3 islands, 2 weeks, 1 amazing honeymoon! COMPLETED 1/14!

[Mollydolly334]

You do have such a baby face, and your mom is right, you'll love that when you're older!!! I definitely don't get carded as much anymore, which I sort of miss LOL, but I do still love the shocked faces I get from people when I say I have a son in high school. No one thinks I look old enough for that apparently!

"merry" I love it!!! Sounds like it was a delightful stroll and crawl. Perfect fun after a sun-filled beach day!

Haha you are also so youthful (in looks and personality ). I bet your kindergartners absolutely love you!!!! It was a great end to the night!!

Oh I giggled at so many things on this day! I love all the food pictures. The Mexican food sounds perfect and sometimes it is nice to just have a comfort food reset. (Mexican is my favorite, so it is very much my comfort food!)

Loved the braids, I wish I could braid that neatly! I am glad you didn't go all Monica Gellar/11-year-old you, though!!

Mexican is our go-to restaurant food at home, so it was perfect! Nothing better than chips and dip after a day at the beach And I do mention it in my next update- but my hair definitely went "Monica Gellar" after I took the braids out

I agree about Mekiko—delicious food, excellent drinks, and reasonably priced. I highly recommend it, and it is now a must-do on Aulani trips.

I wish we had a Mekiko Cantina here in WI!!! We were so impressed by the food/atmosphere and will definitely be back the next time we are at Aulani!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 5


Per usual, Jake and I were up early today (around 6:45 AM) to finish up packing! I wish I could say that I had a restful night’s sleep, but I was up tossing and turning all night My stomach played the Mexican Food Lottery and lost, so I had some tummy troubles throughout the night. It’s always a gamble; remember how well-seasoned I said the food was? Usually when food tastes that good, it’s because a copious amount of garlic/onion/cilantro/basil etc has been used

Luckily, once we were up and moving, my stomach “woke up” and felt better almost immediately. We decided to take a little walk around the grounds and see if we could finally check out Secret Beach! We tried to see this on our first night, but got a little turned around. Some of the signs over here say “Four Seasons Guests Only,” and we didn’t want to deal with a potential conflict.

However, we just walked on through right away this morning without a problem! And a friend was there to greet us



There was a small crowd of people watching, but everyone was very respectful and kept their distance. Neither Jake nor I had ever seen a seal so close before, so it was super cool to watch him! He was a sleepy guy and didn’t move much, haha!



Look at that precious face! Those whiskers!



Overall, this beach was a really nice “hidden gem.” It was so serene and quiet, especially since it was so early in the morning.

We decided to take one last walk into Ko Olina to check out the shopping and grab some breakfast.

This trip was the trip of all the giftcards, haha! I used a Starbucks gift card and grabbed an iced Pumpkin Spice Latte. I was sad to hear that the Island Vintage Coffee had closed here, but sometimes, your heart just wants a PSL. It did not disappoint!



We then popped by the Island Country Market one more time and ordered some breakfast. We loved having this option so close by. They had a ton of great hot and cold food options at about ⅓ of the price of Aulani. We could have definitely eaten here every day and found something different each time! They also had a plethora of bakery, gelato, and smoothie options. I picked up a small bottle of Hawaiian Sun coconut syrup to enjoy with my breakfast; I discovered this last trip and it is HEAVENLY.

We decided to take our main dishes back to the room to enjoy on the balcony, but we couldn’t wait to dig into our musubi!



I ordered the spam, egg, and bacon musubi, and Jake ordered the spam, egg, and furikake musubi. I really liked the “breakfast musubi”; I’m a big fan of eggs in general (I eat them almost every day at home) and I really feel like they added something to it!

It was HOT HOT HOT without a cloud in the sky! It was a little tough to eat when it was so hot and sunny, but we were determined to enjoy our upgraded view for as long as possible! For my main dish, I ordered the ube pancakes with ube sauce and strawberries. I also grabbed another can of Hawaiian Sun juice- guava flavored this time!



WOW! This was so sweet and very indulgent; just the way I like it The ube syrup was great on its own, but the coconut syrup added a whole new dimension of flavor and sweetness! Jake tried some and absolutely loved it as well. This really solidified our goal of “get as many ube-flavored things as you possibly can this trip.” The flavor is like an upgraded, nuttier vanilla; almost like cake batter or almond extract flavoring.

It was definitely rich though, so we couldn’t finish it. Jake got another Loco Moco (no picture), and he was thoroughly satisfied.

We then just relaxed on the balcony and watched some TV in the room until it was time to check-out at 11:00 AM. One qualm that I do have with Disney resorts is that their TV channels are TRASH! All Jake and I wanted to do was watch some Friends or other sitcoms, but all of the TV channels are Disney-sponsored channels like ESPN, HGTV, etc. So we watched a lot of “Halloween Baking Championship” instead (much to Jake’s dismay ).

This is the same across all Disney properties; Jake and I stayed at the Grand Californian back in April, and on our first day, I was stuck in the room all day with a really high fever. There was literally nothing on TV except Family Feud, and I definitely had some Steve Harvey-induced fever dreams that night.


It hit 11:00 AM, and we were SO sad! We did not want to leave Aulani! It also felt bittersweet because we were officially done with our first “leg” of the trip, and we were that much closer to going home!



One last look!

Even though our flight to Kauai wasn’t until 2:30, we decided to just head to the airport right at 11:00. We didn’t want to be too sweaty or still wet from swimming during our flight! Plus, I had heard about something on the DIS that we could try out during our wait at the airport.

We caught an Uber and arrived at the airport by noon. Security was a little crowded, but eventually, we found our way over to the Japanese Gardens area and into our little slice of quiet!



The Ko Olina airport lounge! This is a great option for families or people who just want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the airport. We didn’t realize that we needed to make a reservation, but the lady at the desk was super nice and let us in right away.

The lounge is available for guests staying at the Ko Olina area resorts (Aulani, Four Seasons, Ko Olina Villas, and Marriott Ko Olina). It was amazing; only a couple other people were in there, and it was perfectly quiet and air-conditioned. We hung out for about an hour and a half; I surfed the net and Jake caught up on some Netflix. This place is a little convoluted and hard to find, but it is totally worth it!

Feeling refreshed, we walked over to our gate. Our flight was delayed for about 15 minutes, but soon we were boarded and up in the air! The flight was pretty empty, so we had our own row.

The flight was shockingly quick (45 minutes nose-up to nose-down), and we touched down at 3:30. Welcome to Kauai!!!

A little backstory on this. Originally, Jake and I had been planning to go to Maui for this “leg” of the trip, making our islands Oahu, Maui, then Big Island. We were all booked and ready to go at the Sheraton Maui in Kaanapali. However, obviously, all of this changed on August 8th, when most of Lahaina was destroyed by the wildfires in west Maui Immediately, Jake and I knew that we were not going to be able to see Maui this trip; it felt wrong to be traveling there after all of the suffering that occurred. We were so grateful that we weren’t there when everything happened!

So, this left a little dilemma in our planning. We were briefly considering just staying on Oahu for 8 nights instead of 4, and staying at Turtle Bay or the Kahala for those nights. But, my mom urged us to check out Kauai! Kauai was also the only island that Jake had never visited during his time living in Hawaii, so he was definitely in the Kauai camp too!

One thing that also pulled me to Kauai was my father. I haven’t shared this publicly on the DIS, but my dad passed away unexpectedly last year (June 2022). It has been a strange year of grief and mixed emotions, but I am in a much better place now. I miss him so much, and I’m so glad that he got to meet Jake. It had been especially difficult to not have him here during our engagement, wedding planning, and all of the events.

When he and my Mom traveled to Hawaii back in 2017, my dad absolutely raved about Kauai; especially the Princeville area and the St. Regis resort there. He claimed that it was his favorite city and area of the entire trip (and they visited all 4 islands). Well, when Jake and I were perusing the Costco website, we saw an amazing deal for 1Hotel Hanalei Bay (aka, the old St. Regis resort). We were able to cancel our Maui reservation and switch over our flights and hotel with no extra fees or charges. It felt like fate! It felt really cool to be traveling back to the area that my dad loved so much, and I definitely felt his presence over the next few days.



My dad and I on Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom in October 2000 I love you so much, Dad!

We de-planed pretty quickly and got my luggage without issue. The Kauai airport is so much smaller and cuter than HNL! We met this adorable couple from Chicago at baggage claim that were celebrating their 50th anniversary I told Jake, “That’ll be us in 50 years!”

We had to shuttle off-site to Alamo, but we got our car in record time. No fancy Jeep this time, but it did the job!



One thing about Kauai is that it literally only has one main road that circles around the entire island! Due to traffic, it took us about an hour to get to Princeville. We enjoyed some amazing views on the way!





