Scary Clown

Music courtesy of DC3

Scary clown found off the side of 290 in Brennam

Enjoy

Christmas Weekend Baking - Puff Pastry from Scratch

The day after Christmas I really wanted to just relax at home and bake. We spent the morning working out and then after a quick shower I was ready to start baking something yummy. I decided to try my hand at Puff Pastry from scratch!

I browsed all around the internet and found one that I liked. A recipe from Emeril that seemed pretty reasonable but also authentic. I didn't want any shortcuts but I also didn't want anything crazy that would require me to go to the grocery store.

5 hours! Did you know that it takes over 5 hours to make a puff pastry from scratch! And that's just the "resting" time. Yep, it took the whole day. Fortunately its mostly resting and as long as you can stand to have a dirty counter for a few hours, there's really not much to making the actual dough. I've copied the recipe below from the food network, but before I get to that, I'll show you some pictures.

First, the base. It's not hard to make the base and I pretty much just followed the recipe below. I did have a large bowl, so it made mixing the dough base much nicer than if I would have tried on the counter. I used ice water (but not the ice, of course). And I also used a hand. Using a fork just seemed like it would be so much more work.

After being in the fridge for an hour, came the part that even disgusted me a little. The butter block.

OMG. A 5" x 5" block of BUTTER. Yep, just butter. I pulled some butter out of the fridge and just pounded it down with the rolling pin and the palms of my hands. You don't want to over work it and you want to make sure it is about the same temperature as the dough you are pulling out of the fridge. After you've got your 5" x 5" block, you wrap the dough around it and roll it out. Smooshing all the delicious butter into the dough, and folding over and over again.

Before I get into the pictures, I should put a disclaimer. Yes, I own an awesome camera, and yes, my husband just bought me an equally awesome flash, but it's just so much easier to post pictures from the iphone. Sorry, it's true. I'll work on that more in the future.

Butter Block in the dough

Dough wrapped around the butter block

Rolled and folded the first time.

After the first rolling and folding (or second, cause you have to do it more than once) I put it in the fridge and waited one hour. Then I repeated the process. Here is the second (or 4th or 8th) rolling. After a while I couldn't keep track.

You can see it looks much better

So you repeat this process of resting and rolling and folding about 6 times and after 5 hours of resting, you finally have puff pastry dough, from scratch, that is ready to use!

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with the dough once I had it, so I started experimenting. I made some pastries with apples and then I had this great idea to make a raspberry compote. I took some raspberries and sugar and brandy and cooked them together. Mmmmm it was so tasty. See



Here are some pictures of the final products. These I really should have posted with the good camera, but again, I'm feeling lazy tonight and the good camera with the good pictures is just so far away. So deal.


The first ones out. The chocolate is a chocolate pastry filling that I made but I wasn't super impressed with, so I'll spare you the details.



Just out of the oven. Glazed with a powdered sugar/milk/vanilla mixture.


Ta Da! The final product all presented on a festive holiday tray. And they were delicious! Though I sit here and wonder how much better they were (or weren't) than if I had just used frozen puff pastry out of the freezer section of HEB. I mean, they were good, but man, 6 hours for home made puff pastry. That's just a lot of time.

So much time in fact, that I decided to make some macaroons while I was waiting for the dough. Here are the macaroons. All vanilla bean cookies filled with chocolate raspberry, salted caramel, and lemon curd. The salted caramel ones turned out AMAZING.


And here is the recipe that I promised for the puff pastries. Actually, I was going to copy it below, but since it's so long, I figure I'll just link it to you. HERE. I didn't make the apple tart tatin that is in the first half of the recipe, so I'm not sure how good it would have turned out, but I bet it would be pretty tasty!

2 months later, I feel like its over

Wow, I can't believe its been two months already. There is so much 'after wedding' stuff to be done, I just now feel like the whirl wind is over. Photos are printed and hung, the album is done, and we got some of the videos from the videographer last week. With the help of this awesome website called MisstoMrs.com I officially changed my last name to Rea, and I also finished laying out both photo books from our honeymoon to Hawaii and just ordered them through Shutterfly. Heck, at this point I almost feel bored. Well, except that there are like 20+ more boxes to unpack from the move to Houston.

