Our Hawaiian Honeymoon! | Kevin Scott Banks

Our Hawaiian Honeymoon!

Wowzers, my wife and I had a fabulous Hawaiian honeymoon!

It was Briana’s first time ever in Hawaii, and my first time returning since I lived there over 10 years ago. We planned to spend the first half of our honeymoon on the island of Kauai, where the pace is a little bit slower. Then, we’d kick things up a notch on the island of Maui for the second half.

Before we arrived in Hawaii, we had a layover in Los Angeles. That could only mean one thing…In N Out Burger!

Kevin’s aunt and uncle graciously gifted us with a stay at the Beach Boy resort on Kauai. It was a wonderful place to stay. We especially enjoyed the pool 🙂

     

On our first day in Kauai, we rented beach cruisers and had a relaxing ride along the oceanside near our resort.

Later that evening, we attended a “hula” show at the resort. We learned a lot about the traditional Hawaiian dance, and Briana even braved the stage herself to show off her hula moves.

The next day, we set off to do some exploring around the northern part of the island. Kauai might be the most beautiful of all the islands. It seemed like there was breathtaking scenery around every corner.

We finished the day with a spectacular hike along the NaPali Coast. We had to really work to keep our eyes on the path with such stunning views along the way.

Our wonderful wedding coordinator also happened to honeymoon on Kauai a couple years earlier. She recommended a chocolate farm tour with Steelgrass Farms, and said it was the best activity they did. With a plug like that, we decided to take the tour ourselves. We learned so much about the local fruits, the art of chocolate making, and were treated to samples of chocolates from all over the world. It was incredible!

Our tour guides were funny and informative, and kept us entertained the entire time.

I volunteered for the honey challenge. She kept pouring fresh, local honey down my throat until I told her to stop. Mmm, a mouth full of golden deliciousness.

 

Perhaps the most adventurous activity we embarked on during our whole trip was our helicopter tour. Neither of us had been in a helicopter before, so this was a big leap of faith. We’d heard about how amazing the views were from above, so we splurged and went for it. It was totally worth it. We both agreed it was one of the most amazing things we’d ever done before in our lives!

 

Briana got to experience many firsts while being in Hawaii. Among those was snorkeling, which she mastered almost immediately. Our friend let us borrow his GoPro camera and we captured some super fun underwater photos!

We swam with lots of Honu…Hawaiian Sea Turtles!

Double rainbow, almost all the way. What does this mean?!?!

After our superb stay in Kauai, we were off to Maui for round 2. Our first stop was one of Kevin’s favorite local eateries, Maui Tacos. It was just like he remembered it, so delicious.

That evening, we chased the sunset together and were rewarded by this fantastic array of color and sunlight.

And of course there was time for a few portraits of my new Bride 🙂

If you’ve ever been to Maui, you know about the road to Hana. It’s sort of an infamous place around the backside of the island that takes all day to drive to. And as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t exist. Even though I spent 6 months living in Maui in my early 20’s, I never even tried the road to Hana. So on my honeymoon, I was determined to make it.

Well, we only made it half way. But it was a beautiful drive nonetheless and yielded many scenic stops. The first of those was the little beachside town of Paia, and the delicious Fish Market! 

 

We saved the best for the last day of our honeymoon: an all-day sailing trip with Trilogy Excursions. I was a crew member for Trilogy during my days in Maui, and have always had fond memories of my experience. I knew I just had to bring Briana along for a trip with them.

We traveled over to the adjacent island of Lanai for a day of hiking, snorkeling and a fresh-cooked BBQ lunch.

Bri says this is her favorite photo from the whole trip 🙂

Incredibly, Kevin’s favorite captain, Captain Turtle, is still manning the ship for Trilogy, over 10 years later! He led an amazing trip and his crew took such good care of us. We highly recommend Trilogy if you’re ever in Maui – www.sailtrilogy.com!

Even though we were wiped out from the day’s adventure, we drove up to Honolua Bay in Kapalua for one last Maui sunset. Briana did yoga while I took sunset photos.

The following day, we had an evening flight back home to the mainland, so we had most of the day open for more exploring. I had fond memories of hiking through Iao Valley during my time in Maui, so we made that our first stop. Iao Valley is a lush paradise, since it receives lots of rainfall. It’s green all over!  

 

One of our friends recommended a rewarding hike on Maui’s Northeast side, called the Waihee Ridge Trail. He insisted the views were worth the effort.

We agree 🙂

At last we said farewell to Hawaii. I think we were both ready to head back home.

On our way back to Nashville, we stopped in California to introduce Briana to some of my extended family, and show her around my old stomping grounds.

I spent my childhood swimming in these waters and jumping off these rocks. It was really neat to share these special places with my wife.

I especially enjoyed showing Briana the fruit farm in Newcastle where I spent my high school years. This farm was the inspiration for our family smoothie business, and holds a special place in our family’s history.

Here I am in front of our faithful orange tree. We may or may not have tasted the forbidden fruit…

And that’s all she wrote! Our honeymoon was a very memorable time, filled with fun activities, adventures, and delicious food. We both agreed it was challenging to try learning how to live together for the first time while traveling in a far-off, exotic place. We had our share of tough moments, but ultimately had a wonderful experience.

One Comment on “Our Hawaiian Honeymoon!

  1. Can I say a masterful pictorial of the honeymoon of a photogenic couple who loves Jesus?