Lauren & George's Wishes Wedding- 12.01/16- WP/Attic *Updated 11/06: TR Day 6!

This is the best thing! When I flew out west in Canada for a competition, I was getting up at 6 every day! On the flip side, late nights were hard though. We even get a little of this going to WDW since we're East Coast Canada, so we gain an hour crossing the US border.

That's even better! I love being up early and not suffering on vacation.


Yay! What great news! I'm sure it was easily spent though.

You have no idea. LOL.

Woah! A smart car?? That seems extreme!

It was TINY. Our two suitcases would have never made it.

This is good info!!



How amazingly beautiful! Definitely worth the upgrade :lovestruc

Absolutely.

That sounds amazing :cloud9:

Can't wait to see some more of your Aulani pictures!

Sorry that I've been MIA on updating the TR. I will be updating over the next couple of days. Also, I've been quietly following along on your trip report and can't wait to see how your wedding turned out!!!
 
Day 4: Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, Diamondhead, and Ka Wa’a Luau

I'm so sorry that I've been MIA for so long. I promise I have a good reason...we bought a house!!! I'm still in shock that we were able to take this next HUGE step not even a year into married life, but I'm thrilled. It wasn't nearly as terrifying as people make it out to be (or maybe we just got lucky?) and in my opinion, WAY easier than wedding planning. LOL. Anyways, maybe I'll do a married life update after I finish my TR (since we will have probably hit our year anniversary by then anyways), but for now, on with the continuation of our TR!

After a long day of travel and an early night’s sleep, we were up and ready to get our day started at 5:30AM! Normally, I would lay in bed and try to go back to sleep or at least play on my phone for a bit, but knowing that this was our first full day in Hawaii and we were up before the sun was perfect for us because we would get to experience our first Hawaiian sunrise! We slowly started to get up and out of bed, brush our teeth, and get on some clothes. By 6 or 6:30, we headed down to the lobby to ask around what time to sunrise was. We were only about 20 minutes away from sunrise, so we walked around the pool area for a few minutes and then out onto the beach to watch the sun rise. It was beautiful and so nice and peaceful. Once the sun was up, George went into the water, while I stayed on the beach taking pictures and enjoying the lovely morning.











After getting dried off, we went back to the lobby to speak with one of the activities cast members to get directions around the island, as well as suggestions on what would be fun activities for us to do. Our original plan for today was to go to Pearl Harbor, but it just so happened to be the 75th Anniversary of the bombings at Pearl Harbor, so it was closed to guests today and they were having a big ceremony there. While George was in the shower, I was actually watching the dedication on the news. It was very humbling.

Since we couldn’t go to Pearl Harbor today, we decided to go to the Aloha Stadium flea market and then to Diamondhead. We started to head to the Aloha Stadium for the flea market around 9:30 so we could get there by 10. We heard if you go too late in the day that it gets too hot so we wanted to get it done as early as possible. We (or I) mainly wanted to check out the stadium so that we could get some cheap souvenirs to bring back to everyone. We quickly walked past a dozen or so booths and realized that they are ALL. THE. SAME. And like beyond tacky souvenirs. After just 10 minutes, I knew I didn’t want to be here for very long and that I probably wouldn’t purchase anything so we quickly walked around maybe a quarter of the stadium before heading back to our car. We did buy a couple of things, like some Hawaiian taffy, which was sooo delicious and we snacked on for the entire trip. We also got a couple of magnets (which we collect) for our fridge and a hand-carved wood tiki statute. If we ever go back to Hawaii, we’ll definitely be skipping the swap meet.