Before I take this time to start blogging about recipes again (like the from-scratch puff pastry I made last weekend, or the homemade macarons), I'm going to first share with you the two albums that I made in Shutterfly. If you're thinking about taking a trip to Hawaii I hope my posts and these pictures help you plan your vacation. If you come across this blog and have any questions about anything that we did, feel free to ask!

Link to Book I - Ohau & The Big Island

Link to Book II - Kauai & Maui

Hawaii Part 4 - Maui

Our last week of our honeymoon we spent in Maui. It was beautiful.

We stayed at Lokelani Condominiums in A205. We weren't too impressed with the room, it was pretty outdated and the bed was rock hard, but the view was awesome. The management was really nice about getting us a memory foam mattress topper which made the bed okay, so I would recommend the Lokelani just not A205.

Our first night in Maui we went down to Ka'anapali beach and Black Rock to watch the torch lighting ceremony. We also had some drinks at the Hula Grill.
Our first day in Maui we slept in and spent the late morning walking around Old Lahania Town. Front street is lined with lots of little shops, although we were a bit disappointed to realize most of them are chain stores at this point. It also has this HUGE Banyan Tree that covers an entire park. It takes you a while to realize it's one big tree. For lunch we walked down the street and grabbed a bite at Aloha Mixed Plate. You can guess what we had to eat. :) It was pretty tasty, but the coolest part was that Jeremy had been waiting to take me here ever since he was here 3 years ago. It was nice that we finally got to eat here together. The rest of the day we spent in the water somewhere and just relaxing on the beach. We also did some grocery shopping for our week here and spent $7 on a half gallon of milk. Yep $7, insane! That night we ate dinner at the Maui Brewing Company. We sampled almost all their beers, but none were that spectacular.

Over the next few days we did so many awesome things on Maui. One day we took a SNUBA trip with Friendly Charters. We were supposed to go out to Molokai, but the winds were really bad and the waves pretty rough, so instead they took us to a different location. We were pretty bummed that we couldn't go to Molokai, but at our new location we did see lots of turtles. SNUBA is kinda like SCUBA but without having the tank on your back and without having to be certified. The take floats on a raft above your head, and you get to go down about 15 to 20 feet. Jeremy and I did really well and it was a pretty cool experience that I would recommend. Though I don't think I'm likely to SCUBA anytime soon.

That afternoon we spent some time at Big Beach. It really is a huge beautiful beach on the south side of Maui. Because we were staying on the west coast, the drive back to the condo was about an hour or more, but it was worth the drive over there to check out a different part of the island. If there is one thing I realized about Maui, it's that Maui is big, and it takes a while to drive anywhere. We also realized that it is not as warm as everyone says. In general the weather was beautiful, but not so hot that it made you want to jump into the fairly chilly water.

On Tuesday night we went to the Westin Luau. It was a tough choice but we chose this one because they had table service instead of a buffet and they had 5 fire dancers. The show did not disappoint. The food was good, drinks plenty, and we had front row seats. Jeremy called way in advance and booked reserved seating for us. He also told them it was our honeymoon and that we wanted front row seats. It must have worked because we had the best seats in the house! The most awkward part of the luau was when they did the wedding dance. They told everyone in the audience who was newly married or celebrating an anniversary to get up and dance. Jeremy really really wanted to dance, so we did, but we were the only ones! I know people say some luau's are cheezy and touristy, but we had such a good time. After the show we walked along the beach. It was perfect.
Our next day on Maui we woke up early and did the Road to Hana. It took us about 9 hours round trip. This may horrify some, but we stopped a lot along the way and really enjoyed ourselves. If you are going to do this drive, make sure you have a whole day, or more! The first hike we tried to do was the Mile 6 hike to the four waterfalls. However, the water was raging so much that we couldn't even make it across the first creek. The hike down that way was nice though, and we are looking forward to doing the hike next time we go to Maui. Along the road we followed the sights listed in the Maui Revealed guidebook starting on page 80. As you read how many stops there are, you can understand why the drive took us so long. We saw some awesome waterfalls and took some great hikes. The first one we did was up the Punalau stream to Punalau falls (page 83). The rocks were pretty slippery because the water was flowing a bit, but the hike was fun and the waterfall at the end was beautiful.