We pulled into 1Hotel, and it was like being transported into the “land of the rich and famous.” This hotel is branded as a 5-star, but to us, this felt like a 7-star hotel!! The valet guy gave me a friendly teasing session about my bag of Cheetos that I had been snacking on in the car, and I had an immediate “we are not in Kansas anymore” feeling. The typical guests of 1Hotel would NEVER stoop so low as to eat full-fat Cheetos, haha! We were immediately greeted with beaded leis as well as fresh juice with rum.



Once we checked in and got everything situated, we headed to our room with bell services. As soon as we turned the corner, we were immediately HIT with this spectacular view!



We both gasped SO loud! I had never seen a view like this before! This first day was by far our cloudiest day on Kauai, and we couldn’t wait to see the mountains in the sunshine. I will say this over and over, but no pictures do this resort justice. I later found out that a female architect designed this resort, and I can understand why; everything is just so well thought-out and structured so that you see the view from as many points as possible. Sorry men

We were DYING to see the room at this point!! They denied our request for a king bed (we originally booked 2 queens because that was all they had left), but we didn’t even care. We were so happy to be there!

We received a seventh-floor room in a quiet nook at the end of the hallway.











This room was absolutely incredible. It even had their own signature scented candle we could burn, as well as its own fresh water tap right there in the bathroom! There was such a cool earthy vibe to it that continued throughout the entire resort. It was very “crunchy,” a lot of the food and beverages were organic and dye free. Everything (including the water glasses, room keys, toilet paper, and do-not-disturb sign) was recyclable and waste-free. They also had lots of options for yoga, meditation, reiki, etc. around the resort.



We got a kick of the do-not-disturb sign! Jake joked that he should put this outside his office when he’s at work

We had an awesome view of Hanalei Bay as well as the main pool area!



We didn’t have a balcony (I’m pretty sure that none of the rooms at this resort have balconies), so we opened the window right away to soak in the Hawaiian air! There was also a really cool “doorbell” system outside of our front door that changed different colors; we had a grand old time pressing all of the buttons on the doorbell and seeing what they meant!

We immediately FaceTimed both sets of parents and just soaked up the room for a bit. I was content to stay in there all night, but Jake was raring to go and explore the resort before it got dark!





This was the view outside the main lobby area! That beach was so cute, but not the best for swimming. It was pretty rocky down there!

We stopped by 1Kitchen (one of the table-service restaurants at the resort) to make a dinner reservation for later tonight.



Remember that amazing deal on Costco travel that I talked about? Along with free parking and a Costco gift card, we also received $1000 resort credit!!! YES, 3 ZEROES!!! This made it so our 4-night stay was essentially an all-inclusive. We used every last cent on our food and beverages and it covered everything perfectly!



Right outside the restaurant was the adults-only infinity pool. Does it really get better than this?

Um, yeah it does!! Check out the main pool area!!



What a treat! We loved that they had lounge chairs that were right in the water.

Lastly, we checked out the beach area right outside the main pool before heading up to get ready for dinner.





We were in awe of the beauty and jumping out of our skin to check everything out tomorrow!

We headed back to the room to chill, shower, and get ready for the evening. I took my dutch braids out from the day before, and my hair was CRAZY haha! I looked like Monica Gellar in Barbados!



Our reservation for 1Kitchen was for 8:00 PM, and we headed down a few minutes early. 1Kitchen is 1Hotel’s signature restaurant; I’m pretty sure there is a 1Kitchen at each of the 1Hotel’s locations. Jake and I visited the 1Hotel in Miami a couple years ago and loved the food and decor.



Our server was super sweet and kind. We started with our drinks; a Kona Longboard for Jake and a Hana Hou (a cucumber-melon-lime flavored cocktail with gin) for me!



My drink was very refreshing and not too sweet- I love cucumber and mint based drinks! For an appetizer, we placed an order of their signature milk bread with black salted butter.



These were scrumptious; we were hungry because we hadn’t eaten since our big breakfast (well, besides our forbidden Cheetos, haha), so we devoured them! These reminded me of the Parker House Rolls from Ale and Compass at the Yacht Club in WDW.

Jake and I were both in the mood for Italian, so we each got a pasta dish. I made sure to order my dish without any garlic; I have to be super careful at Italian restaurants. I decided on the Rigatoni with sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and parmesan, and Jake ordered the Bucatini with shrimp in a garlic-wine sauce.



The restaurant was so peaceful and quiet, hardly anyone else was there, and it was the perfect vibe for tonight. Our main dishes were good! My pasta was a little bland, which, to be fair, was because I ordered it without garlic. It kind of reminded me of an adult version of buttered noodles, haha! However, it was nice to have something different than what we had been eating the past couple days.

Our dishes were on the small side, which was ok because we had been eyeing up the dessert menu! We decided to go all out and share three desserts between the two of us. Remember- treat yourself We went with two that we were pretty sure that we would love, and one “interesting” choice just because we could!



From left to right- Chocolate Mousse Tart, POG Panna Cotta, and a scoop of banana-fudge gelato. The star of the show ended up being the “interesting” one- the POG Panna Cotta!! Win #2 for the fruit desserts! I was also surprised because I don’t really like mousse or custard based desserts and have never really tried panna cotta. But it was so bright and perfectly tart, especially with the bursting boba balls on top! This would have been especially refreshing after a day by the pool. The flavor reminded me so much of those Flintstones sherbet push-up popsicles!



Overall, it was a great welcome dinner to Kauai!

We were really starting to feel the early morning, so we headed up at about 9:00 PM. Much to our delight, the TV had Nickelodeon as a channel! So, we fell asleep to the melodious lullaby of Friends (season 6, the best season in my opinion)! It had been such an exciting day, and we were so eager to check everything out tomorrow!


​

 

[alohamom]

Oh wow-that bathroom with the rock wall shower is to die for!
What a gorgeous resort. I have been to Kauai a few times but somehow I have never made it up to Princeville.

 

[WillGan]

Aloha everyone!



As you may have guessed, this is a HONEYMOON TRIP REPORT! I’m a frequent flier over on the WDW trip report boards, and this is my second thread on the Aulani boards! We took our first visit to Aulani (and first visit to Hawaii for me) back in August of 2022, and fell in LOVE! In more ways than one



We got engaged on August 24th, 2022 at the beautiful Aulani resort, and married on September 22nd, 2023 in our hometown of Milwaukee, WI.

]

If you’d like to read about our Aulani engagement and see some wedding pictures, you can peek at my last TR here

https://www.disboards.com/threads/engaged-at-aulani-a-mini-tr-updated-9-26-23.3895028/

My husband (eeeeek!) and I spent 14 glorious nights in Hawaii. Our trip was from September 30th- October 14th, 2023.

We spent 4 nights on Oahu (at Aulani of course),



4 nights on Kauai at 1Hotel Hanalei Bay,



and 6 nights on the Big Island at the Fairmont Orchid.



Spoiler alert- it was pretty darn perfect!!!

Here are some introductions:

Me! (Molly)



I work as a manager at an ABA center and supervise/create therapy targets for children on the Autism spectrum. The work is hard, but it is SO rewarding and I love working with children. It brings out the inner child in me! I am a huge sucker for nostalgia- which is a big reason why I love all things Disney! I’ve been to WDW almost 20 times, but I also love to travel all over the U.S. My hobbies also include walking/runnning, reading, baking, and scented candles/soaps (I spend wayyyyyy too much money at Bath and Body works).

Hubby! (Jake)



(We also fell in love with ube-flavored soft serve this trip. We were addicted!)

Jake works on the opposite end of the age spectrum as an audiologist here in the Milwaukee area. Jake is super familiar with Hawaii; he lived there for a year back in 2019-2020 doing internships while working towards his doctorate. Jake lived in Honolulu for 4 months and in Kona for 8 months, so he was super excited to show me the Big Island and all of its activities! Jake is definitely a WDW fan; I’m slowly converting him, but nobody can be as big of a fan as I am, hehe! He also LOVED Disneyland on our first visit in April 2023. Jake and I are birds of a feather and both love to travel. His other hobbies include all Wisconsin sports (Bucks, Packers, Brewers, Badgers… he is a man obsessed), golf, and eating all of the treats I bake!

I’m so excited to share all the deets on our amazing honeymoon. We are VERY blessed to be able to travel for this long, stay at these wonderful resorts, and experience the beauty of Hawaii. Trust me- this didn’t go unnoticed! Often, throughout the trip, we looked at each other and just said, “We are the luckiest people in the world.” It was a magical start to married life, and I’m so honored to be able to call this amazing man my husband



OK, enough of the gushy stuff. Let’s get this show on the road!




​

Beautiful couple! Congratulations!

 

[ambula603]

Absolutely stunning resort! I teared up reading about your father. I am so sorry for your loss but so happy you were able to feel his presence in this part of the trip. I know that healed your heart a tiny bit.

Pretty sad we don't have any Monica hair photos!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Oh wow-that bathroom with the rock wall shower is to die for!
What a gorgeous resort. I have been to Kauai a few times but somehow I have never made it up to Princeville.

The shower was probably my favorite part of the resort!! It felt so tropical but fancy at the same time! DEFINITELY try to visit Hanalei/Princeville if you ever make it back to Kauai again- it was by far our favorite area of the island

Beautiful couple! Congratulations!