I don’t think we spent more than an hour or hour and a half at the swap meet before getting back in our car and driving to Diamondhead. We weren’t too far away…maybe 15 minutes. Once we got there, we parked the car and ate our lunch, which we had packed in a cooler to bring along with us. We had such a gorgeous view of the park and I was anxious, but also dreading to make the climb to the top. While I do workout and am in pretty decent shape, I forgot to bring my running shoes so I was walking in my Vans. I also just had on regular shorts and t-shirt, not workout clothes so I was a little concerned about just being really uncomfortable, despite the hike not being too long. On top of all that, I just wasn’t feeling well still and it was really hot and humid out. My nose was once again getting runny and I felt like my cold was possibly relapsing. But we were already here and it was slightly overcast, which would make the hike a little cooler so I sucked it up and we started to make our way up.


Our lunch view from the car. And our newly acquired dashboard hula girl.

I’m not going to lie, I was pretty grumpy during the hike up. It really wasn’t difficult, but it was really hot, the stairs sucked, and I wasn’t feeling good at all. The trail also wasn’t paved or anything so I was walking in a combination of dirt and rocks and it was hurting my feet. I was really kicking myself for not packing my running shoes. Let’s face it ya’ll, with the exception of theme parks, I am not an outdoorsy gal. I like my cities and my indoor activities. Me and nature usually don’t get along, so this wasn’t my favorite activity. Anyways, it took about 30 minutes to get to the top. We made a couple of stops along the way to observe our surroundings and also took little breaks before the next big group of stairs we would have to climb. I was SO relieved when we finally made it to the top. It really was a beautiful sight and even though I knew I’d be able to do the hike without any problems, I still felt very accomplished. We stayed up top for maybe 15-20 minutes and took pictures and just reflected on where we were and what we just did. It was pretty amazing to be standing in the pill boxes that our soldiers were in on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombings.








You can't see my face here, but I promise you it was not a happy one


From inside the pillbox


We made it!









After taking everything in, we started to make the descent back down. I was in much better spirits going downhill and it only took about half the time. Haha. So even though I was grumpy at the beginning and seemingly hating it, was I glad I did it? Yes, of course. I’d even venture as far as saying I would do it again if we ever return to Hawaii (granted I bring the proper shoes and clothing). When we got all the way down, we headed to the gift shop because George wanted a shirt and a magnet and we then took our celebratory “We did it!” photo in front of the Diamonhead sign. We got back into our car right as it started to look like it was going to rain.



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It was mid-afternoon at this point and we needed to head back to Aulani to get showered and changed because we were going to a luau that night! I was so excited for this because Aulani had just started offering their own luau the month before we arrived and I was starting to hear great things about it. I knew going to Hawaii for the first time that I really wanted to go to a luau, but it was nice not having to leave our resort to go to one. I’m jumping ahead of myself. On the drive back to Aulani we did have to make one quick stop—at the Leonard’s Bakery food truck for some malasadas! I had read several Aulani trip reports for research and every one of them said that malasadas were a must. I was skeptical, but let me tell you, they were AMAZING! So good, especially when they were fresh. We ended up just getting a dozen and snacking on the leftovers throughout our trip. We got some plain ones, as well as the ones with filling and they were ALL good. We ate these on the balcony when we got back to our room and enjoyed the view of the pool.



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After a quick snack break, it was time to shower and change, then we went down to the lawn where the luau was being held. The line we had to wait in for the luau was so long, and it took about 30 minutes to even get checked in. I don’t remember why, but between waiting in the line and something else that had happened between the time we got in line and the time we got in the luau put George in a bad mood. Upon entering the luau, we were handed some “free” adult beverages. They were tiny but delicious. When we finished our sample of a drink, we went to the bar to order more and that’s when we found out the absolute absurdity of drink prices at Aulani. George wanted another one of those mai tai drinks, and I just wanted a Diet Coke. Want to guess how much Aulani was charging for a can of Diet Coke? If you guessed $8 then you guessed right. We were flabbergasted and quite frankly PISSED, because we paid $130 a person for this luau and it didn’t even include drinks other than water. I totally got not including alcoholic beverages, but a not even a soda or juice? Ridiculous. With George already being in a bad mood, he was kind of over everything and asked if we wanted to just leave and see if we could get a refund. At that point, I was exhausted and feeling really sick so even though I was really looking forward to the luau, I didn’t really care anymore, especially if George was just going to be upset the whole time. We went to the check-in desk and explained the situation to see if we could get a refund and unfortunately, they told us no. With having paid so much to attend the luau, we of course decided to just stay.