We continued along the way and stopped for the most amazing banana bread at the "Halfway to Hana" roadside stand. I know the book says there is better banana bread on the west coast, but it is wrong! This banana bread is the best. Do not miss it. Between mile 22 and 23 we stopped at Pua'a Ka'a State Park. On the advice of the guide book we took the small awkward trail on the right side of the falls. It was super muddy but really really cool. After walking up and around the first falls, we walked along the water diversion ditch (which was pretty high off the ground) and along what looked like it could be a log flume ride at disneyland. We finally came to the upper falls. It was really pretty and a short careful walk down you could get right to the pond that lead to the diversion ditch system. The reason this falls is so nice is because the water hasn't yet been diverted. At this point I was feeling a little bummed that we hadn't swam in a waterfall, like we had done when we were in costa rica. I felt the water with my toe, freezing. But I looked at Jeremy and said, hold the camera. I stripped down to my bathing suit and dove it. It was exhilarating. We both jumped in a few more times before heading back down the trail. Along the way back down it started to pour. We took cover under a tunneled section of the trail and waited out the rain. By the time we got back to the car we were covered in mud, but it was well worth it. And we were able to wash off at the lower pond.

We continued along the drive stopping for lunch at one of the road side areas. After lunch we decided to check out Maui Cave Adventures and take a walk through a lava tube. This tube was much bigger and longer than the Thurston Lava Tube on Hawaii and is very cool. The owner had known about the lava tube for some time and as soon as the property came up for sale, he jumped on the opportunity to buy the property and open up the cave to visitors. It's a $12 self guided tour and they provide the flashlights. Not only is the cave very interesting, but the information along the cave is very informative. The pictures I have don't do it justice but if you are in the area, I highly recommend stopping here. And yes, they do take credit card.

At this point we were pretty much to Hana and decided that next time we come back we want to spend at least one night here. There are so many things to do in the area. Around now it was close to 3pm and we made the decision to visit the Maui Winery and skip the Seven Sacred Pools. We also had to skip the black and red sand beaches, and lots more waterfalls. Like I said, lots to do up here. So we continued our drive around the other side of the island. The rental car company tells you that they are not responsible if you drive over here, but the roads really aren't that bad at all and we had a standard compact car. In fact, the roads we were on in costa rica were much worse. We did arrive at the Maui Winery just before it closed, but it was so packed with tour buses that it really wasn't that exciting. Visit the one on Hawaii, skip this one.

The next day we had scheduled a bike tour with Haleakela Bike Company. Because it is a sunrise tour at the top of Haleakela we had to be at the bike company at 3am. Yes am. And it was on the east side of the island, where we currently were. So that night we made the decision to get a hotel room in Wailuku which is north center of the island. If we would have gone back to our condo we would have spent an addition al 3 hours driving back and forth. Just didn't seem worth it to us. So we grabbed a room and ate dinner at this cute italian restaurant across the street.

The next morning we woke up early, so early that I'm pretty sure it was still considered the night before. We drove over to Pa'ia and met up with the Haleakela Bike Company. They fitted us with bikes, helmets, backpacks, and rain gear and we started the drive up the volcano. It's about and hour up to the top. Because the moon was just right we were fortunate enough to see a moonbow. Yes a moonbow, and no, before this trip too hadn't heard of such a thing. But they are real and pretty neat. We got up to the top around 5am, about 45 minutes before sunrise. It was freezing! Fortunately we had carried around our winter coats with us the entire trip just for this moment. We took the small trail to the right off the parking lot and found a great spot to watch sunrise. As the sun started to illuminate the sky, it was really awesome to watch the island unfold below us.


The most beautiful sight was just as the disk of the sun pierced through the clouds. The most beautiful sunrise ever. I was so memorized I tried convincing Jeremy that we should go back the next day. It was really a perfect moment that I will forever remember.


After watching sunrise we hopped back into the truck and started down the mountain just until we were outside the park gates. The park won't allow the companies to ride bikes inside the park, so they drop you off just below the 7,000 foot mark. They gave us a map and we were off. I really like this bike company because it is a self guided tour and you just have to be back by 4pm. Considering it was only 6am, we had a lot of time on the bikes. Turns out even with stopping for breakfast we still were back to the shop by 11am, but it was an awesome ride. I highly highly recommend doing the sunrise bike combo.

