Honeymoon in Maui

And the mystery honeymoon destination was...

MAUI!!!

One of the best parts of wedding planning was NOT planning the honeymoon.  John planned the entire thing and kept the destination a secret until we were at the gate at the airport!  I still cannot believe nobody spilled the beans.  The only thing he told me was that we were going to the beach, so I would know how to pack.  A lot of people told me I was crazy to hand over the planning to my fiance, but I thought it was genius!  It was one less (big) thing I had to plan and worry about while planning the wedding.

John and  left for our honeymoon the Monday after our wedding.  I really liked having one day between the wedding and the honeymoon.  Not only did it allow us to see our family one last time, but we had a moment to catch our breath and finish packing.  I cannot imaging the logistics involved in leaving the day after the wedding.  I needed the extra day to find everything (my phone was missing for about 15 hours after the wedding)!

John's parents surprised us with an upgrade to first class on our way to Maui!  Believe it or not, it was my first time flying first class.  You would think with all the travel I do I would have been upgraded at some point, but that was not the case.  First Class was kind of like a mini 8-hour vacation before our real vacation.  They kept feeding us and giving us champagne and wine, so I was fat and happy and took a nice little nap with my comfy pillow and blanket and seat that reclined almost flat.  As you can tell, I am easily entertained!

When we got to Maui, our first stop was...Wal-Mart.  Seriously?!?!  We needed groceries and that seemed like the cheapest and easiest place to go. 

We stayed in Kaanapali at the Westin Villas (thanks Mom!)

Tiny kitchen

View from our room

Coy pond view from our room

Newlyweds

Beautiful flowers from John's parents

The first of many rainbows

We spent the first day hanging out in Lahaina.  There are a bunch of really cool shops and restaurants so we did a little shipping and then relaxed ocean-side with cocktails at Cheeseburger in Paradise.

The first of many cocktails:)

Table with a view

Later that evening, we enjoyed a sunset dinner at Kimo's.  The food was fabulous, but the table behind us was super obnoxious.  They put their baby in his stroller and let him cry for at least 30 minutes.  Because they could not hear each other over the screaming baby, they raised their voices so the entire restaurant could hear.  The parents were more irritating than the baby.  Not the romantic dinner I was expecting.

We did not mean to match.  Oops!

Beautiful Sunset

More delicious cocktails...which was followed by shave ice

The next morning we woke up early to start the Road to Hana
We stopped early on to watch the morning surfers

Delicious banana bread...

...and more shave ice!

We had no top on the Jeep so it got a little chilly when the rain started.  Luckily it did not last long.

Beautiful waterfall on the side of the road

Coffee Break

Such a beautiful drive

The water was too high to swim.  Sad:(

My new husband!  Check out that ring!

Excuse the crazy Jeep/Rain/Wind hair

Beautiful path

When we reached Hana we decided to keep driving, on what I call the Road PAST Hana.  There were NO other cars.

Jeep!

We found this little church next to the ocean.  They only have mass when there is a fifth Sunday in a month.  As you can tell by the sign, that only occurs about twice a year.

We got out of our car and walked around the grounds for a while.  The funny thing about the Road to Hana is when you stop, you are likely to start a trend.  John and I would stop where there were no other people, but we always had company within 5-10 minutes.  Sometimes a lot of company!

As we continued the Road PAST Hana, we were pretty much alone.  We saw more cows than people!

I am about as mature as a 12-year-old!  The 'poop' graffiti made me smile:)

At the end of the drive was a winery!  We stopped for a wine tasting and ended up purchasing 36 bottles of wine.  Yum!

We made it back to our hotel just in time to enjoy the sunset

John skipping rocks

More fruity cocktails!

Thursday was spent scuba diving at Molokini Crater.  It was our first time to dive since we were certified.  We were a little nervous at first, but were totally comfortable once we were in the water.  I wish I had my camera on the boat because the whale watching was pretty cool.  While diving, we could even hear the whales.  Fortunately, we had no whale encounters...but we did see a shark.

The next day we had a couples massage and the relaxed with our books outside.  That night we had dinner at Mama's Fish House.  Best meal of my LIFE!!!


Beautiful view from our table

The menu changes twice each day, based on what the fishermen are bringing in.

I don't usually take photos of my food, but the tuna was so beautiful I could not stop myself.

Our last day we decided to hang out in Lahaina.  We had an early lunch at Lahaina Pizza Company and had a great view of a kids surf competition that was going on.

Best shave ice of my life.  We went there everyday, if not twice a day.

We thought this sign was funny so we had to take a picture

Our honeymoon was absolutely perfect!  I cannot wait to go back to Maui!!!