Thank you so much!!

Absolutely stunning resort! I teared up reading about your father. I am so sorry for your loss but so happy you were able to feel his presence in this part of the trip. I know that healed your heart a tiny bit.

Pretty sad we don't have any Monica hair photos!

Thank you so much for your kind words I think about him all the time, but I am truly feeling so much better with everything and I remember the happy times. He was very ill for a long time before his passing, so I have been going through the grieving process for a while now, and I know that he is in a better place and at peace now.

 

[missjackiemcg]

Oh, how amazing!!!! And the cutest wittle face and whiskers!!

I want one of these for home and school!!

I laughed SO hard at this! LOL This is literally what I look like all summer long!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Oh, how amazing!!!! And the cutest wittle face and whiskers!!


I want one of these for home and school!!


I laughed SO hard at this! LOL This is literally what I look like all summer long!

Hahaha, my hair was CRAZY! Jake dared me to wear it like that to dinner, but there was NO way that was happening. I looked like I stuck my hair in an accordion

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 6


We woke up at 7:15 AM this morning, and immediately opened our shades. I was definitely feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! We were ready to explore!! We changed into some athleisure and headed out around 8:00. It was so hard to pass by the pool area, but we knew we’d be out there soon enough!



We grabbed the car from valet and headed over to Hanalei town for some breakfast! I had been hearing so much about a certain food truck on social media, so I knew I wanted to try it! It was a quick 15-minute drive into town.





Hanalei town really has it all; beach, mountains, and quirky small-town vibes. It reminded me a lot of Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu, but in my opinion, a better version. I can’t explain it; it just felt like “our place” and somewhere we’d want to go to year after year. I’ve gotten vibes like this before at other places, like the Boardwalk area at WDW, Sea Pines in Hilton Head Island, and Door County, WI.

It felt so nice to walk around and enjoy the sunshine! A lot of the shops were closed due to it being so early, so we made a beeline for our breakfast destination- Holey Grail Donuts!



I had heard a lot about this food truck online- it specializes in unique flavored mini donuts. Well, sign us up! I ordered a latte, and we decided on a 4-pack of different flavors!



Clockwise from top left- ube and passionfruit, cinnamon chai, traditional glazed, and chocolate iced.

The donuts were…meh. I’m not a huge fan of overly-fried foods like funnel cake, fried oreos, etc. and these seemed really batter-y. Both Jake and I overwhelmingly liked the cinnamon chai one the best, but it still wasn’t something that we would go back and get again. To this day, my very favorite donut is a plain vanilla iced Persian from our local grocery store. I guess I’m a simpleton when it comes to donuts! (Also have to give a shoutout to Stan’s Donuts in the Chicago area- their Biscoff Pocket and Cherry Old Fashioned donuts are TO DIE FOR) OK, enough talk about donuts!



The shops were starting to open up, so we took a peek in some stores before heading back to the car! Quick visit, but we fell in love with this quaint town and we knew we’d be back!



Jake couldn’t stand it any longer; we NEEDED to check out those awesome pools! We jumped into our swimsuits as soon as we got back and made a beeline for the adults-only infinity pool!

It was only about 9:45 AM, so there were still plenty of spots open. We were shocked that THESE were our options for pool chairs!



This hotel is expensive, no doubt. But you are definitely living the life of luxury when you stay here!

It was a PICTURE PERFECT day. It felt like we had stepped into a painting!!





This is the life!

We relaxed in the sunshine and went in and out of the pool for a bit, but my stomach was growling already after about an hour. Those donuts were NOT satisfying. Luckily, there had been something I had been wanting to try since we booked here- Wai’Oli shave ice bar!

I decided to head down at 11:15; Jake doesn’t really like shave ice, so he got a mixed drink instead from the infinity pool bar. This place was located by the main pool, and it was BOUJEE. All of the flavors were organic and dye free, but they had so many mix-and-match options! I was kind of overwhelmed by all the choices, so I decided to go with one of their “special” combos (I knew I’d be back multiple times throughout our stay here). This was called the “Mix Mix”, haha!



“Young coconut, fresh mango and strawberries, ube syrup, ube gelato, and sweetened condensed milk.”

This was so light and refreshing!! The ube gelato was in the middle underneath all of the ice, and in my opinion, the addition of gelato really made it amazing. The ice was super fine and melted in your mouth! And no matter what, I always have to get the snowcap (sweetened condensed milk) on top! It was the perfect poolside treat.

Jake and I spent some more time at the infinity pool. We met this really sweet couple from Florida- it was so funny, they saw my WDW backpack and asked “Are you guys Disney people too??” Needless to say, they became our new BFFs.

Around 12:30, I decided to grab some lunch from the little quick service location off of the lobby called Neighbors Cafe. This sounds strange, but this cafe had consistently the best food out of all of the places at this hotel! We loved every single thing we got from here over the course of the 4 days.





It was very cute on the inside too! I ordered a sandwich on ciabatta with turkey, fig jam, and brie cheese, but decided to take it back to the infinity pool so I could eat with Jake. On my way back to the pool area, I stopped at concierge and booked a dinner reservation for us later tonight. We were going to dine at 1Hotel’s sushi restaurant, Welina Terrace, at 8:15 PM!



My sandwich was delicious- they really loaded it up with brie, and I finally felt truly full and satisfied for the first time today. The chips were kind of bland, so I just stole some of Jake’s french fries. Jake had ordered the Waygu beef burger from the pool bar and loved it; it had a really good pineapple jam, caramelized onions, and cheddar cheese. When we ate at 1Hotel South Beach in Miami a couple years ago, Jake also got this burger and claimed that it was one of the best burgers he had ever eaten, so he was excited to have this again.

After our yummy lunches, we decided to set up camp at the main pool down on the ground floor. The clouds were coming out, but it was still super hot and humid!



Jake got a text from the hotel around 12:30, stating that they tried to service our room, but the “do not disturb” button had been pushed. Flashback to us the night before…



Luckily, Jake was able to straighten it out pretty quickly, and they came by to clean our room later that day. Lesson learned- do not press random buttons on the doorbell if you don’t know what they mean

We were in and out of the pool and hot tubs for most of the afternoon. At 3:30, I decided to be extra indulgent and get my SECOND shave ice for the day! I rationalized this with the fact that I hadn’t had any alcohol today. Remember- treat yourself

This time, I perused the options more carefully and decided to make my own combination!



I chose cherry, vanilla bean, and blueberry syrups with chocolate gelato underneath and extra sweetened condensed milk on top. This was HEAVEN in a bowl and by far my favorite flavor combination I had all trip!! I will say though… these shave ices tasted good, but they also...um... moved your digestive system along rather quickly You have been warned!!

Around 4:15, Jake and I were getting antsy, so we decided to get up and play some games! They had a grassy section over to the side of the pool with all sorts of lawn games. We played bags (“cornhole” to all non-Midwesterners), ladder ball, and ping-pong! As pathetic as it sounds, my right shoulder actually started to hurt from all of the throwing/tossing I was doing; I made the mistake of complaining about it and Jake would NOT let me live it down!!

This was so much fun. Jake and I get really competitive about these sorts of things and it was just really nice to hang out, play games, laugh together, and enjoy each other’s company. We never saw any other people over by these games the entire rest of the time we were here. I really hope that people take advantage of this!

We headed back up to the room around 5:30.





Had to grab one more shot of the infinity pool on our way up!

We showered, watched some more Friends, and got ready for our fancy dinner! This was the “dressiest” I got the entire trip; I wore a Lily Pullitzer dress, put on some makeup, and even curled my hair!

When Jake was in the shower, I was flipping through TV channels and stumbled on an episode of “Little House on the Prairie.” This was one my dad and I’s favorite shows to watch together and it was kind of “our show.” I haven’t watched it since he passed, and I haven’t even seen it being played on cable TV in forever! I had to stop and watch for a couple minutes. Once again, I totally felt that it was a little sign from my dad, letting us know that he was there Side note- the episode where Mary’s baby dies in a fire absolutely SCARRED ME as a child. Anyone else??

We headed downstairs at about 7:30 PM and grabbed a drink by the infinity pool first. It was a lot of fun down there; the bartenders here were SO friendly and top-notch, and we made conversation with the couple next to us! Pretty soon, it was time to head to Welina Terrace for our 8:15 reservation.

This place was REALLY poppin’! They had some live music going, and we definitely got a younger, more “clubby” vibe here. We got amazing seats outside and right at the edge of the balcony! But, it was a little anticlimactic, because it was pitch black outside and we couldn’t see anything During the day, this view is incredible!



Jake ordered a Hanalei Bay IPA to drink. He explained that this was going to be his beer of choice while in Kauai, just because of the name! Silly boy! I ordered the “Cay Polynesia”, which had Grey Goose pear, prosecco, St. Germaine, lychee, and hibiscus elixir. It was very yummy!