Before we headed back to the condo we stopped at a lavendar farm and the surfing goat cheese farm. Both were pretty interesting little side trips.

That night we went back to Old Lahania Town and had dinner at a small hole in the wall place called Mala. The inside wasn't much but the outside tables were nice and the food was delicious! I don't know if it would have been worth the price if we were sitting inside, but the outside atmosphere and the amazing food made the cost doable. Plus, we just used the excuse "well, we are on our honeymoon." That night we walked back down Front Street for a while and came across these wood carvers. We watched them for a few moments and then we decided to pick out something for ourselves. They had these little unfinished turtles that you could choose from and then they would finish carving them in front of you. It was really special to watch this guy carve this turtleish shaped piece of wood into a turtle. If we wouldn't have watched him with our own eyes, we would have swore it was made in China.

Our final full day in Maui we took a drive around the west coast. We followed the guide book again and stopped at a few interesting sites, but by far the most interesting was the Nakalele Blowhole. To get to the blowhole we stopped about 1/2 a mile before the main parking lot and walked there along the "Acid Warzone Hike." (p. 192) This was very cool. Because the ocean spray is so dramatic here the volcanic landscape has been literally pulverized and blown away. Everything looks like it is covered in a gray ash and you can clearly see the toll the sea has taken on the boulders. After walking through the war zone we came to the Nakalele Blowhole. The path through this way drops you off right next to the blowhole. As we found out, sometimes it doesn't blow much, and other times it can blow up to 50 feet in the air. But it's not the spray from the blowhole that will get you soaked, it's the waves lingering off the coast waiting until you aren't paying attention to surprise you with their power. We were soaked by the time we left. Here is a video I made of the blowhole. The sudden darkness is me quickly covering the camera to protect it from the sea spray coming from the left of us.



After the blowhole we continued around the coast stopping for some banana bread at Julia's. It was pretty good, but nowhere near as good as "half way to hana" bread. Though they do have this oddly addicting candied coconut and this lilikoi butter which we brought back with us.

On our way back to our condo, we stopped at the Iao Valley. What is so neat about Hawaii is that all of the islands exhibit so many different climates all within minutes of each other. The Iao Valley is so lush and green and yet just on the other side of Hana it looks like a desert. Crazy.

As we woke on our last day in Maui, and the last day of our honeymoon, we spent some time to reflect on the wonderful time we had here. We packed up our stuff and headed out to do one last hike before we left. Unfortunately the hike we wanted to do, the Waihe'e Valley Trail (hanging bridges hike), was closed and it had been for the last few months (since September 2011) due to a disagreement between land owners. The hike looks beautiful and I hope that they all resolve their differences soon so it can be reopened. Instead we did part of the Waihe'e Ridge Trail where there are some beautiful views about 1/2 a mile in. Since we were about to catch our flight home we could only do about 1.5 miles, but next time we will finish the 4 mile loop.

What an amazing honeymoon. We are so lucky that we were able to take a full 3 weeks off work to experience this wonderful place and spend the first weeks of our marriage in Hawaii. We will be back!

Hawaii Part 3 - Kauai

It's a hard choice between Maui and Kauai, but I think Kauai was our favorite island. So green, so lush, so beautiful.

We flew into Kauai in the afternoon and checked into our condo at Kuhio Shores #314 in Poipu. The condo was amazing. I know, I'm using that word a lot, but it had a huge lani (balcony) and it was right on the ocean. We fell asleep each night to the sound of the waves crashing into the shore and the windows wide open. If you're going to Kauai, you should definitely stay here.

Our first day in Kauai we went up to Waimea Canyon. They call it the Grand Canyon of Hawaii and it's pretty spectacular. Not quite as massive as the real Grand Canyon, but still pretty awesome. Everyday we were on Kauai it rained for some period of time then the sun came out; today was no different. We slowly took the long road up to the top, stopping every few miles for some photos. Jeremy picked out a 4 mile hike for us to do through the rain forest on the ocean side of the canyon. It is only in the Ultimate Kauai Guidebook "Kauai Revealed" and it's called the Honopu Ridge Trail on page 196. You'll definitely want to wear long pants that you can roll up into shorts or zip off. We went to the end of the marked trail, and then a bit more, but while we were out there we saw some serious hikers hike all the way to the end of the cliff. It's a gorgeous hike through a forest, dense with ferns and bamboo and culminates with some awe inspiring views of the Napali coast. I highly recommend this hike. That night we went to dinner at a restaurant right next to our condo called The Beach House. It was very romantic and the best part was that we could walk home. Okay, the best part was the food and Mai Tai's but the walk home was a nice bonus.

