Tag Archives: hawaiian outdoors

outside activities in hawaii

Yokohama Bay & Kaena Point

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We took advantage of the long holiday weekend and drove out to Yokohama Bay and Kaena Point. Lucky for us, the beach was empty and the hike wasn’t crowded at all. Highlights from the hike (besides the unreal views) include a Hawaiian Monk Seal swimming up on us as we dangled our feet in the water completely oblivious, the baby albatrosses, spotting a baby needle fish and a sea cucumber. Quite the wildlife adventure! We rewarded ourselves with some fantastic Puerto Rican food!

Empty beach!
Such a stunning view.
Baby albatrosses!
Sea cucumber
Baby needle fish
Yay friends!
Favorite view from the day.
Hawaiian Monk Seal!
Mofongo with garlic shrimp. So good!

 

 

 

Safer-at-Home & A Little Outdoors

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Josh and I spent most of March, April, and May staying inside and distancing ourselves in this crazy world. We finally started getting out a bit more at the end of May and beginning of June with socially distanced hiking and beach days. It’s been kind of nice to explore the island without the crowds! #luckywelivehawaii

Double rainbow from our lanai.
Kailua Beach
Birthday sangria on the beach!
Kualoa Ranch
Kailua Beach
Pu’u Ma’eli’eli Trail
Red Fish Poke

Josh & Andy Go Gliding

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For Josh and Andy’s birthday this year, Anna had the great idea of getting them a ride together in a glider. We were able to completely surprise them a couple weekends ago with a glider ride on the North Shore with Honolulu Soaring.

My favorite picture from the day!
So excited after their flight!

 

After gliding, we spent some time on the beach enjoying the view and the waves.

After our time on the North Shore, we were able to surprise them once more with a cake and friends at Paradise Ciders. Successful day!

BGCH friends!

Lanai: Trip 3

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A few weeks ago, we went to Lanai for long weekend to celebrate birthdays! We stayed at the Four Seasons, which was just an unbelievable experience. We landed on Friday afternoon, checked in, and had a late lunch.

Our beautiful view.
These beautiful birds are rescue birds. They greet you on your way to your room and say “hello” among other things.
Local Fish Sandwich: tomato, onion, arugula, kalamata olive aioli with white rice & black quinoa

After lunch, we relaxed in our room and enjoyed the sunset from our lanai before dinner at Nobu. Neither of us had eaten at a Nobu before, so we weren’t sure what to expect. It absolutely blew us away. Every single thing we ate was delicious and ended up being our best dinner of the weekend.

Cheers!
Grilled Shishito Peppers
Yellowtail Jalapeño
Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna
Black Cod Miso in Butter Lettuce
Local Whitefish Tempura
Spicy Tuna Roll
Nobu Lanai FIJI Water Shave Ice: Mango Granita, Red Bean, Tropical Fruit Confit, Locally Grown Tropical Fruits & Fresh Coconut Sorbet
Banana Toban-Yaki: Soy Caramelized Bananas, Pecans, Banana Nut Bread Croutons, Rum Raisin Ice Cream

On Saturday, also Josh’s birthday, we started our morning with a walk to the bay. We were extremely lucky and caught a pod of dolphins entering the bay. After watching them for a bit, we went back to the hotel and had an açai bowl for breakfast. Pretty much the perfect morning.

So, so good.
Such a view!

After breakfast, we left for the Lanai Cat Sanctuary to spend the day with all the cute kitties!

Josh’s cat that he sponsored in place for his birthday.
Kittens who did NOT want to be our friend.
Josh in his element. So happy!
Selfie!
Not so sure about being my friend.
Definitely wanted to be my friend.

After about four hours with the cats, we arrived back at the hotel to a surprise birthday cake for Josh in our room! We enjoyed a couple bites of cake and then got ready for dinner at Lanai City Grille.

So delicious!
House-made chips and crackers with crab dip, pimento cheese dip, and shallot crème fraîche.
Truffle Butternut Squash Bisque
Grilled Mahi Mahi served over local-style fried rice with crispy tempura scallions and sea asparagus in a miso clam broth.
Forcing Josh to love me.

On Sunday, we spent the morning and early afternoon at the beach. We relaxed, read books, snorkeled, and saw a few whales in the distance! Such a completely surreal place to spend the day.

Could spend every day here..no problem…
Doesn’t get much better than this!
Lunch!

After the most relaxing day, we enjoyed dinner at One Forty for our last evening on Lanai. We wanted to try a bunch of items so we ordered smaller plates and shared everything.