Thankfully, once the luau officially got started, George’s mood brightened up and we actually had a really great time. The luau started off with the buffet, which was excellent. It was all you can eat and they had tuna poke, a pig roast, a prime rib carving station, terikayi chicken, rice, poi, boa buns, and much more (including desserts). George and I LOVE sushi and I think we ate our weight in tuna poke to really get our money’s worth. About halfway through eating, the actual luau show started and it was incredible! The hula and fire dancers were amazing…especially the guys! The storytelling aspect of the show was also really good and very authentic. You’d never know this was a show being put on by Disney. No mention of Mickey or Minnie at all. In the end, all the dancers stayed behind so you could meet and take pictures with them. After feeling really negative towards the luau at the beginning, we ended up having such a great time and were so glad we did it. It was really expensive, but I’m happy that we did it at least once and I did think it was worth the price for a first-time trip.









After the luau I was completely and utterly exhausted, and at this point, my cold had come back full-force. About halfway through the luau show, I started sneezing and that was the start of my cold relapse. I was so disappointed and I think I went to bed in tears because I was afraid that this would ruin the rest of my vacation. Would the old saying of being sick on vacation is better than being sick and at home ring true? We’ll see in our next installment. And hopefully it won’t be over a month until my next update.
 


I promise I have a good reason...we bought a house!!! I'm still in shock that we were able to take this next HUGE step not even a year into married life, but I'm thrilled. It wasn't nearly as terrifying as people make it out to be (or maybe we just got lucky?) and in my opinion, WAY easier than wedding planning. LOL. Anyways, maybe I'll do a married life update after I finish my TR

So exciting! Congrats!! You should absolutely do a follow-up on married life.

George went into the water, while I stayed on the beach taking pictures and enjoying the lovely morning.

Your pictures were beautiful!!

I was so excited for this because Aulani had just started offering their own luau the month before we arrived and I was starting to hear great things about it. I knew going to Hawaii for the first time that I really wanted to go to a luau, but it was nice not having to leave our resort to go to one.

That's super convenient, despite the convenience. And excellent that it was so authentic even though it was at the resort, etc.


Yum!!

The luau started off with the buffet, which was excellent. It was all you can eat and they had tuna poke, a pig roast, a prime rib carving station, terikayi chicken, rice, poi, boa buns, and much more (including desserts). George and I LOVE sushi and I think we ate our weight in tuna poke to really get our money’s worth.

Double yum!!

About halfway through the luau show, I started sneezing and that was the start of my cold relapse. I was so disappointed and I think I went to bed in tears because I was afraid that this would ruin the rest of my vacation.

Oh no!! I'm so sorry to hear this!!

I had the same experience on our Disney trip back in December. I had been fighting off a cold and doing quite well keeping it at bay, and then we stayed out late and got way too tired at our Christmas party, and I could feel going from zero to full-on-cold in the span of time it took for the Christmas parade to be finished.
 
Day 5: Pearl Harbor

Ahh I'm sorry once again for a super-long hiatus! September and October are my super busy times at work (where I tend to do my updates) and my weekends are usually jam-packed too so I've had no time to even think about this trip report, and frankly, everyone is probably just about done with it now since there aren't anymore wedding updates and my wedding was coming up on a year ago, but I'm a completionist so I'm going to finish this damn thing!