Our second day we spent the morning going on an ATV tour with Kauai ATV. My parents did this when they were in Hawaii a few years ago and they highly recommended it. The best part about the tour is that they encourage you to hit every mud puddle. We were covered in mud by the end of the adventure; it was so much fun! Though I don't think it would be as much fun during the dry season without any mud puddles. We took turns driving the mud buggie (you have a choice between mud buggie and ATV), to the right is a picture of Jeremy driving while I hold on tight.

After getting all cleaned up, we spent the afternoon snorkeling at Poipu Beach Park and boggie boarding at Brennecke Beach. The waves at Brennecke Beach were huge and we got beat up pretty badly. We were exhausted when we got back to the room, so we stayed in and made some pasta.

Because we were in Hawaii for so long, all the days are starting to blur together, so I'll just tell you about some of the other stuff we did on Kauai, in no particular order.

One day we spent doing the first half of the Napali Coast hike on the Kalalau Trail. This is also a 4 mile round trip hike, well the first part, and it is very popular. The day we did the hike it was again raining on and off, so the trail was very muddy, and the stream crossing at the 2 mile mark was raging. We couldn't cross to get to the beach, and if one were to hike the full trail, I don't know how they would have continued on this day. The full trail is 22 miles round trip, with a camp ground at the far end at mile 11. I've been told by friends that it is a beautiful hike. We enjoyed the first part and hope to do the full hike next time we go back.

A few days later we went for a hike on the east shore on a trail called "Sleeping Giant" (Nounou Mountain). The trail is called this because it traverses up the mountain that is said to look like a giant sleeping on its back. Legend says that in the case of an impending attack, the Kauai people would light fires behind the giant to illuminate his profile. If you squint hard and really really pretent, you can kind of see a giant... maybe.

There are three trails up the mountain; we took the east trail which is about 4 miles long and rises 1000 feet. This is a beautiful hike and one that we will always remember. There are so many amazing views of the Wailua Valley. Once you get past the picnic tables there is a trail that continues out to the chin and forehead of the giant. The hike is well worth it as you can see vast amounts of the island from up here. We spent a good hour at the top hanging out and having lunch. Jeremy also surprised me up there with a necklace that I had been looking at for a while. It was very special.

Besides hiking, we spent a lot of time snorkeling outside our condo, walking around Poipu, and just relaxing. It was so nice.

Our last day on Kauai we went for a doors off (of course) helicopter tour with Jack Harter. The tour was amazing and our pilot was very informative. Of the two helicopter tours we did, this one had the best views, though I did quite enjoy seeing the lava from the sky on the big island. We were mesmerized at how many waterfalls there were on Kauai. Every direction there is a waterfall, and because it had been raining the day before, the sights were even better. Our pilot took us around the whole island, darted in and out of the canyon walls in Waimea Canyon, got up close to the waterfalls, and even spotted a wild hog from the air. If you'd like to do a helicopter tour on Kauai, I would recommend this one for sure.

With so much fun stuff to do on Kauai, it was hard to leave. But we were so excited to get to Maui.

Hawaii Part 2 - The Big Island

After Ohau we jetted off to Hawaii, aka The Big Island. Because the island is so big, we flew into Hilo, drove across to Kona and flew out of Kona. This time we tried to rent an SUV, but much to our surprise rental SUV's don't seem to come with a trunk cover! Not that we were storing lots of stuff in the trunk, but it's nice to have somewhere to keep your snorkel gear and towels or an extra change of clothes. Fortunately we were able to switch into a ford mustang convertible again. Sweet!

In Hilo we stayed at the Volcano Village Lodge on the recommendation of my parents. This place was awesome! Truly beautiful. We spent one night in the Hale Kilauea room and one night in the Haleakala Lodge. Both rooms were so beautiful. I photos and descriptions don't do them justice, but I'll try with a photo. First Hale Kilauea second Haleakala Lodge.


