Hawaii Honeymoon - Day 1

David and I pretty much knew that we were going to go to Hawaii on our honeymoon without much thought.  We did consider a couple other options briefly but Hawaii was the perfect destination for us. It was still America (which would be a huge pro come Day 2 of the trip), we had never been, it had beach & city, adventure & relaxing.  A no brainer for us.  The hard part was picking which islands.  We decided on Oahu & Maui with a compromise that we would return to the Big Island & Kauai for an anniversary.     

Hawaiian Air announced a couple days later that they would be flying out of JFK.  They were running great deals and it couldnt have worked out better.  For the remainder of the summer, we were surrounded by their advertising campaign everywhere we turned in NYC  It was a nice reminder to look forward to.

Two days after we were married, we were heading to the airport.  You could spot newlyweds from a mile away. All looked slightly scared; but happy. And we all had new luggage and the females had french manicures. When we borded the plane, we were one of the last (I hate sitting on the plane and waiting) and apparently it was not a full flight so there were some leftover leis and we got our first lei getting ON the plane!  What a great way to start the trip!

                                             

It wasn't a terrible flight but only because of the advertisement I saw all summer that said "We dont nickle and dime you", I was disappointed to see it wasn't true. Silly me, assuming (never assume!) a nearly 12 hour flight would have some TV included. Nope, no movie, nothing. The two "meals" were served an hour into the flight and then an hour before landing. Other than that, they played a silly "Snack Bar Is Open" jingle for overpriced candy.  Needless to say, I played a lot of solitare on my phone and annoyed my husband a ton.  

And I just have to add, upon landing, an announcement was made that someone left a silver band in the bathroom. Oh newlyweds!

We chased summer all the way to Hawaii and it was still only 3PM. The longest day ever, literally!  We got our car (upgraded by Avis just cuz!) and headed to the Sheraton in Waikiki. Traffic was just like NY. We got to our room (upgraded again, just cuz!) and holy cow, the most picturesque view!  And this is only a "partial ocean view"!

We walked around the property and then around Kalakaua Ave, the main street along the beach, and then to the famous Waikiki Beach. We were starving and exhausted so we stumbled on Dukes in the Outrigger Hotel, right on the beach along with some live music.  

It was a perfect, longest day ever.  We watched the sunset from the shore and then headed up to bed, like an old married couple. :)