This morning George woke up at 4AM and decided that he really wanted to do a sunrise hike up the Pillboxes, which one of the Aulani cast members recommended to us. He had enjoyed hiking Diamondhead so much, that he wanted more. Due to it being 4AM and the fact that I was miserable yesterday, I decided to stay at the hotel and get some rest and I’m glad I did because at this point, my cold had come back full force. By the time I was ready to wake up, I felt so horrible that I actually called my mom and cried because I was worried that the honeymoon would be ruined. After feeling sorry for myself for a little while, I called George to see his progress and he had made it to the top of the Pillbox and was starting to hike back down. He absolutely loved the hike, but was a little disappointed because it was an overcast morning so the sunrise wasn’t anything spectacular. I’m happy he had such a great time though.

Once I got off the phone with George, I turned on the news and saw that we had a rainy day ahead of us, which dampened my mood even more. Sad and sulky, I went to take a shower in hopes of clearing my head a little. By the time I was done getting ready, George was back from his hike so he showered and changed, then we packed our lunches and made our way to the car. Today’s only plan was to spend the day at Pearl Harbor. We had pre-purchased tickets online for the tour in the early afternoon, but we decided to go there early to eat lunch and give ourselves enough time to park, eat, and get lined up for the tour.

I was hoping that Hawaii’s rain forecast was much like Florida’s, where it just shows that its going to rain all the time, but the rain only actually lasts for like 30 minutes, but I was wrong. It was either rainy or gloomy from the time we parked until the time we left Pearl Harbor. Thankfully it was more of a misty rain rather than a heavy rain, but it just sucked because my nose was so runny and the weather wasn’t helping. Visiting Pearl Harbor is such a somber place though, so the gloomy weather was kind of appropriate. My details of our Pearl Harbor day are a little bit hazy, as its been 8 months since our honeymoon, but I know that we arrived about an hour before our scheduled tour and there are two exhibits that we spent time looking at beforehand. This wasn’t even the part I was most looking forward to, but I ended up being fascinated with these little museum exhibits and spent nearly the whole hour in just the one because I was reading everything thoroughly.

As we were nearing the start time for our tour, we lined up at the entrance to where you watch a 20-minute movie about the history of Pearl Harbor and the significance of the monument. I love American history and thought the video was very well done and I really enjoyed it. Actually, I don’t know that enjoy would be the right word, as it was a horrible day in our history, but I appreciated the movie and found that it held my interest.

After the video, we boarded a boat to take us out to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial site. While I know a lot of about World War II history and Pearl Harbor, I actually didn’t know much about the memorial and what it entailed so I was really surprised when it was just a big white building with the names of the crew members etched into it and that the sunken U.S.S. Arizona lay beneath the building. It was a very surreal thing to experience, especially when you see that the ship is still leaking oil into the ocean 75 years later.











When we got inside the memorial, we saw an old man in a wheelchair and a Navy hat on and tons and tons and medals. I had a feeling he was a veteran of one of the ships parked in Pearl Harbor on the day of the bombings, so I kept my distance to give him and his family some privacy, but it was such an amazing and surreal thing to see just one day after the 75th anniversary.





We explored the memorial for about 20 minutes before heading back on the boat to take us back to land. Really there isn’t much to see of the actual memorial since the ship is underground, its more just a place to go to pay your respects. On the boat back, we ended up sitting right behind the old Navy vet and his family and we got to talking to his daughter. Turns out he was there on the day of the bombings. He’s 93 years old now and had lied about his age to get into the Navy. He was only 17 when the bombings at Pearl Harbor happened. It was so insane hearing his story and talking to his family. In the harbor, there was also an aircraft carrier docked and was getting ready to depart and we saw the entire crew standing on the side of the ship at attention the entire boat ride back to land. It was really, really cool to see.







