Honeymoon: Day 1

Hello everyone! This is my very FIRST blog and I am happy you have decided to read it. Ben and I thought it would be beneficial for us to keep track of our travels and adventures so that we can help others who may be going to the same places we have been to. Our purpose is to offer tips, advice and our opinion on everything from the hotel accommodations, transportation to and from the destination, great restaurants to check out (and not so great ones to avoid), best beaches to visit, reveal local hidden "gems" that the average tourist would not know about etc...

When Ben and I go to a new place we waste no time sitting around the pool...except for the very necessary sunset cocktail ;0) We get some local maps, hop in our rental car and hit the road.

Our first blog will be about our recent trip to Hawaii. We visited Maui and Kauai. This trip will probably go down as one of the most memorable trips of our lives.

Day ONE: Getting to Hawaii

FLIGHTS: If you live on the East Coast, getting to Hawaii is no easy task! Ben and I spent a few days in San Francisco (where his brothers family lives...we will have more info on SanFran in a later blog) before flying Hawaiian Airlines (www.hawaiianair.com) into Honolulu. The flight was very comfortable with lots of room to move around. Unfortunately, I was sick with the flu the whole way there so I didn't really get to enjoy myself! The flight was a little under 5 hours and flew by. We landed in Honolulu and had to catch a smaller plane to Maui. We took Go! Airlines (www.iflygo.com), which was fine except for the 2-hour delay we had to endure in the airport. The flight to Maui only took 30 minutes.

Once in Maui we picked up our rental car from Alamo Car Rental (www.alamo.com). A CONVERTIBLE!!! At first we were only going to rent a tiny car but Ben decided to go for it and get the convertible for only $77 more dollars! What a deal. We do NOT recommend going all the way to Hawaii and renting a normal car.... you MUST get a convertible. There is no better way to experience Hawaii. There really is something about having the wind go through your hair and you drive by the ocean. Once in the car we headed out to find the Ritz-Carlton at Kapalua (www.ritzcarlton.com). The drive from the airport is approximately 1 hour. On our way we went past the most incredible panoramic view of the ocean....breathtaking! It is truly something that cannot be described, the absolute beauty of the water. It was about 25 minutes into our drive that we had our first whale sighting! Now, we live on Nantucket for half the year and not once have we ever seen a whale. They seemed to be a dime a dozen out in the ocean. You knew they were there because of the stream of mist shooting into the air from their blowholes.... it was amazing to watch. Stream after stream shooting up into the sunset, it was almost as if they were welcoming us into their world...that was the exact moment when Ben and I knew we were about to have the trip of a lifetime.

Getting to The Ritz-Carlton:

One word: WOW. This is how Ben and I could describe the feeling of seeing the hotel for the first time. What I first noticed was the underlying scent of pineapple and something else sweet. It was a tropical dream you could say. You walked into the lobby and could immediately see the ocean through the other of the hotel. There was a warm breeze flowing through the lobby. The decorating was outstanding...Hawaiian chic. It had a minimalist style but with bursts of color everywhere you looked. Very tasteful. We were greeted at the front desk with 2 beaded necklaces and a warm ALOHA! A really welcoming young girl led Ben and I to our garden view/ocean view suite. We had no idea what to expect. Then she opened the door and our mouths dropped at the same time...WOW...this was the most gorgeous room we had ever stayed in. It was 900 square feet with a kitchen, living room, 2 flat screen TVS, a huge king size bed, Jacuzzi tub, separate shower, big closet and about 100 square feet of deck overlooking the 10,000 square foot pool. We also had a fantastic view of the ocean. The decorating gave us the same feeling as the lobby...not overdone but totally Hawaiian and relaxed. A little later Ben decided to order room service, I was still not feeling that great, so he went with the turkey club with bacon and avocado and fries. Ben still talks about that meal, he said it was "the best meal turkey club I have ever eaten" and trust me, he has had a lot of turkey clubs.

Then there was a knock at the door...we were greeted by a nice young man who was carrying a bottle of champagne with 2 glasses and a plate of fresh cheeses, dried fruit and crackers! We couldn't believe it, we felt so special. There was a note from the Ritz Carlton accountant welcoming us to the hotel and wishing us a happy honeymoon. There was also the mention of Justine (who works for Ritz-Carlton as well), who really helped us out with getting such an incredible rate for the room. We worked for Justine and her family on Nantucket last fall. Ben cooked a few dinners for them and she told us that Hawaii was the BEST place to go on a honeymoon…so far, she was right! We decided to put the champagne and food away for later and go to bed...we were too tired to stay up and we wanted to wait for the perfect moment to pop the champagne.