Ali’i Mushroom Soup: Crispy Shiitake Mushrooms, Spiced Macadamia Nuts, Crème Fraîche, Chives
Locally Caught Ahi Poke: Sliced Avocado, Hawaiian Kukui Nuts, Maui Sweet Onion, Avocado Puree, Soy Sauce
Kauai Shrimp: Saffron Poached-Grilled Pineapple, Sweet and Spicy Heirloom Tomato Sauce
Smoked Gouda Mac & Cheese
Lemon Sorbet & Fruit

On Monday, we walked the beach, hiked to Pu’u Pehe, and enjoyed time by the pool before we had to (sadly) leave. We are ready to go back!

Perfect weather. Perfect view from the pool.
One last look at our lovely view!

Danielle & Brick Visit!

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Josh and I kicked off 2020 with our lovely friends visiting. Unfortunately, our weather wasn’t exactly cooperating for their trip. However, we were able to squeeze in a beach walk, lots of good food, Pearl Harbor, and a couple hikes. Ready for them to come back!

Started the New Year off with a walk on Kailua beach.
Delicious fish tacos thanks to Brick.
Waiting out the rain at Pearl Harbor.
Starting our hike around Hanauma Bay.
The waves were insane!
❤
So windy!
The most delicious acai bowl on the island.

 

The Big Island: Trip 6

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In September, our friends Andy and Anna got married on The Big Island! My immediate family all came so we spent some quality time exploring new parts of the island along with celebrating our friends!

We arrived to Kona early on Thursday. We stopped at Daylight Minds for some coffee before heading to Da Poke Shack for some delicious poke. We checked in to our hotel and relaxed for a bit. Then headed to the coffee farm where they were getting married for a BBQ.

The next day, we got up early to hike to Papakōlea Beach (also known as Green Sand Beach). This had been on our list for years and we were so excited to finally get to see it! The hike was beautiful and even though it was completely exposed to the sun, it was such a windy day that it was pretty comfortable. The downside is that we were totally covered in dust/sand from head to toe because of the wind.

We encountered some friends on the way to the hike.
The waves were beautiful on our entire hike.
Getting closer!
Picture does not do this massive cliff justice.
So beautiful!
Tom taking his panos from every angle possible.
Holding on to dear life while we got pelted with sand.
Josh wayyyyy up there.
Checking out the view.

After we hiked back, we were all very ready for lunch. We stopped at Punalu’u Bake Shop for lunch and some malasadas (which were amazing). We then continued on to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park since Linda and Tom had never been there. We saw the steam vents and the caldera (but couldn’t see the green lake that’s forming).

So amazing!

We arrived back at the hotel and took much needed showers. We then decided to go to dinner and enjoy the sunset along the coast at the Four Seasons. We were all really excited to go back as we were fortunate enough to have dinner there two years earlier. Such a beautiful sunset!

Just stunning!

On Saturday, we decided to relax at the hotel before the big celebration that night! We arrived at the coffee farm in time for cocktails with a side of misty rain and a beautiful sunset. The weather cleared up and we had an AMAZING time! So much fun eating, drinking, and dancing!

Yay!
Fam!
Sibling love.
Congratulations!

On Sunday, we spent some time enjoying the lovely view before heading to the airport to part ways. Such a fun, packed weekend! ❤

Soaking in the last few minutes with the view.

Maui: Trip 4

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To ring in 2019 we headed to Maui to celebrate our friends getting married! We had a beautiful sunrise and some great views of Molokai and Lanai on our flight over.

Lanai
Windmills on West Maui.

 

We arrived on Saturday morning and had breakfast in Paia at Paia Inn Café.

Pineapple mint jalapeño juice. Delicious but so spicy!
Huevos Rancheros Verde: cumin black beans, two eggs, salsa verde, lime crema, queso fresco, with corn tortillas, and cilantro

After breakfast, we drove around and then headed to Lahaina to check in and get ready for dinner. We made reservations to visit our favorite restaurant, Mama’s Fish House, for dinner.

Crispy Mahi-Mahi Rolls with poha berry and Hamakua mushroom brandy sauce
Seared ahi special
Mama’s Stuffed Fish: Stuffed with lobster and crab, baked with a Macadamia nut crust

On Sunday, we walked around Lahaina and then met at Hale Pa’ahao Prison for the rehearsal before the rehearsal dinner at Old Lahaina Luau.

Hanging out at the prison!

 

Monday was the big day! The girls started their day at the Royal Hawaiian getting ready for the ceremony. We all got to wear the most incredible flowers in our hair! Caitlin was just stunning and we had a blast getting beautiful!

Beautiful rainbow to start our morning!
Getting beautiful!
Can’t get over how beautiful the flowers were!
Just stunning!

Next stop, the prison! It was a beautiful ceremony with more unbelievable flowers. After the ceremony, we boarded a whale watching boat to cruise around Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. We saw whales and an incredibly sunset.

Jake and Kersten!

Next stop was Down the Hatch in Lahaina followed by dancing at Monkeypod to ring in the new year! It was such a wonderful day celebrating!