Welina Terrace is known for their Asian-inspired small plates. We started with the “Avo Cheez,” which was avocado tempura with shredded parmesan. Yum!



Then, for our main meals, we both went with our own “White Tiger” sushi roll (tuna, avocado, jalapeno, cucumber, tobiko, and citrus chili aioli). I also ordered a side of the roasted brussels sprouts with balsamic glaze, candied macadamia nuts, and bacon.





The sushi was good, but nothing incredible! I did love the brussels sprouts though; I’m a sucker for these. It was the perfect portion, though, and we still had room for dessert by the end! We shared the Japanese Rolled Cake, which was a pineapple swiss roll with vanilla filling and pineapple sorbet on the side. Jake really loved this cake and took most of it; after taking a bite, I realized that I was kind of all sugared out after my shave ice adventures today!



Overall, Welina Terrace was pretty good! Jake and I came to the conclusion that we enjoyed 1Hotel’s quick service food (the two pool bars, Neighbors cafe, Wai’Oli Shave Ice) more so than their sit down restaurants. It was also pretty expensive, but hey, it was “free” with our resort credit so that didn’t matter! Since we had now tried both of the sit-downs at 1Hotel, we were excited to venture off the property for dinner for our last 2 nights.

Jake and I headed upstairs after dinner and went to bed at about 9:45 PM (after watching some more Friends of course). Over the course of the trip, we watched Friends Seasons 6-10, and now, this will always remind us of our honeymoon Goodnight!!


​

 

[alohamom]

I can’t explain it; it just felt like “our place” and somewhere we’d want to go to year after year.

I totally get this! The Big Island is like that for me.

When Jake was in the shower, I was flipping through TV channels and stumbled on an episode of “Little House on the Prairie.” This was one my dad and I’s favorite shows to watch together and it was kind of “our show.” I haven’t watched it since he passed, and I haven’t even seen it being played on cable TV in forever! I had to stop and watch for a couple minutes. Once again, I totally felt that it was a little sign from my dad, letting us know that he was there Side note- the episode where Mary’s baby dies in a fire absolutely SCARRED ME as a child. Anyone else??

WOW! Your Dad really was there with you. That is just amazing.
I do remember Mary's baby dying and being really shocked as a kid.
For me, Nellie Olsen was the stuff of nightmares though! LOL, I literally had nightmares her hahaha.

 

[tgropp]

Great report…Thank You. Jake and I have something in common. Longboard

 

[Mollydolly334]

I totally get this! The Big Island is like that for me.



WOW! Your Dad really was there with you. That is just amazing.
I do remember Mary's baby dying and being really shocked as a kid.
For me, Nellie Olsen was the stuff of nightmares though! LOL, I literally had nightmares her hahaha.

I loved seeing all of the little "signs" of him this trip It was funny, after writing this, I went down a total rabbit hole of LHOTP googling and I now get recommendations for Facebook/Instagram fan pages of the show

Great report…Thank You. Jake and I have something in common. Longboard

Thank you so much for reading along!! Cheers!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 7


Jake and I were awake at 7:30 this morning, both hungry and ready for breakfast! This was perfect; 1Kitchen has a breakfast buffet every morning, and we were itching to try it out! We headed downstairs at 8:00 AM, and we had no problem snagging a table right away.





What a beautiful view!

Their breakfast buffet was $50 per person (but we used our resort credit of course so it was “free”). I ordered a coffee and a POG juice to drink.



The coffee was delicious and the perfect temperature; I noticed that the mug itself was heated instead of the coffee, so it was perfectly warm to drink right away, but not too hot. Then, we headed towards the buffet!





I started taking some pictures of the buffet, but realized that there were SO many options, and that taking pictures of it all would take forever . So these are all you get! Breakfast buffets are one of my favorite things in the world, and I have my own system with them. I get all of my food at once, and I dedicate one plate to sweet things, and one plate to savory! I like having everything at once to pick on. Here are my plates:



The plate on the left was my savory plate, and had kalua pork, one singular roasted potato (they ran out, boo), scrambled eggs, a piece of bacon, a portuguese sausage link, and some sliced gouda. My sweet plate on the right had ALLL of the pastries: a chocolate donut, an almond croissant, a chocolate croissant, a cinnamon roll, a guava sweet bun with housemade vanilla buttercream, and a mochi malasada.

Everything was great, except the chocolate donut. Both Jake and I agreed that that thing was NASTY (I think it was vegan and gluten free). I believe the exact word that Jake used was “grotesque” . We were having bad luck with donuts this trip! The guava sweet bun with vanilla buttercream frosting was a standout, as well as the potatoes and kalua pork. Vanilla and chocolate frosting is one thing that I absolutely cannot keep in the house- I will demolish an entire can with just a spoon in one day!

We were definitely satisfied with our big breakfast! To me, breakfast buffets are the pinnacle of vacation. However, I would come to get very tired of them towards the end of the vacation, haha!

I stopped at concierge to make an appointment for the spa at 2:30 PM. My nails were still pretty long from the wedding, and I decided to treat myself to a manicure today! This was one thing I loved about 1Hotel vs. Disney- the spontaneity! I could just go up to concierge and say “I want to get my nails done today”- and they made it happen! Whereas in the heyday of my Disney planning, I would wake up at 5:00 AM in March to make sure I could eat breakfast at Crystal Palace in September

Today, Jake and I decided to head to the infinity pool first. This worked out well yesterday; more relaxing in the morning and more action at the main pool in the afternoon! We grabbed some chairs right at 9:00!



I mean, come on, does life get better than this? I remember staring at this picture as an actual view in real time, and just thinking, “I am so lucky!”

One thing that really stuck out to us about this hotel (and this pool in particular) was how QUIET it was. I mean, you could hear a pin drop! This hotel was not adults-only and we definitely saw families hanging around. But, everyone was so quiet and peaceful! It definitely had a different crowd and vibe to it. It was absolutely PERFECT for a honeymoon or couple’s getaway.

Jake and I floated around and swam at the infinity pool until about 12:15 PM, then headed down to the main pool area. The inside of the hotel was a little convoluted and we had to take multiple elevators to get down to the pool (the floors are weird since the hotel was literally built into the side of a cliff!). We had an amazing view while waiting for the second elevator!



It was so bright and sunny today but also HOT- probably the hottest day of the whole trip. One of those days where you have to go into the water every 10 minutes or so to not get overheated! It was strange, because the weather forecasted that Kauai was going to be the coolest island of the trip. But in reality, it was definitely the hottest and most humid!

We decided to check out the beach!



I touched on this before, but this is really the biggest downfall of the resort. The beach is pretty small, with choppy waves and VERY rocky sand. Like, it was painful to try to walk in the water without water shoes! So, we kind of just jumped in and out of the ocean this one time and didn’t swim there the rest of the trip. That really says something; Jake and I are HUGE beach people, and the fact that we still rate this hotel so highly without it having a great beach is a big deal!



We did grab some chairs at the beach and hung down there for about an hour.



Had to get my daily shave ice (Jake also got his daily Mai Tai, haha)! This one had lilikoi, guava, and coconut syrups with a base of vanilla gelato and sweetened condensed milk on top. It was great, but after 3 shave ices in the span of 24 hours, I was definitely losing steam. This was the last shave ice of the trip, and even now when I think of shave ice, it kind of gives me the “ick” .

Then, from 1:30 up until my appointment at 2:30, we hung out at the main pool. We swam a bit, and I finally started one of the books I brought! I read two full books on this trip.



This one was called “A Spark of Light” by Jodi Picoult. Both books that I brought to Hawaii were by Jodi Picoult- she is by far my favorite author! When I was a child, I used to be such a reader and always had a book in my hand. But, with college, my job, and especially wedding planning, I’ve really strayed away from reading regularly. This was the first full book I had read in almost a year (and for the last 5 years or so, I have ONLY read while on vacation)! Luckily, this trip combined with having more free time after the wedding has re-ignited my passion for reading full-steam. I've become quite the voracious reader! Since we’ve been home, I’ve read 8 BOOKS and have started another one!! I’m so happy I picked up this hobby again. I feel like it has really helped me decrease my screen time.

This was a great book; it’s about a shooting at an abortion clinic in Mississippi. I won’t give out any spoilers, but Jodi Picoult is known for her controversial topics and presence of law enforcement/court cases in her books. This book was also interesting in that it was not written in chronological order; it started with the end of the day or “climax”, went an hour earlier with each chapter, and ended with the beginning of the day. It started out with a boom and was definitely a page turner, but the ending left me wanting something more. I think reading the story out of order threw me off a bit.

At 2:30, I headed up to the spa for my manicure, and Jake headed up with me to rest in the room. Did I mention that it was HOT today?? He desperately needed a break from the sun.

I arrived at my appointment right on time, and was immediately taken back! This was a really fun change of pace; I was the only guest in the salon, and the two other ladies over there were super friendly and basically fawned over me the entire appointment, haha! It was nice chatting; the nail tech that was doing my nails lives in Kauai, but has family in Wisconsin!