When we got back to land, we finished looking through the rest of the little museum exhibits that we had missed before the U.S.S. Arizona tour and then decided to purchase an additional ticket for the submarine tour. This portion was actually my favorite part of the day since we actually got to go inside the submarine and see all the working quarters of the seaman. Can you say smaaaaall? I was getting claustrophobic if more than just George and I were in the same area at once. Thankfully it was a tape recorded tour so I could go at my own pace if it got too crowded (it never really did though). It was really interesting and definitely worth the few extra bucks it cost to add this onto our tour. After the submarine tour, we did another little walk-through exhibit on submarines (this one didn’t really catch my attention as much) and visited to gift shop to pick up some magnets and postcards, then were on our way.

















By the time we left Pearl Harbor it was already late-afternoon and since I was feeling incredibly cruddy and the weather was still awful, we just went back to Aulani to relax for a little bit and come up with some plans for dinner. After napping for about an hour, we went down to the lobby to talk to some of the front-desk people about good places to eat in the area. We didn’t want to spend a ton of money and we were really craving some sushi, so we decided on a place that one of the activities guys at Aulani raved about—Sushi Bay. It was only about 10 minutes up the road in an average shopping center and when we walked in we were pleased to see that it was a conveyor belt sushi place, which was on my bucket list! Unfortunately, the wait for a table was about an hour, but we decided to wait since we had no other plans. I felt so sick while waiting, but it was cool being the only tourists in the restaurant. It was definitely a locals place and we talked to a few people while we waited and they were all so nice and could tell we weren’t from around here. Haha.

After about 45 minutes, a table opened up for us and we were anxious to start eating, however, my husband is super OCD and wouldn’t take any of the dishes off the actual conveyor belt since he didn’t know exactly what was in them and how long it had been circulating so we just ordered from the menu, totally defeating the purpose of the conveyor belt. LOL. I’m so mad at myself for not taking a picture of the load of food we ordered…everything was SO CHEAP. If I remember correctly, we each ordered a sushi roll, we each ordered a small tuna poke bowl (which ended up being massive), some miso soup, and some fried mushrooms. It was a ton of food and it looked like we barely touched our poke bowls, even though we felt like we ate at least half the bowl. When we got our check it was $35…total! I couldn’t believe it. In Orlando, it would be $35 just for the sushi rolls alone. And the best part of it was that everything was good quality too. It was one of our favorite meals that we had and by far the cheapest of our whole trip. We left very full and very happy (minus my sadness from my cold).

By the time we left Sushi Bay and made it back to Aulani, I was ready for bed. I don’t think it was too late, but I couldn’t stand being awake anymore with this cold and we had a relatively busy day walking around anyways, so once again, we called it a night early so that we could wake up early again the next day. Stay tuned for Day 6 next—our North Shore Day!
 
I'm glad you're still completing your TR! (Even if the wedding is over!) No worries about delays—everyone I'm talking to on here seems to be super busy right now! I'm having a hard time keeping up, myself.

Your Pearl Harbour tour sounds really interesting and humbling. What an amazing experience to hear that veteran's story and meet him and his family. Wow!

Your sushi meal! How amazing is that! And such a great price! Compared to Orlando food, and also to the prices at Aulani! :earseek:I had to google conveyor belt sushi, but that's so cool!
 


Yay! I'm enjoying hearing about your honeymoon because Hawaii is on my list :) Your Pearl Harbor day sounds neat. I'm also interested in history, and reading all of the little signs. We went to Hoover Dam back in April, and I got really caught up in one of the exhibits and was pretty sad when we had to head down for our tour pretty early, since you have to go through security for it.

I remember reading about conveyor belt sushi before, and that's so cool! But I would probably be like George and be worried about waht was in it haha. Plus I would also have to eat sushi, but that's a separate issue. And that seems like a great price compared to anywhere anymore, but especially Hawaii!
 
I'm glad you're still completing your TR! (Even if the wedding is over!) No worries about delays—everyone I'm talking to on here seems to be super busy right now! I'm having a hard time keeping up, myself.

Your Pearl Harbour tour sounds really interesting and humbling. What an amazing experience to hear that veteran's story and meet him and his family. Wow!