After checking in we headed to Kiawe Kitchen for lunch and then off to Volcano National Park. Kiawe Kitchen was pretty good. We stopped there one day for lunch and then for dinner. Lunch was some pretty good pizzas with amazing homemade pesto, but dinner was pretty slow and terrible. Go for lunch, skip dinner.

When we arrived at the park I was so excited to see lava. I wanted to view it from anywhere and everywhere I could. Unfortunately, since the new eruption in August of 2011 there isn't much lava flowing on the surface anymore. The normal viewing points are mostly cooled off and the only thing you can really see from those is a faint glow. Also because of the latest eruption in August, 2011, over half of the crater rim drive and all of the extension off the Thurston lava tube are closed due to toxic gasses and unstable rock. So we decided to first start by walking the Thurston lava tube. Even though the part we really wanted to do was closed, we were still amazed by it. We even walked it twice. Right across the street from the lava tube is a trail that wanders around a rain forest and then down through the Kilauea Iki crater and back up. It's about 3 miles and took us around 2.5 hours. Really an awesome hike, highly recommended. The details are on page 194 "Kilauea Iki Hike" in the Big Island Revealed book. We spent a lot of time on the floor of the crater walking around and feeling the heat coming out of the steam vents. Around 4:30 we headed up to the Jagger Museum to watch the sun set over the Halema'uma'u Crater and catch one of our very few changes to see lava coming out of the Pu'u'O'o vent. It was pretty cold up there, but we came prepared. As the sun set you could slowly start to see the glow from the lava light up the area around the crater. It wasn't the flowing lava that I had hoped for, but it was still beautiful.

The next morning we woke early and drove up to Hilo to take a helicopter ride over Hilo and the Volcano National Park. We flew with Paradise (aka Tropical) Helicopters and flew with no doors! It was awesome. Only 4 people plus the pilot and everyone gets a great seat. The only person in the middle is in the front. We loved it so much that we took a second, no doors, flight on Kauai, but more on that later. Our helicopter pilot flew right over the Pu'u'O'o vent and over the huge lava field. We got to see some lava flowing on the surface and then some waterfalls over near Hilo. It's pretty amazing to see the lava destruction from the air; where the flow stops and the tree line begins.

After the helicopter tour we drove around to some waterfalls and took a drive on a 4 mile scenic route on the old highway. We headed to Akaka Falls, a 400 foot waterfall, and spent about and hour walking around the small park. After grabbing some ice cream in the small town near the falls, we drove back toward Hilo and stopped at the Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Garden. I'm really glad that we picked this one, because it was beautiful. So many different flowers and plants and orchids, plus it meets right up with the ocean. Also interesting is the story of how it became a botanical garden. There is too much to tell here, but lets just say you should read about it HERE. That night we had dinner back in Volcano (yes, it's the name of the town) at the Kilauea Lodge & Restaurant. It was so good, I wish I was there right now eating. Highly recommended, but you better go early or make reservations.

On Saturday, I think, we headed out of Volcano and over to the drier side of the island: Kona. Along the way we stopped at the Volcano Winery. Although Hawaii isn't exactly a wine producing mecca, they had some pretty decent wines. We bought a bottle of their macadamia nut wine and some other little goodies. We also stopped at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach on the way. This beach is very accessible and pretty awesome. The sand is really really black, and genuine. That is to say, it is created when the chunky 'a'a lava flow meets the ocean and shatters into small pieces. Overtime those pieces are tossed by the ocean so much that they form sand. And guess what else we saw there... a turtle! Just chillin on the beach, getting slightly annoyed every time the water came in to soak him. Guess he should have moved up beach a little more.

After passing several "farmers markets" that were more like crap markets, we arrived in Kona. The next two nights we stayed at the Sea Village #3214. The view was nice, but we weren't too impressed with the rest of the place. It seemed really dirty and just dingy. Fortunately we were there for only 2 nights. Oh yea, and the other guests were weird. Every morning we woke up to a new sign in the parking lot claiming one of the parking spots for a particular unit. I think there was a little infighting between some of the units while we were there. There was also a coffee shop just outside the complex called Green Flash Coffee. The first two days I couldn't figure out why I never saw this place open. The last day I got my answer. When we drove back to the condo to get our stuff to leave, we saw the coffee shop wrapped in plastic being fumigated! Not just sprayed, I mean the whole thing was covered in plastic wrap. I'm so glad we never went there.

