Honeymoon in Hawaii

5/10/17

After a lovely marriage celebration we needed a break and some down time together! One of my best friends Devin was getting married on Oahu at the Halekulani Hotel on May 13th (which was the weekend directly after us). It was very important to us to be there to support him and his lovely bride Stacey so it was an easy decision to "honeymoon" in Hawaii! 

We wanted to have a car to explore the island so we decided to rent a Jeep. To our surprise, the brand new 2017 Jeep Wrangler was on the managers special at Avis! We had so much fun cruising around in our little car. It took us a bit to figure out how to take the top on and of (which gave away the fact that we weren't locals) but it was an adventure. 

I have to admit it was really nice being able to travel domestically where could speak the same language, use the same currency and not have to do so much planning while on the trip. We love traveling internationally but this was an awesome break. We stayed at the Hilton Grand Hawain Village and to our surprise, we were upgraded to the rainbow tower with an ocean view. That must be part of the honeymoon perks! 

Over the course of the week we spent most of our time at the beach, eating at local hot spots Jaime loved, hiking and of course celebrating with Devin and Stacey at their wedding.

We didn't spend much time at the beach at the Hilton. Instead, Jaime had a few favorite beaches he wanted to take me to. I could have laid in the sun all day at Lanikai Beach. This water was unreal!

   

We also discovered one of our favorite places to eat at the Shirokiya Japan Village which was conveniently located next to Nordstrom. The best part about this "village" is that there are multiple restaurants located next to each other with fresh food that is made on the spot. The variety makes it fun because you can order a little of everything! We ate some bomb ramen and banh mis then we did a little shopping thanks to our wedding gift cards. I found a dress for the wedding while Jaime upgraded his sandals to Rainbows. 

On another night, Jaime made a reservation for us at Duke's on Waikiki. Prior to eating we strolled around the downtown Waikiki area and did some windows shopping. I found this cute store with all these little quotes I wanted to buy and take home. Here are some of our favorites:

 

 

After shopping we went to Dukes and got to enjoy a nice view of the ocean..and this monstrous dessert. 

Three of our favorite brunch places have to be Bogarts, Eggs 'n Things, Boots and Kimos. If you go to Boots and Kimos get the macadamia nut pancakes and you won't regret it. This was hands down the best pancake dish I have ever had! I also had the ahi breakfast which was my favorite fish dish in Hawaii. 

 

Bogarts had delicious Acai bowls, corned beef benefit and fried rice bowls! 

Eggs 'n Things had some tasty fresh squeezed juice, french toast and of course eggs.

House special French toast with fresh peaches and pineapple.

After all that eating we had to make sure we were getting our exercise in. We stopped by Crossfit Oahu and said hi to some of Jaime's friends and met coach Courtney.

We also drove out to Waimea Bay. Parking was a zoo so we paid this lady $10 to park at her house and enjoyed a scenic walk over. 

I wanted to jump off the famous rock into the water. Jaime said no way in hell was he doing it and he didn't think I should either with my recent shoulder surgery. I told him I would make sure to keep my arm locked in while I jumped as opposed to flailing in the air to stay "safe." What can I say...the Bernal's are always in for the thrill of it. The rock didn't look that high but when you get up there it's a different story. I started having second thoughts. The guy next to me said "You won't die just go for it." So I thought, "These rocks hurt too much to climb all the way back down" so I jumped. I survived guys. I got the worst wedgy from my bathing suit and my top flew off but all was well.

On the way home we stopped for dinner at the local food trucks. I tried the shrimp special from Giovanni's famous shrimp trump and ate the whole dozen by myself. Jaime got a hot dog and found this cute Crepe tuck we loved. 

 

We were close by the Laie Hawaii temple so we decided to stop by and walk through the grounds. How beautiful is this place!? It was fun to see how many tour bases stopped by as well.

 

The best part about renting a car was that it allowed us to explore the island on our own timing. One of my favorite memories from our trip was the drive home from the temple. We followed the coast all the way around the island and got to witness the most beautiful sunset. Even just listening to the waves was so peaceful with the sun and wind on our face. 

We also got to get out and hike Diamond Head. I think we ended up running instead of walking and surprisingly made it to the top pretty fast. The hike can be pretty steep and there's a point where you go through a dark and long tunnel. I almost had to do CPR on an older gentleman that was moments away from passing out. He was pale as a ghost so we stopped to make sure he was ok and that his wife had water and could help him down. The view at the top was beautiful! 

 

 

On Saturday we got to get all dressed up for the wedding. It was so much fun to be a guest after having a jam packed weekend at our marriage celebration. The ceremony was intimate and lovely. The buffet was beyond delicious and we completely stuffed ourselves. Stacey joked that she expected Jaime to make endless trips to the buffet but he tapped out after three. Devin and Stacey tied in fun cultural surprises like the Chinese Lion Dance. Here's out attempt at a selfie with the Lion.

We had a blast at the wedding and were so glad to be present to support our best friends. These two make such a beautiful couple and we can't wait for their adorable half asian babies lol.

It's so beautiful to celebrate two people dedicating their lives to each other. It really is sentimental to witness such pure love. I got teary eyed during the ceremony thinking about blessed I am to have Jaime as my husband and how special it was to marry him. It's fun to reminisce even just a week later on the day we got married and the day we gave our vows to each other.

 

How gorgeous is that dress and hairpiece!

  

On Sunday after the wedding we went to the University of Hawaii stadium for the local farmers market. We got to peruse the shops and Jaime bought me a Ukulele! I started lessons last week and I am so excited! I used to play when I was younger but somehow lost my little instrument. 

We spent every last moment soaking it up in the sun. I think we managed to get a little color.

We were so grateful to have a week away to explore Oahu. The best part about our time together was that we were able to set new goals and plan for the future. We have a lot of big life changes coming our way. We had so much fun planning our marriage celebration but are looking forward to focusing our time and energy on the exciting road ahead!