Your sushi meal! How amazing is that! And such a great price! Compared to Orlando food, and also to the prices at Aulani! :earseek:I had to google conveyor belt sushi, but that's so cool!

Yay! Thank you for understanding! Life has been really crazy lately, but I'm bound and determined to finish this thing.

I'm definitely glad we did Pearl Harbor, even if it wasn't what I expected it to be. It was especially special getting to meet that veteran and very moving.

Ugh, I want this sushi meal SO badly right now.

So excited for another update :)

Thank you for following along!

Yay! I'm enjoying hearing about your honeymoon because Hawaii is on my list :) Your Pearl Harbor day sounds neat. I'm also interested in history, and reading all of the little signs. We went to Hoover Dam back in April, and I got really caught up in one of the exhibits and was pretty sad when we had to head down for our tour pretty early, since you have to go through security for it.

I remember reading about conveyor belt sushi before, and that's so cool! But I would probably be like George and be worried about waht was in it haha. Plus I would also have to eat sushi, but that's a separate issue. And that seems like a great price compared to anywhere anymore, but especially Hawaii!

Yay I'm so glad you're still following along! I really thought everyone had jumped ship at this point. lol. Hoover Dam is on my bucket list too if I ever get back to Las Vegas!

Yeah, even though we didn't take advantage of the novelty of the conveyor belt, it was still a super fun place to dine at and everything was really good! It was nice knowing what we were eating. LOL.
 
Day 6: North Shore Day!

I’m not going to lie, these last few updates are going to get more and more vague now that they happened pretty much a year ago and I pretty much only remember what I have written down in my trip notes, which are not incredibly detailed to begin with. What I can tell you about this day is that it was absolutely one of my favorite days of the trip (spoiler alert: my next update will feature my favorite day). Of all the things I was most excited to experience on this trip, it was our North Shore day! We had a lot planned for this day and it definitely did not disappoint. On this Friday morning, we woke up, got ready, then made our way out to the North Shore.

Our first stop of the day was to the Dole Plantation. We had been told to get here early because parking was limited and it got really packed as the day went on, so we decided we’d do this first thing. George and I LOVE Dole Whips, so even though we had heard mixed reviews on this tourist trap, it was a must for us. The drive to get there was probably about 30-40 minutes from Aulani but it was such a beautiful and picturesque drive, despite it being overcast and a bit foggy. Once we got to the Dole Plantation, we decided to take a trip on the Pineapple Express, which is about a 15-20 minute train ride through the pineapple fields. We were warned that the pineapple was recently harvested so we wouldn’t see too much, but did it anyways. For the cheap price (I think it was under $10) it was a cute and informative little train ride that I enjoyed. After our ride on the Pineapple Express, we also paid to do the garden tour, which I think was an additional $5 and that completed was not worth it. Lol. From what I remember, it was literally just a small garden you walked through. I remember being pissed that we paid extra for it. Other than that, the Dole Plantation is basically a giant gift shop where you can get literally anything to your heart’s content with a pineapple on it. There is also a quick-service food counter and you can get a dole whip there, of course. We managed to leave the joint with just a dole whip (in a souvenir cup!) and a pressed penny. Everything was pretty overpriced and while we probably wouldn’t come back here on a return trip, I’m glad we at least went once! It was a nice way to spend an hour or two of our morning before hitting the rest of our spots in the North Shore.

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George had a little too much fun on the Pineapple Express. LOL

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Dole Whip topped with toasted coconut. AMAZING.