While making small talk, she asked if Jake and I were planning on having children. When I said that I didn’t know, she replied, “Oh girl, you have at least 10 years before you need to start thinking about that anyway.”

It was a flashback to the salon at Aulani, haha! I, once again, said that I am actually 29, and she said “But you look so healthy!!” It was such a strange response and we both just burst out laughing

The hour flew by, and I was so impressed with the finished product!





My nails were still really long and sturdy after getting a gel manicure for the wedding, so I knew that I needed to take advantage of this and get a manicure on our trip! Believe it or not, I have NEVER gotten just a classic French manicure on my natural nails before. I got acrylics exactly one time in college, but never again- I felt like I couldn’t function with nails that long!! She also painted a band of iridescent glitter along the line which added a perfect amount of pizzazz! It felt so nice to have some “girl time,” all of the other ladies working at the spa came over to see my nails and it just felt super warm and inviting in there.

I went back up to the room to show Jake, but he was passed out and sleeping like a rock! So, I let my sleepy guy be and decided to spend some solo time at the infinity pool.

I didn’t have too much time to kill; it was about 3:45 at this point and we wanted to drive to Hanalei Bay (about 15 minutes away) and watch the sunset tonight!





Will never get tired of seeing this. When we’d look at the view throughout the day, we would see tour helicopters up there sometimes to look at the waterfalls in the mountains!

I grabbed a frozen rose from the pool bar, enjoyed the sun, and read my book until I headed back to the room at about 4:45.



It was so peaceful, and it kind of felt nice to just enjoy things by myself for a bit. I’m one of those people who likes to be around others, but I also really value my alone time.

When I got back, Jake was already almost ready, so I jumped in the shower, changed, and was ready by 5:20! No makeup needed

Despite visiting Hanalei town the day before, we never had a chance to check out the beach! It was a perfect night.







As soon as we arrived, I got just the best vibes from this place. It was so quiet, peaceful, and easy to find parking. There was a group of 20-somethings all sitting in a circle, playing guitar, and laughing together. There was another group having a bonfire a bit away. It just felt like quintessential Hawaii; friendly people having a laid-back time and enjoying each other’s company. It may not have been the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen, but it really captured Hawaii’s essence.



We grabbed a picnic table and watched the sunset for a bit. We also walked the beach, but it was pretty rocky! It did feel nice to put our feet in the big waves.



Jake and I were getting pretty hungry; we had not really eaten since our big buffet breakfast this morning, and we were craving a traditional Hawaiian plate meal! So, we headed back into town.



So scenic! Right down the road from this picture was Hanalei Elementary School. I could not IMAGINE growing up and going to school in a place as beautiful as this!

We browsed a couple shops first! There were people milling about, but it was all very relaxed and not too crowded at all.



I was craving some chocolate, so we stopped at the little grocery store and I picked out a bag of fun-size Butterfinger candy bars. We also picked up a couple bags of chips, some gum, and a package of chocolate chip cookies for the room. Well- we almost passed out when we saw that our snacks cost $40 Don’t get me wrong, we still bought them But this really put things into perspective on how expensive it is to live in Hawaii!



I saw these cute surfboard signs in a store and sent this picture to one of my best friends, Morgan Molly and Morgan, right next to each other!

Jake and I were torn between two places for dinner- L&L Hawaiian BBQ and Chicken in a Barrel. Jake had never tried Chicken in a Barrel, and referred to L&L as “The Taco Bell of Hawaii”, but said that it was good comfort food and something he used to get when he lived in Hawaii. Well, that was enough convincing for me!

I ordered the kid’s BBQ chicken plate with one scoop each of white rice and mac salad.



Jake ordered the adult Chicken Katsu plate with two scoops each of white rice and mac salad.



We also ordered some chili cheese fries to share and a Hawaiian Sun juice each!



Well, chicken-wise, we probably should have just ordered Chicken in a Barrel My chicken in particular was VERY fatty; you picked one piece up with a fork, and all of the other pieces were stuck to it like a chain . So, Jake and I ended up swapping chicken. But, I did enjoy the rice and mac salad! The mac salad wasn’t too heavy on the mayo, which I appreciated. And the chili cheese fries were GREAT! These are not usually something I ever order, but they tasted great tonight. Definitely saved the day; I filled up mostly on these. And no stomach problems at all! Isn’t it weird what your body chooses to reject?? Jake was bummed about the food though, and vowed that we would have a plate lunch redo at some point this trip!

The ice cream place down the road closed at 8:00, and it was like 7:50, so we speed-walked over to grab some ice cream for me! Jake is a weirdo and doesn’t really like ice cream. He has a sweet tooth for sure, but prefers brownies/cookies/etc. I like them ALL! (Except cheesecake, which is funny, because my birthday is on National Cheesecake Day). If you can’t already tell, I tend to get on tangents about food

Where were we? Oh yeah- ice cream! Our destination was Pink’s Creamery! I ordered one scoop of Banana Mac-Nut Brittle and one scoop of Kona Mud Pie. It was a great combo! But ice cream can never be “wrong”



We were both getting pretty tired. We were just about a week into the trip now, and really feeling all of the action. We had been eyeing up a fun restaurant called Tahiti Nui to grab an after-dinner drink, but decided to call it a night. Overall, we LOVED spending time in Hanalei both during the day and at night. I loved how slow-moving and small-town everything was; it kind of reminded me of Northern Wisconsin in that way.

Jake and I had a really chill night in the room and went to sleep at around 10:00. We binge-watched some Friends and spent some time reading/on our devices... it was just what we needed after our big week so far!!



​

 

[missjackiemcg]

Just catching up here, I was a couple days behind! You made me LOL about all the shave ice and it's unfortunate side effects!

I love that you've gotten back into reading again! I definitely have, too! It was one of my goals when the school year started to spend less time on my phone and more time getting back into books. I've read 4 books since August and working on #5 right now. Jodi Picoult is one of my favorites, too!! I've read almost all of her books, I think. Have you read Nineteen Minutes?? It's another one that hops around chronologically, but it's the first one of her books that I ever read and it's a really good one!

 

[disneyAndi14]

Enjoying your report. The hotel, pools, beach, and food all look amazing!
it looks like the perfect relaxing honeymoon destination so far!

 

[Mollydolly334]

Just catching up here, I was a couple days behind! You made me LOL about all the shave ice and it's unfortunate side effects!

I love that you've gotten back into reading again! I definitely have, too! It was one of my goals when the school year started to spend less time on my phone and more time getting back into books. I've read 4 books since August and working on #5 right now. Jodi Picoult is one of my favorites, too!! I've read almost all of her books, I think. Have you read Nineteen Minutes?? It's another one that hops around chronologically, but it's the first one of her books that I ever read and it's a really good one!

I LOVE Nineteen Minutes- it's one of my absolute favorites by her! I was expecting A Spark of Light to be kind of like that, but I enjoyed Nineteen Minutes way more. I also love The Pact, Handle with Care, The Storyteller (I read this later on in the trip), and Plain Truth!! Not sure if you read these ones, but I really couldn't get into Vanishing Acts or The Tenth Circle. I feel like I either absolutely LOVE Jodi Picoult's books, or find them over-indulgent, haha!

Enjoying your report. The hotel, pools, beach, and food all look amazing!
it looks like the perfect relaxing honeymoon destination so far!

Thanks for reading Caroline! It was really so perfect and relaxing. It was one of the first times that I left a vacation feeling truly relaxed and rejuvenated

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 8


Today was Saturday, October 7th, and we were officially entering our “second week” of the trip!!



Our bodies must have been feeling it, because we slept later than usual! We woke up at 7:45 AM, ready to tackle our last full day at 1Hotel! Tomorrow, we move over to the Big Island.



The gorgeous view from our room! I only wish that we had a balcony to sit on!

Jake and I decided to head on over the Neighbors Cafe (the “QS” option at 1Hotel) for some breakfast. I had really enjoyed my sandwich for lunch here the other day, and they had a lot of yummy-sounding options!

We decided to split the breakfast sandwich with Spam, egg, and cheese, as well as a cinnamon roll and a sea-salt chocolate chip cookie. I also got a cold brew.







We managed to score an outside table with a great view!



OMG, everything here was soooooo delicious! It really solidified its spot as the best food we had at the resort, which is just so funny because it was the most casual option by far! The sandwich was so juicy and savory, the cinnamon roll was warm and flakey, but the COOKIE. YOU GUYS. This was the best chocolate chip cookie that Jake and I have ever had (yes, better than Gideon’s, better than Crumbl, better than Mrs. Fields..). It was ooey-goey, with the perfect amount of salt and semi-sweet chocolate chips. We FOUGHT over this! We vowed that tomorrow, we would each get our own cookie I wanted to overnight one up to my mom in Wisconsin- chocolate chip cookies are her #1 favorite food and I knew she would love this.

It was a very satisfying breakfast. We even saw a rainbow!!!