After checking in we decided to do some snorkeling and relaxing on the beach. But first, food. We stopped at this place Jeremy found on Yelp called 'Da Poke Shack'. AMAZING. So so good. If you don't know what poke is, well look at the picture to the right. Think tuna tar tar but with bigger cube like pieces and different types of sauce. I liked the simple sesame myself. They also serve it as a plate with rice and a side, or you can get ahi tacos which were also pretty good. We stopped here every day we were in Kona.

After lunch we headed to Kahalu'u Beach Park for some snorkeling and then over to White Sands Beach (aka La'aloa Bay, Magic Sands, etc.) for some relaxation. The snorkeling was pretty good, but the waves at White Sands were awesome. We didn't bring boogie boards this day, but we did come back the next day with them in hand. We had so much fun boogie boarding on this beach. It was also our first experience swimming with a turtle! The "little" guy just floated up right behind us and nearly made us jump. How cool is that, swimming with turtles! That night we headed to the first place Jeremy wanted to eat dinner, Kona Brewery of course. They have so many brews on tap, probably 20 or more, and I think we sampled over half of them. I wish they bottled more of their brews so we could enjoy them in the states. BTW, did you know that Kona beer that you get in the states isn't made in or by Kona at all? They are apparently part of a coop with Craft Brewers Alliance and have all their beer bottled, packaged, and distributed in California; though they claim that it is still their beer since it is their recipe.

The next day we took a kayak trip out to the Captain Cook Monument and had some of the best snorkeling that we did all trip. The waters are so blue and so pristine around the monument. It really is some of the best snorkeling in Hawaii. However, it gets really really crowded by big boats, so get there early if you go. Also, it's protected land, so if you want to go you'll have to get a permit from Hilo to land your kayak, or go with a large boat, or pick one of the two or three companies out of kona that have a permit to land there. We went with Adventures in Paradise. Our kayak guide was really fun and we got there super early so we had the place to ourselves for a while. They also supplied us a nice snack. After kayaking we were craving a burger, bad. So we stopped at Annie's Island Fresh Burgers. Amazing! You have to go here if you are in kona.

The rest of our time in Kona we spent walking around, relaxing, and boogie boarding, of course. We had dinner at Jackie Rey's Ohana Grill one night, which was pretty tasty, and also stopped by Island Lava Java for breakfast, though the food is good, the servers weren't the nicest, or maybe it was just ours. We also took the brewery tour at the Kona Brewery, limited to 15 so go early if it's the weekend. That tour was very informative, and I appreciated that they limited the tour to 15 to make it easier to walk around and listen. While in Kona we bought some clay orchids from CC Whisper Gallery. We had them shipped back to the US and they should be here Tuesday! While the hours on the shop aren't very reliable and the shipping slow, the products are so beautiful and realistic it makes up for the hassle.

After 3 days in Hilo and 2 1/2 in Kona we jetted off to Kauai!

Hawaii Part 1 - Ohau

Our honeymoon was a blast! I can't wait to go back already. We spent 3 weeks in paradise and hit all four major islands: Ohau, Hawaii, Kauai, Maui. Since there is so much to write about I'll split it up into four different blogs. I should also note that for each island we had the Revealed books by Andrew Doughty. You can find them on Amazon, and if you decide to take a trip to Hawaii I definitely recommend getting them. Now, all about Ohau.

From Houston we got a direct flight into Honolulu, Hawaii. My mom and Jeremy arranged for someone to be waiting at the airport for us with beautiful fresh flower leis. They were made of pink bom orchids and were gorgeous (and huge!). I tried to dry them and bring them home with us, but about half way into our time on Kauai they really started to smell bad. On Ohau we rented a Ford Mustang convertible and stayed at the Outrigger Reef Hotel on Waikiki. It was a nice hotel and I would recommended staying here for anyone traveling to Ohau. Because our room wasn't ready when we arrived, we dropped our luggage with the bellman and headed to the bar for some Mai Tai's. Happy hour special, $3.50 each. How can you go wrong. It was the perfect way to start our honeymoon; mai tai's on the beach. After we checked into the room we walked around Waikiki. We checked out the Duke Hahanamoku statue and watched sunset on the beach. We then headed back to the hotel and had dinner at their fancy restaurant, The Ocean House. The fish was amazing and the entries were heavy, but well crafted.