By the time we left the Dole Plantation, it was pretty close to lunchtime, and our lunch plans included a stop at Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck, which came highly recommended from pretty much anyone who’s been to Hawaii. There are many duplications of Giovanni’s, but this is the original and apparently the best and as a shrimp-lover, I had to try it. George was a little hesitant on it because he doesn’t love shrimp, but was willing to try it after hearing all the hype. We had been warned that Giovanni’s usually had a really long line, but when we got there, there were only a few guests in front of us. I got the shrimp scampi and George got the lemon shrimp and then we just split both dishes so we could try some of each. The scampi was hands-down the best, but the lemon was really good too. It was absolutely some of the best shrimp I’ve ever had and we both thoroughly enjoyed it, but beware that its insanely messy and because of the smell there were flies everywhere. It sounds gross, but it was worth it. Would definitely go back again if we ever make it back to the North Shore.

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The last stop on our food tour of the North Shore was to Matsumoto’s Shaved Ice. This was another must on our list and another one that we had been warned would be really busy, but when we pulled up there was no wait! We really lucked out today (although we were slightly ahead of the typical lunch rush). I couldn’t even tell you what flavors we got anymore, but they were delicious and refreshing! George absolutely raved about the shaved ice and declared it his favorite snack of the trip. I’m sure I would have felt similar but because my cold was still lingering, I couldn’t taste too much of it. Boo! Matsumoto’s also had a souvenir shop, and since we loved this spot so much, we each got a souvenir shirt and magnet for our fridge.

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George's shaved ice (with condensed milk)

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My shaved ice (which I forgot to take a picture of before I started destroying it)

After an awesome lunch and dessert, it was finally time to beach it. I’m not going to lie, I’m not a beach person AT ALL. I don’t like going in the ocean, and just lounging around and tanning isn’t my idea of fun. However, George loves the beach and we were in the North Shore, so there was no arguing there. I was feeling crummy, but at least it wasn’t unbearably hot and it was still pretty overcast, so lounging for a couple hours wouldn’t be too bad. We hadn’t really done much research on which beaches to visit in the North Shore, but we randomly came across Hale’iwa Beach Park while driving around, and it didn’t look crowded or touristy, so we parked there. When we got there it was pretty gloomy and a little misty, but it cleared up within a 10 minutes or so of getting settled in. While George was anxious to get into the water, I found a nice, big rock to set my stuff up against and just relax in. Sadly, I forgot to bring a book with me, but it was a good time to catch up on all the social media I had been missing the past few days. Haha. Meanwhile, George was having the time of his life cliff diving and I was just hoping I wouldn’t have a dead husband only a week into our marriage.















A couple hours later, after George got his fill of time on the beach, we got back in the car to head back to Aulani. It was probably around 3:30 when we left, but George wanted to take the long way back to the resort, because we had heard how beautiful and scenic it was. This was a complete understatement. I couldn’t believe the views I was seeing while driving through the North Shore and then all the way around the island of Oahu to get back to Aulani. I so wish I had some pictures to explain to you the sights I saw, but since we were driving the whole time, the ones from my car window didn’t do them justice. All I remember was seeing huge, green mountains from one direction, and picturesque beaches on the other side. It was truly amazing. The only complaint I have is that this was basically a one-lane road all the way back and it took nearly 2 hours to get back to Aulani. Even though I wasn’t even driving, I was exhausted by the time we got back. It might not seem like it, especially since much of the day was spent at the beach, but we packed a lot into our day on the North Shore and I was just beat when we got back. My cold always seemed to also get worse at night and it was pretty bad this evening. While there were so many places that I had on my bucket list to eat at while we were in Hawaii, I was tired of spending a small fortune on meals that I wasn't able to taste/enjoy, so we drove down the road to Chilis that evening, where I think I only ate a fraction of the soup I got (and shocker, it was still really expensive compared to Chilis at home). When we got back from Chilis, I went straight to bed.

And so ends our North Shore day! While it doesn’t seem like I super enjoyed it, I really did! It was my favorite day of the trip so far and I knew the next day would only be better. Stay tuned for Day 7 of the honeymoon, where we will finally enjoy a dedicated full resort day at Aulani! Thank you to those who have still stuck with this on-going and slow-moving trip report!
 
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GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

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