Lahaina at night
Shots for Jake’s birthday at midnight!

 

 

Cruise: Honolulu, Hilo, & Days at Sea

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Josh and I spent the first two and a half weeks of November on the most phenomenal vacation of our lives. We took a cruise that left from Honolulu and stopped in various places in French Polynesia ending in Tahiti.

We started in Honolulu on November 1st with a beautiful sunset and champagne followed by a steak dinner and cruising through the first night to Hilo.

Enjoying champagne on the ship!
Diamond Head
Enjoying more champagne and an incredible sunset.
Leaving Honolulu!
Safety first.
Carmel popcorn ice cream…as good as it looks!

We woke up on Friday to a gorgeous sunrise from our balcony. We enjoyed some delicious coffee and the view of The Big Island as we made our way to Hilo. We spent the day wandering Hilo with our friends who happened to be in Hilo for the weekend.

Beautiful sunrise
Our fancy coffee we had every single morning!
Rainbow Falls
Finally got to try mochi from Two Ladies Kitchen!
Josh trying out the SUP board with peddles.
Double rainbow leaving Hilo.

After leaving Hilo, we spent the next four days at sea heading toward the Marquesas Islands. Our days were filled with the gym, lots of delicious food and drinks, a fantastic massage, lounging by the pool, and reading. I think it was the most relaxed we’ve been in our lives!

Forcing Josh to drink a Piña Colada with me.
Dover sole with lemon caper sauce.
Josh’s chorizo scallops.
Fancy apple tart dessert. Just as delicious as it looks!
Enjoying after dinner drinks in the lounge.

Maui: Trip 3 – Days 3 & 4

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On Sunday, we got up and enjoyed coffee on our lanai again. After that, we picked up Brick and Danielle and headed to Paia for lunch and to walk around the town. After that, we decided we had enough time to head up to Haleakala. It was a really clear day so the views were stunning!

BFF
Slightly windy…
Silversword

After that, we drove back to our hotels for the evening and relaxed and packed up to leave the next day. Josh and I enjoyed the most gorgeous sunset from our lanai. So many different colors!

On our last day, we once again enjoyed coffee on our lanai and took in the view one last time. Josh also played some Hawaiian games on the lawn of the hotel before we left. Our last stop of the trip was Lahaina to wander around the town. We had lunch with Danielle and Brick on the water at Lahaina Fish Co. before heading to the airport. Such a wonderful trip!

Josh playing some games.
Ahi “Katsu” Rice Bowl: panko crusted medium rare tuna with white rice with wakame (ocean) salad, pickled ginger, carrot curls, shredded nori, sliced cucumber, sesame seeds and wasabi ginger beurre blanc
Island Fresh Fish Tacos: cheddar cheese, ancho chile crema, taco sauce, topped with tropical fruit salsa

Maui: Trip 3 – Days 1 & 2

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For Labor Day, Josh and I went to Maui to meet up with my friend Danielle and her fiancé Brick. We started our trip by making it to the hotel just in time for an incredible sunset. After we changed and got ready for dinner, we went into Lahaina to eat at Lahaina Grill. A beautiful sunset and delicious dinner were a great way to start our long weekend!

Blue Corn Panko Crusted Chile Relleno: filled with tiger prawns, diver scallops, monterey jack cheese on roasted sweet corn relish, avocado, crème fraîche, roasted tomato-ancho chile salsa
Opakapaka Fish Special: parmesan panko crusted over risotto, grilled shrimp, and beurre blanc

On Saturday, we got up and had coffee on our lanai and met Danielle and Brick to hike Waihe’e Ridge Trail.

We had about an hour drive to the Northwest side of Maui before making it to the start of the trail. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to hike and our views were stunning. At one point, we had waterfalls on both sides of us.

We made it to the top!

After our hike, we drove around West Maui. We stopped for some banana bread and to take in the incredible views.

After quite a lovely morning and early afternoon, we went back to our hotels to rest and get ready for dinner at Mama’s Fish House.

If you ask Josh and I what the best meal of our lives is we both say “Mama’s Fish House”. Needless to say, we were pretty excited to go back and it lived up to our memories!

Cheers!
Tomato Soup
Maui Venison seared with roasted spices and honey lime sauce
Papa’s Sashimi: Ono: with lime, green chili oil, papaya and Maui pink sea salt. Ahi with ponzu, watermelon radish, red shiso and Kukui nut. Kanpachi with Maui onion-fig jam and Molokai black sea salt.
Poi
Opakapaka sauteed with Hamakua mushrooms, white wine and capers
Ono, Ahi and Kanpachi in Panang Curry with Macadamia nuts, banana, sambal and mango chutney

After dinner, we drove back to our hotels and called it a night!