After breakfast, we headed on down to the main pool. We wanted to switch it up and try the main pool first this time!

Views from the elevator



I got started in on my book…



A lady approached me and asked about my book, and we had a nice little conversation about Jodi Picoult! It was pretty refreshing; I love to talk to others while on vacation!

It was another hot and humid one today, so we were in the pool most of the morning. They had these awesome black stone “chairs” that you could lay on while in the pool, and that felt so great today! It was so funny though, you had to kind of hoist yourself up on them since they were located in the deeper area. I managed to slide my body up, and I looked like a beached seal!



Jake laughed SO hard, I’m pretty sure people were staring .

Around 1:30 PM, Jake and I decided that it was time for some lunch. Jake ordered his favorite burger from the pool bar, while I headed back upstairs to Neighbors, with the plans to meet at the infinity pool and eat together once we both got our food.



They were setting up for a wedding over by the beach, so I snagged a stalker picture! I was very wedding-focused this whole trip and actually experienced some pretty intense post-wedding blues for that week between the wedding and the honeymoon. Fortunately, the nice long honeymoon cleared all of that up, and I haven’t felt any of that since!

I had perused the Neighbors lunch menu at breakfast and knew exactly what I wanted- A Huli Chicken Caesar Salad and a banana-peanut butter smoothie! I decided to grab the smoothie first and wait until Jake got his food before ordering my salad.

I approached the desk and ordered my smoothie, only to be told by the apathetic teenage employee:

“Oh, we have none of the ingredients to make smoothies.”



I was a little peeved. This had also happened a couple times with the shave ice stand; they’d have this extensive menu of flavors and toppings, but be out of like half of the things. It was always this same young lady working there, and she never apologized or anything. It’s fine if you’re out of stuff, but cross it off the menu then (or don’t have it on the menu in the first place)! She kind of reminded me of Debbie from The Wild Thornberries



Since this was like the 3rd time this had happened, I was kinda miffed. I’m never one to make a fuss though, so I just excused myself and sent a couple rage texts to Jake .



I also made an impulse decision to get a pina colada from the pool bar. If I can’t get a smoothie, I might as well get a frozen cocktail instead!

I was thirsty, so I downed it pretty fast. However, combined with the heat and an empty stomach, I immediately felt really tipsy . Jake was still waiting on his burger, so I decided to just order and eat my salad at Neighbors. I needed something to soak up the alcohol!



I was able to sit down in the AC for a bit and read. Luckily, this salad was everything I had dreamed of and more. I’m a huge salad person and eat it a lot at home, but it’s not my first choice while on vacation. It tasted absolutely gourmet- I think my body was craving green vegetables, haha.

Jake was sending some rage texts of his own! He had ordered his burger almost an hour ago, and there was no sign of it being ready!



Edited to make DIS-friendly

You could tell I was drunk, how many times could I say “OMG”?? Jake actually ended up being very happy about the mishap because that meant he scored a free meal, and was able to get an extra Mai Tai

After my amazing salad, I got us some chairs over by the infinity pool and hopped into the water! I started to sober up almost immediately. When I saw Jake, I said “You missed Drunk Molly!” He was so sad! A little background on this:

It is very rare that I get drunk. I like alcoholic drinks ok and will have a drink or two on occasion (the sweeter and weaker the better), but I absolutely HATE how alcohol makes me feel. I’m prone to headaches and indigestion as it is, and alcohol makes it a million times worse. Plus, “Tipsy Molly” is very fun to be around, but “Drunk Molly” can turn on a dime and become a crying, emotional, dramatic MESS! My friends in college used to joke and say “You know the party’s getting good when Molly starts crying!”

So, “Drunk Molly” doesn’t enter the fray very often, and as a result of this, Jake has seen me drunk probably 4 times in his life (one of those times being our wedding night- but NO TEARS thank goodness!). I reassured him that there’s still plenty of time on this trip for “Drunk Molly” to make another appearance

We swam, read, and relaxed by the infinity pool for the rest of the afternoon! Later on, Jake wanted me to take an “artsy” picture of his Hanalei Bay IPA, haha!



I was feeling a bit antsy; we had done a lot of relaxing by the pool over the last few days! So, I dragged Jake out into Princeville so we could explore!

While Hanalei is the beach town that we had been exploring for the last couple days, Princeville is technically the city in which our hotel was located. It’s more of a “resort development” than a city; definitely has a country club feel. It reminds me a lot of Sea Pines in Hilton Head Island! They had their own golf course and various stores and places to eat. It felt very safe and fancy!

Jake and I took a leisurely stroll around, and it was the absolute perfect temperature out. We ended up walking for about 3 miles!



We saw lots of nene on this walk! They were very cute and much friendlier than geese!

Just as we were looping around to start our walk back to the hotel, the “perfect” weather ended and it started to rain!! Ahh! We managed to speed-walk to the golf course and huddle under a gazebo to wait it out a bit.

I was joking around and trying to make Jake laugh; he was pouting because he hates the rain. Then, I mentioned, “You know, I don’t think we’ve ever kissed in the rain before!” So, we shared a smooch and that cheered him up . Hey, sometimes I can be romantic!

The rain let up after about 15 minutes, and out popped another beautiful rainbow!



I felt like all of the rainbows today were my Dad saying “hi”

The rain had cooled down the weather a lot, and we got to enjoy this beautiful sunset all the way back to the hotel.



On the pathway back to the lobby, we saw some giant leaves. It felt like we were in Alice in Wonderland!



It felt really great to get moving and take a walk! While I loved relaxing and having so much pool time this first week, we were pretty excited to begin the slightly more “active” portion of the trip and do some excursions on the Big Island!

Jake and I headed back to the room, showered, and got ready for our last dinner on Kauai! We had scoured out some restaurant options while at the pool earlier in the day, and were between going back to Hanalei and trying out Tahiti Nui, or going to a tiki bar called Tiki Iniki in Princeville. We were so charmed by our walk through Princeville that we decided to check out its town center tonight and eat at Tiki Iniki!

It was just a 5 minute drive, and we arrived at the restaurant at 7:45 PM. The Princeville city center is relatively small; they had a Foodland as well as a little collection of restaurants. However, you could definitely tell that Tiki Iniki was the place to be. There was a large line outside the door, so we went up the front and asked what the line was for. We were informed by the guests at the front (rather rudely) that this was the “walk up line” and “you need reservations for this place.” Yikes!! You could tell that it was short-staffed, and the restaurant was small, so we prepared for somewhat of a wait. We almost bailed and stopped by the mom-and-pop Chinese stand next door, but both Jake and I really wanted to try a local tiki bar. We did end up waiting about 30 minutes; not the end of the world.



It was so cute on the inside. It reminded me a lot of Trader Sam’s at Disney!

They offered us a spot at the bar, but as soon as we sat down, we realized that it was like 100 degrees in there. In addition, we were sat directly next to the bathroom, as well as next to some patrons who seemed to have forgotten their deodorant that day. The heat and lack of airflow combined with the smell was overwhelming. This was the only night this trip that I decided to wear long pants, and this was probably the closest I have ever come to fainting in my life. I almost had to abandon ship!! Luckily, my Prince Charming spotted two empty bar stools right by the front door, so we made a beeline for those instead! It was still hot, but at least we had some air by the door and we were away from the horrible B.O!

I needed water STAT! We also ordered some fun tiki drinks! I ordered the Blue Hawaiian, while Jake ordered The Iniki.



My drink was fabulous; a perfectly sweet blue raspberry flavor. Jake’s was good, but it kind of reminded us of sangria which threw him off a bit. I was starting to cool down a bit, and we decided to walk around and explore after we ordered our food. It was definitely crowded in here and you could tell the servers were stressed, but it was a perfect tiki bar vibe with a whole bunch of awesome decorations!



Including this gem! Anyone else recognize this sign? It was definitely taken from the Polynesian Resort at WDW I loved finding a touch of Disney on Kauai!

Pretty soon, Jake and I’s food came! We both ordered the same thing- pulled pork sliders with french fries.



This was nothing fancy, but it absolutely HIT THE SPOT! The purple taro buns were soft and sweet, and we loved the sauce that the pork came in. It almost reminded us of sloppy joes, and we make those a lot for dinners at home, so it was nice to have something familiar.



We always quote this line from Billy Madison while eating them of course

I finished my whole plate, which is pretty rare at restaurants! Overall, despite the long wait and somewhat chaotic vibe, we still really enjoyed Tiki Iniki! It was bittersweet; we were sad that it was our last dinner on Kauai

We walked around the city center in search of some ice cream, but nothing was open since it was about 9:00 PM at this point. Word to the wise- when staying on Kauai, eat early because everything closes early! We just snacked on some of our cookies and candy when we got back to the room, and hit the hay at 9:45 PM. We had our alarms set for 5:45 AM, ready to make the most of our last few hours on Kauai!


