Wedding Blog

Oahu is a small island. It only takes a few hours to drive the entire circumference, but you wouldn’t know it by the sheer amount of activity and people in Waikiki. It is a bustling city with an immense amount of restaurants, sights, and things to do. We took our trip in October, which was off-season for travel. Our plane tickets were less than $300 a piece, after taxes and the weather was still great. It rained a bit off and on, but the weather was warm and sunny for the duration of our trip.

The best part of Oahu was the food. There were so many fabulous places to eat on Oahu, and many of them are reasonably priced. We ate and ate, and then ate some more. I probably gained five pounds on my honeymoon. Chalk it up as more to loooove.

Day #5: On our first day, we rented a convertible, the perfect Hawaii cruising car. Unfortunately, just as we started driving with the top down to our hotel, it started raining! I know drivers were probably looking over at us and thinking, “Those tourists.”

We checked into the Westin Moana Surfrider. It’s a beautiful resort right in the center of Waikiki that encompasses a Victorian style mansion. When we were there, the hotel was being remodeled. They had just finished working on our wing, so we stayed in newly remodeled rooms. With the Starwood American Express, we were upgraded from city view to partial ocean. The rooms were smaller than our accommodations on Kauai, but understandable since the hotels are older and more compact. Much care was taken to enhance the ambiance of the Moana Surfrider. Each day when we walked into the lobby, the fresh scent of gardenias filled the air. Now, when I smell gardenias, I always remember our honeymoon.

Here’s a tip for you guys: Mr. Eggplant has a corporate Starwood rewards account and I have the Starwood American Express. When we checked into our hotel, he gave them his corporate Starwood rewards number and I charged the hotel on my Starwood Amex. We ended up getting quadruple Starwood points (double points for charging the rooms on my Starwood, plus double points for his corporate rewards account). The points are transferable between people, so we accrued enough points to use for a future mini trip.

After we got settled, we took a walk along Waikiki Beach. Mr. Eggplant is wearing his “chocolate” shirt from our wedding programs.

You absolutely cannot leave Oahu without having Leonard’s Malasadas (Portugese donuts). We ate them almost every day. They come in regular, cinnamon, chocolate filled, custard filled, and more. There are a few places in the bay area that make them but none are as good as Leonard’s. These little guys seriously melt in your mouth. Way better than Krispy Kreme, in my opinion.

We ended our first night with a romantic walk on the beach right in front of our hotel.

Day #6: You’ve heard of wedding crashers, right? Well, what about honeymoon crashers? My brother and his girlfriend were vacationing in Hawaii during the same week as my honeymoon. Mr. Eggplant and I hung out with them for a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. This photo was taken out the window during the drive up to the park.

With Tarzan-like grunts, Mr. Eggplant and Brother Eggplant honed their hunting and gathering skills.

Sure there are other fish in the sea, but there’s only one fish for me!

Our tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center included a luau dinner buffet with lots of lomi lomi, kailua pork, and a purple taro bun.

While we ate, hula dancers entertained us.

I’m a coffee snob, I admit. I have a love affair with good coffee. Hawaii has some of the best beans available, and coffee is a great gift to bring home since it travels well. Personally, I like deep roasted coffees better than light roasts, but the baristas at Honolulu Coffee Company, made me a great drink with their light/medium roast coffees. Just look at the leaf pattern in the foam! I found that Honolulu Coffee Company serves some of the best, albeit priciest, coffee on the island.

And of course, more malasadas for Mr. Eggplant. I’m telling you, these things are soooo…. good…. mmmm….

The rest of our Hawaii trip will be finished in one last post, I didn’t want to overwhelm you guys with too many pictures at once.