Honeymoon Recap: Part III

One of our most anticipated dinners was at Red Salt in the Koa Kea boutique hotel. Their service and presentation were impeccable, but the decor is a bit modern for my taste.

I totally goofed up my favorite drink (French Martini) and told the bartender to make it with vanilla vodka, pineapple juice, and grand marnier (<chombord
). It tasted good but that one martini was freaking strong.

 The next morning we took off on a hike that was right off of our hotel's property. The major of the hike was along the coastline, which was amazing.

The water was so clear we could look down and watch the sea turtles.

 Joel carried our water in his backpack and hid a beer (that he had in a bag of ice) for us to open on the beach together. We sat on the beach, quickly exchanging sips because we thought we saw a state trooper, at 9am...but it was one of my favorite memories of the whole trip.

The night we made it to the popular restaurant on the island - Plantation Gardens. This was my favorite of all of the places we dined. 

 


It was the most "Hawaiian" feeling of all the places we were at. We sat on an open back porch, and even with no ocean view in sight, the grounds were so beautiful you didn't even miss it.



 Joel ordered the Lao Lao which is basically like a paella, but served and cooked in a giant banana leaf.



The next day, we work up at 5:30am to drive up to Waimea Canyon. Joel is an avid trail runner, and hiking the Kuku'i trail was his #1 must-do while we were in Kauai.



Thankfully the sun never came out, because it was the hardest hike I've ever done. It took us almost 4 hours to hike the 4 miles because it had such rough terrain and was really, really steep.



The views were gorgeous, but this particular trail was tough. I only did it for Joel and would probably try and find a better traveled trail the next time. We never saw anyone else on the trail and I felt like it would have taken days for our bodies to be discovered.

Joel obviously loved every second of it. 

Since he had put me through hell and back, Joel took me back to Josselin's for more happy juice sangria and small plates. 

To die for Rock Shrimp

 

Our last day on the island was 4th of July and so to celebrate both occasions, we decided to attend the Grand Hyatt's Luau. It is $100/person - but includes tons of food and open bar.



I'm so glad we decided to do it. It was a really entertaining performance and we ended up sitting by great people and having such a fun last night.

Our honeymoon was beyond perfection. Joel and I laughed and laughed, relaxed, and just enjoyed every freaking minute. We both felt like we took advantage of everything Kauai has to offer and we would both go back in a heartbeat. 

The best part of leaving this blissful trip was that we got to go back home as husband and wife, and start our newly wed life together.