​

 

[Mollydolly334]

Day 9


This morning came earlyyyy- we had set our alarms for 5:45 AM! We had a tight agenda to stick to! Today was our last day on Kauai, and we had a flight over to Kona on the Big Island scheduled for 5:00 PM. This is where we’d spend our final 6 nights of the vacation!



One last look at our room view! We were definitely feeling the blues a little bit this morning. Kauai had exceeded every expectation that we had, and it was also bittersweet because we were officially transitioning to the last ‘leg” of the trip today.

But, there was no time to fret. We had BIG plans for today! We started out with our last breakfast at the early hour of 6:30 AM. We still had some of our resort credit to use up, so we headed over to Neighbors Cafe again and had some grub while enjoying the view outside!



I got an iced coffee, another one of those amazing sea salt chocolate chip cookies, and a piece of housemade banana bread. Jake also grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and the same Spam breakfast sandwich that we had shared the day before.



Another shoutout to these cookies! We did NOT share today They look so simple and plain, but they are DELIGHTFUL.

Then, we ran back up to the room to grab our bags and checked out. Bye 1Hotel Hanalei Bay! You were PERFECT in every way!

That being said, Hanalei, Princeville, and 1Hotel were the only things that we had seen on the entire island of Kauai (minus the drive from the airport). We rented a car on purpose; we knew that we wanted to see all of the island at some point during our trip. However, every morning when we woke up, we’d kind of look at each other and agree that we just wanted to stay at this beautiful resort in this beautiful area! So, we really had no other choice but to explore the island this last day. We were on the road by 7:30 AM, so we had plenty of time before our 5:00 PM flight to do some sightseeing.

Unfortunately, the one thing that we knew we’d have to skip this trip was seeing the Napali Coast. It would have taken up a whole day, and with only 4 full days on the island, we really wanted to capitalize on the resort and relaxation time. Plus, the only ways to see the Napali Coast were a boat or a helicopter tour. I can be prone to seasickness and don’t prefer boats, and there was NO way I would be able to handle an open-air helicopter (Jake is a dare-devil and would be all for it). Plus, we were already spending A LOT of money on this trip, and this didn’t make the cut budget- wise. Next time we are in Kauai, I will bite the bullet and we will definitely make it a priority to do a Napali Coast boat tour.

We didn’t really have any specific must-do’s today; we knew that we wanted to check out Poipu and Koloa towns. We had heard about some cool food trucks and shopping in these areas! We also wanted to see Old Town Hanapepe and Waimea Canyon State Park, if time allowed.

Our first stop was the Lihue airport. I decided to check my luggage right away in the morning so we didn’t have to worry about it being in the car all day long. The lady working at the desk gave me a funny look; she was like “You do realize your flight isn’t for 10 more hours, right?” . In an act of mercy, the luggage scale for Hawaiian Airlines was broken, so they didn’t weigh either of my bags! WOOHOO- no rearranging for me!!

With that out of the way, Jake and I continued on to see some waterfalls. My Mom and Dad did a helicopter tour around Kauai back in 2017, and my mom couldn’t stop raving about the waterfalls they saw. Every day, she would text me and ask, “Did you see a waterfall yet?”

Our first stop was ‘Opaeka’a Falls!



I texted her this picture and asked, “Are you happy now?” .



We saw some beautiful scenery over here! But, the waterfall was just so-so for us. So, we stayed a few minutes and decided to see another waterfall called Wailua Falls, which was about 20 minutes away.



This one was slightly prettier with the two streams, but overall, we were a tad underwhelmed. I bet the waterfalls are 10x prettier when you’re in a helicopter!

From this point on, we decided to drive to the southernmost point of our travels today, and work our way back northeast so that we’d be near the airport to end the day. I might have mentioned this before, but there’s pretty much only one main road that goes in a circle along the entire island of Kauai! Luckily, it’s a small island and the traffic wasn’t too bad. We made it to Hanapepe by 9:45 AM!

I really wanted to check out this little town, because this was the inspiration for the setting of Lilo and Stitch (one of my favorite Disney movies!) We saw this cute little mural and had to get a couple shots.





The sun was BLINDING!

Otherwise, it was a very sleepy town with not a lot going on. It kind of reminded me of an old Western ghost town- we felt like some of the only people there! We found this rickety bridge that led across a river and to an art gallery.





One side was sunny, one side was cloudy!

The elderly lady working the art gallery was SO sweet! We chatted with her a bit and checked out her photography.

We also stopped at a couple cute little stores in town before heading east.



I very much enjoyed this little magnet

Overall, Hanapepe town was cute, but not something I feel like I ever need to visit again. It was tiny and pretty deserted; maybe because it was a Sunday morning and people were at church? But it was fun to see the mural!

Our next stop was Old Koloa Town. We decided to skip Waimea Canyon to make sure that we had plenty of time to get back to the airport. Definitely on the list for next time! The nice lady at the photography gallery recommended driving through the Tree Tunnel. Luckily, the GPS took us right through it!





This was very scenic and lovely. It reminded me of something you’d see near Charleston or Savannah in the Southern continental U.S!

Pretty soon, we arrived at Koloa Town! Koloa and Poipu on the south side of the island are the main tourist destinations when staying in Kauai. When Jake and I were researching hotels and resort areas after deciding to switch from Maui to Kauai, I feel like 75% of people stayed in and recommended the Koloa/Poipu area. This is known as the “sunny” side of the island and has the most touristy things and a central location, whereas Princeville is rainier, remote, and more “jungle-esque”. Jake and I felt like we were going against the grain a little bit by choosing to stay in Princeville. So, we knew that we at least had to check out Poipu and take a little tour through all of the resorts we vetoed!

We got to Koloa right around 11:00. We spotted an adorable food truck park right when we got there; Jake was still full, but I somehow wasn’t satisfied after my two pastries this morning. A lot of the food trucks were closed, so we stopped by a burger place and a couple other quick service restaurants in town to see if I could find some “real food.” What did I choose for my satisfying, “real food” meal?



Yeah, I had no willpower today #vacationdiet. I could NOT say no to this; some good old fashioned birthday cake just sounded so delicious. This was from a little ice cream shop called Koloa Mill, and the cake looked as good as it tasted! I demolished it . We looked in a couple other souvenir shops while in Koloa town and checked out the food trucks again, but they were still closed Booo! We felt like we had seen all that we could see in Koloa so we headed towards Poipu.



The Poipu Shopping Village was high on the list of must-do’s in Poipu, so we headed there first. However, pretty much as soon as we arrived, we realized that we were absolutely DONE with shopping. That was one issue with the places we visited in Kauai; they were very shopping-centered and it just got really monotonous. Plus, in all of the shopping centers we visited today, at least half of the shops were closed/not in service. In hindsight, we should have done a few more hiking/excursion-type activities to balance out the day.

My head was starting to pound from the 3483094832 grams of sugar I had ingested so far today, so I knew that I needed some salt. We looked at a cute little place called Keoki’s Paradise, but Jake still wasn’t hungry and I wasn’t feeling like eating at a sit-down restaurant. So, we decided to drive to Poipu Beach to check out one of the most famous eateries on the island- Puka Dog!

It was a super sunny and beautiful day outside at Poipu Beach! One thing that we LOVED about Kauai was that it was so easy to find parking on the entire island! A completely different situation than Oahu, haha! We waited in a short line, then I finally got my “real food”!



I ordered a traditional Polish sausage hot dog with pineapple relish and lilikoi mustard, with fresh-squeezed lemonade to drink. This actually greatly exceeded my expectations; I’m not a huge hot dog person normally, but this was really juicy and just what my stomach needed!

We had a beautiful view while I sat and ate my Puka Dog!



We saw rooster number 5,000 of the trip





Overall, Poipu Beach was very pretty and sunny. But, once again, we weren’t really “wowed” by it. It kind of just reminded me of a beach town you’d see anywhere in Florida or California. We didn’t bring our swimsuits with us today, so we just waded our feet in for a bit and sat on the picnic tables.

At this point, I’m not going to sugar-coat it; we were BORED. The rest of Kauai just seemed so disappointing compared to Hanalei! Things were just really quiet and a lot of the shops and things to do were closed. We still had a ton of time to kill; it was 12:30 and we realistically didn’t need to be at the airport until 3:30. We were really regretting not seeing the Waimea Canyon, but it didn’t make sense to us in that moment to backtrack over and see it.

After wallowing for a bit, we decided to make lemonade out of lemons and do a bona-fide resort tour around Poipu!



Jake and I furiously researched hotels in Kauai after we made the switch, and almost every YouTube video/Reddit thread recommended Poipu as a home base. So, Jake and I wanted to tour all of the hotels we considered and see what we were missing out on!