The next day we got up early, which wasn't hard to do because of the time change, and went to Pearl Harbor. If you decide to visit Pearl Harbor, I recommend getting there by 8am to get reasonable tickets out to the USS Arizona Memorial. We got there around 7:45am and our tickets were for 8:30am. While at Pearl Harbor we toured the USS Arizona Memorial, the Battleship Missouri (where the second World War officially ended with the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945), and the USS Bowfin submarine. I learned I would not do well on a submarine, those things are tiny! We also spent an hour or so walking around the grounds and looking at the other memorials. I would leave yourself a good 4 hours to do Pearl Harbor, and more if you wanted to visit the museums.

After Pearl Harbor we headed back to the hotel for some lunch at their third restaurant, the Kani Ka Pila Grill. This is the one that is right out front by the pool, and we liked it the best. The portions are large and the Mai Tai's delicious. The coconut shrimp is very tasty. After staying here for 3 nights we started to understand why people opt to stay in resorts so often. The convenience is just so nice. That evening we took a drive around the island and along Tantalus and Round Top Road (see directions in Ohau Revealed). The 10 mile curvy road is lined with beautiful lush trees and plants and gives you some great vantage points of Honolulu. On our way up the 1600 foot climb we saw some long boarders flying down the road. Along the way you'll come to Pu'u Ualaka'a State Wayside Park. We watched sunset over Honolulu from here. It was beautiful.

Wednesday was our last full day in Ohau. We woke up early and had breakfast at Bogart's Cafe. Then we headed to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling. The parking lot fills up quick, so get there early. We arrived around 8am and were down to the beach by 8:45. When you first get there, you have to watch a 10 minute presentation about the marine life and not harming the bay. I think this is a really good idea, though I'm not sure how effective it is. I guess it must be somewhat because the bay still looks beautiful and pristine. I just love looking at the beautiful blue waters off Hawaii, I never once got tired of it. The water was pretty cold, but we spent about 2 hours in the bay and a little more time just relaxing. We forgot how much further south we were than Texas, because in Texas you don't burn at 10am, but in Hawaii, you do. We spent the next two days with a bottle of Aloe close by.

That afternoon we took a drive around the north shore. Stopping every once in a while to check out the scenery, we decided to eat lunch at a small BBQ joint called Uncle BoBo's. They had plate lunches, which was perfect for Jeremy because he couldn't wait to get one. What is a plate lunch you ask? Well it's a traditional Hawaiian meal consisting of a meat, a side of macaroni salad, and a side of rice. Meat and starch, my favorite. This place is terrific and if you are in the area you should stop by. I highly recommend the pulled pork, and the people working here are super friendly. After lunch we continued our treck around the island until we came up to Turtle Bay. It had been 3 days and I still had not seen a turtle, so we had to stop. As we walked toward the beach, there were a bunch of people crowded around the water. Much to my delight... a turtle! I was so excited and enamored with this turtle swimming in the water that I failed to see the other huge one beached just 30 feet from me. Jeremy looked at me and pointed over to the left saying "hey, what's that rock over there?" Oh man, I thought my head was going to explode. 300 pictures later, Jeremy finally pulled me away and back to the car.

Our last stop in Ohau was the Dole Pineapple Plantation. We didn't take a tour or anything, but it was pretty neat to see the pineapples growing out of the ground and the different stages of the growth. Do you know each plant lasts for two harvesting cycles before being replaced. While there we had to get some pineapple dole whip with fresh pineapples... of course! Okay, maybe it was a little too much pineapple, or so my stomach was trying to convince me. I should note one important thing, if you leave the Dole plantation at 5pm when they close, you will hit rush hour traffic on the way back to Waikiki. With my stomach full of pineapple and Jeremy driving, there was nothing left for me to do but sleep the whole way home.

The next morning we jetted off to Hawaii, aka The Big Island.