice breakfast at the resort before heading to the only true shopping mall on the island to get some clothes to wear for the next few days and for our Luau later that evening. After getting the things we needed we returned to our resort and got ready for our Luau.