We drove all around Poipu and stopped at:
​

1. Sheraton Kauai (this is where my parents stayed when they went to Kauai)​
2. Koloa Landing​
3. Marriot’s Kauai Beach Club​
4. Grand Hyatt Kauai ​

Overall, our favorite of the 4 was probably Koloa Landing; it seemed the most peaceful and boutique-ish. Out of all of the forums we researched, 9/10 stated the Grand Hyatt Kauai in Poipu was the #1 hotel destination. It was all booked up by the time we made the switch to Kauai, otherwise I’m almost positive that we would have stayed here. In retrospect- I’m so glad that we didn’t!!! We couldn’t have picked a better area and resort to stay at, especially for our honeymoon. Don’t get me wrong- The Grand Hyatt was beautiful and very nice!! It was just really big and kind of overwhelming; it kind of reminded me of the super-resorts you see in Cancun.

Our resort-hopping adventures definitely lifted our spirits, and pretty soon, it was time to head back to Lihue! We also stopped at the Royal Sonesta resort in Lihue, since we had briefly considered staying here as well.



This hotel had such a beautiful beach! Royal Sonesta was also a really nice hotel and the location was right in the center of Lihue (Kauai’s commercial hub)- it was only like a 5-10 minute drive to the airport! This resort had two great restaurants- Duke’s (we ate at the Waikiki location last year) and Lava Lava Beach Club (we ate at the Big Island location a couple days later). Royal Sonesta is another great option for families and I think it’s much cheaper than the Grand Hyatt!



We had to laugh at this silly coconut sign

It was 3:00 PM by now, and Jake and I were more than ready to get going to the airport and prepare for our flight. Hmm… Kauai- you were a paradox! With how impressed and in love we were with Hanalei/Princeville, we were equally as disappointed with the rest of the island! The rest of the island just felt really quiet, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but we struggled with finding things to do that weren’t shopping or eating related. Maybe the fancy resort and all of its amenities just really heightened our expectations?

We would absolutely come back in a heartbeat- we are already planning that next time we visit Hawaii, we would like to split our time between Kauai (staying in Hanalei of course) and Maui. And we WILL check out the Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon next time; I know that my opinion isn’t really fair because we didn’t see those two major tourist attractions. Realistically, we could spend an entire week in Hanalei/Princeville alone and be happy as clams.

Jake and I made it to the airport right at 3:30, we returned the rental car, and I quickly grabbed some Reese’s Pieces for the flight (seriously, I shocked myself while reading my notes and typing all of this out. How in the world did I not go into a sugar-induced coma on this day???).

When I was a kid, I made it a goal to fly on every airline and visit every airport I could during my travels. I was excited to cross Hawaiian Airlines off the list today (all of our other flights this trip were through Southwest). EVERYONE in the airport was coughing and sneezing today, it made us kind of nervous! We were so happy and grateful that neither of us ended up getting sick during this trip. We both did get wicked colds after coming back home, though!

Our flight was smooth and uneventful. We loved flying over all of the islands- we saw Oahu, Lanai, Moloka’i, and Maui. An hour later, Kona greeted us with a beautiful sunset!



I was absolutely obsessed with the Kona airport as soon as we landed- I think it ties Savannah, GA for my favorite airport ever (I also have to give a shoutout to MCO simply because of all of the amazing WDW memories ). All of the gates and everything were fully outside! It was also so tiny, I’m pretty sure it only had 7 gates



We rented our final car of the trip (nothing fancy, a gray Nissan Altima) and started the 45-minute drive to our resort in Waikoloa Village- The Fairmont Orchid!

Overall, Jake claims that he was equally excited for everything we did this trip, but I know that he was *extra* excited to show me the Big Island. Jake lived in Kona for 8 months in 2019-2020 and had not been back since, so he was super familiar with everything around here and wanted to show me all of his favorite things! I think it came with some pressure though; he really wanted me to like the Big Island as much as he did, but also knew that this island was not like the others and could be an acquired taste for some. Jake was especially excited to stay at the Fairmont Orchid; he said that when he lived here, he’d often go crash the pool at the Fairmont and vowed that he would stay here with his future wife someday .

We arrived at this beautiful resort at 7:30 PM!



We definitely hit the resort jackpot this trip. I loved how each of our hotels were so different too; Aulani was lively and colorful, 1Hotel was earthy and trendy, and the Fairmont Orchid was so stately and romantic with its fresh flowers and white marble everywhere.

They had an option for self-parking here, which we loved because we could save some money. We were immediately greeted with flower leis! The check in process was kind of funny; when Jake told them that it was our honeymoon, the man checking us in asked “WOW, that’s so exciting? How many years??”



We both giggled and said “Uh, 2 weeks,” and the man looked confused and was like “Oh, it’s pretty new then?” We were thinking that he mixed up the terms “honeymoon” and “anniversary”

Originally, Jake and I had booked a garden view king bed room, but he offered the chance for us to upgrade to an ocean-view for just $150 more total! Jake immediately said yes before I could even agree; we were so lucky with our ocean views at both resorts, and we were excited to see the ocean here too! He also gave us some complimentary reusable water bottles; there were water filling stations all around the resort which was really nice and convenient. Pretty soon, we were on our way to the room!

We received room #3421 on the third floor (pretty easy to remember, haha!).









Our room had two showers (one with a tub, and one rain shower), which was AWESOME! It definitely saved us a lot of time while getting ready!

They also surprised us with a complimentary bottle of champagne for our honeymoon!



It was really strange though; the champagne had clearly been in there all day, since the ice had completely melted and there was just water in the bucket, as well as a small puddle of water on the TV stand. But, how would they have known ahead of time that we would have taken the ocean-view upgrade? I was wondering if this was meant to be our room all along, and we paid an extra $150 for nothing Unless they save this room for honeymooners only? I was starting to doubt our decision to upgrade, but it was pitch black outside and we couldn’t see our view, so we’d have to wait until tomorrow.

Jake and I were starting to get pretty hungry (I NEEDED salt), so we decided to walk around the resort and try to find some dinner. We settled on the main pool bar/restaurant called Hale Kai!

We noticed some people crowded around the lagoon right outside the restaurant, so of course, we had to see what all of the fuss was about. We saw a couple turtles on the sand, but were shocked when we saw a giant MANTA RAY swimming in the lagoon!



Click to play, it’s a video!

Neither of us had ever seen one of these in the wild before, and it was absolutely huge! It was mesmerizing to watch and a perfect introduction to the Big Island. I saw more wild animals on this island alone than I had in the past year in Wisconsin!

The restaurant closed at 9:00, and it was about 8:15 by now, so we quickly got our orders in. I just ordered a Diet Coke to drink, and I’m pretty sure that Jake got a Kona Longboard. To eat, Jake got the Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl, and I went with a good old-fashioned cheeseburger with avocado and bacon added!





The food was great; it was just what both of us were craving and it was super satisfying!! We did have a little mishap with the bill. The waiter gave Jake the bill envelope, and he placed his credit card inside. I ordered our dessert and waited over by the firepits for Jake, but it was taking FOREVER to get his card back! Finally, after about 20 minutes, Jake visited the bar to see where his card was, and the waiter was so confused!! The guy said that he didn’t even open the card sleeve, and had figured that we had just done a room charge. I thought that this was kind of careless; you wouldn’t even take the two seconds to check and make sure there wasn’t a credit card in there? It was definitely weird. It also took a few minutes of searching before the guy finally found the missing card/card sleeve, which Jake didn’t appreciate.

Luckily, Jake’s card wasn’t lost, and we were finally able to enjoy our dessert! Over by the pools, there were about 4-5 firepits going with lawn chairs all around them. Hale Kai had an awesome option where you could order all of the supplies to make s’mores! We got graham crackers, marshmallows, Ghirardelli chocolate, and roasting sticks, and had enough to have two s’mores each. It was a little pricey (about $20), but it was convenient and delicious! I hadn’t had s’mores in so long and it was really fun to be outside by the fires, since it was a lot cooler on the Big Island than it had been in Kauai.

After our yummy dessert, we were BEAT! We headed back to the room, watched more Friends (The Fairmont Orchid had Nickelodeon- Hallelujah!), and went to bed around 9:45 PM. We couldn’t wait to check out the resort during the day!


​

 

[alohamom]

I just LOVE the Kona airport too, it really feels like old Hawaii.
We got married in Waikoloa on the Big Island (right at the fringe of palms on A-Bay) and in many ways it is my favorite of all the Hawaiian Islands.
The problem is each one is so unique with different versions of the Aloha spirit!
We have never actually stayed at the Fairmont Orchid but we did have dinner at Brown's Beach House once and walked along the beach path of the bay. It was lovely!
I

 

[Mollydolly334]

I just LOVE the Kona airport too, it really feels like old Hawaii.
We got married in Waikoloa on the Big Island (right at the fringe of palms on A-Bay) and in many ways it is my favorite of all the Hawaiian Islands.
The problem is each one is so unique with different versions of the Aloha spirit!
We have never actually stayed at the Fairmont Orchid but we did have dinner at Brown's Beach House once and walked along the beach path of the bay. It was lovely!
I

Awwww- I love it! We visited A-Bay later on in the trip and it was so beautiful with all of the tall trees right by the ocean! We also loved the Fairmont- it was the perfect place to stay on the island. We didn't make it to Brown's Beach House and I kind of wish we had splurged and had a meal there!!