My day started out not exactly as planned. Lol. We were super tired last night and fell asleep about 10ish here (so 1 Seattle time) and figured we would sleep in until our alarm went off at 5:45. Nope! I was wide awake and laying in bed at 4am. At about 4:30 I decided I might as well just get up, so I took a shower and Matt got up around 5:15. We planned on hiking this morning but first decided we definitely needed coffee. We walked a few minutes to Starbucks and got breakfast and lattes and then back to the hotel to get our car.
We drove about 10 minutes to the parking lot of Diamond head and were pleasantly surprised it was pretty empty (it was about 7:30). The average person gets up and down the crater in about an hour and a half to 2 hours. We did it in one hour flat! Go us:) It was pretty cool though- lots of stairs, a great view all the way up, some dark tunnels to go through and some abandoned never used bunkers to explore. The view at the top was pretty great.
After Diamond head we drove a few minutes to the Hawaii dept of health to get our marriage license.. Oddly, it was completely dark and no one was there. A very small moment of panic hit me… we were getting married tomorrow and kinda needed this piece of paper. I noticed a phone number on the widow for an after hours agent and decided to call her, thinking even if she couldn’t help me directly maybe she could tell me why the office was closed. She quickly informed me that it was a holiday today (of course it was- just my luck)- and that if we could fill it out online then she could print it and sign/file it for us. At her house. So we did what she said. We sat in the car and filled out a lengthy form on my smart phone, paid the fees and then drove to her house about ten minutes away. We pulled up to a duplex in a cute neighborhood with some patio furniture our front. There was an older couple in swim wear waiting there as well. We watched her give them their paper work and take oaths, pay her and off they went. Then it was our turn- explanation of paperwork, pay her and then take oaths. At her patio table. Lol. We tipped her well because we felt bad for this little Hawaiian lady having to scramble all day for people like me:) It was a very funny and odd experience for us.
We left our funny lady who gave us permission to marry, and headed back into Waikiki. We still needed to semi pack (we never really unpacked), change clothes for the day out of our hiking stuff and then get out of the city. We left around 11 or so and headed up the west coast to Ko Olina where the new Disney Aulani resort is. We plan on taking the kids there next year so we wanted to check it out. Plus there is a very nice restaurant there that we had lunch reservations at. We walked around for about an hour, taking pictures to show the kids and seeing how we felt about it all- plus we had to get the kids a couple gifts from here. The resort is really great- Disney really pulled it together here to make an amazing experience. It feels somehow authentic, yet still has Disney touches to it. We can’t wait to take the kids here!
Our lunch was great- we ate at Ama’Ama and while I had heard some negative reviews we got great service, great drinks and great food. Our table looked right out over the lagoon but was still in the shade. I had a ginger vodka lemonade to drink and Matt had a blue Hawaiian drink of some sort. We shared the jumbo shrimp with hearts of palm apetizer and each had the same dish- a mahi mahi that was cooked in a black bean sauce with veggies. Very good! My dessert was a liloka'i fruit meringue with a fruit sorbet and Matt had a cocolate lava cake with a brittle on top and ice cream on the side. Yum!
We headed up the North Shore to Haleiwa after a few hours at Aulani. It s definitely surfer country out here. Beaches just line the side of the highway and cars are always pulled off to the side where people just cross the street to get to the ocean. I had done some research and wanted a bungalow or house to stay in up here so we had some privacy. We came across Ke Iki beach bungalows and I booked them right away. I am not disappointed! The owner Greg is really nice (a total hippy surfer guy) and basically just gave us our key (a real house key) pointed us to the bungalow and said have a great week. Super easy. There are multiple bungalows here but ours is the only one up on stilts so you can see the ocean perfectly. We are right on famous Sunset beach.
After getting settled in, unpacking and talking with the kids (again, only Piper) on skype we headed into town to get some food. We settled on this great fusion Mexican restaurant and were both really happy with the choice. Our margaritas were great (Matt got classic, I got passionfruit) and we both got the fresh catch of the day which was swordfish with a pesto sauce, tomato marmalade over saffron rice and grilled squash. It was very good!
After that we headed to Foodland (grocery store) to get a couple things for the week then back home to our bungalow. We are still jetlagged- it is only about 8 here and we are very tired. It has been a long day though. Tomorrow is our wedding day, and while it sounds bad, I just want it to be done. lol. I will feel better at the end of tomorrow when we are just married and can enjoy the rest of our vacation. In the meantime I am trying not to stress about potential things going wrong!
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