Chickens

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This is a combo entry (Disclosure). The night after the wedding on Saturday, we stayed at the Estancia Hotel in La Jolla. We got the romance package which included champagne and berries on arrival (midnight), breakfast in bed and a couples private garden massage.

We pulled up in our white 1929 Durant, driven by our awesome chauffeur Lance, with Mark pressing the siren button all the way to the door. We checked in and found our champagne, which we drank but didn't finish (Mimosa's in the morning!).

The room was great! It overlooked a beautiful courtyard, featuring a San Diegan natural habitat and small children playing. Then it was breakfast in bed time, more like on table and in room but whatever. Mark got a stuffed french toast and I got blueberry corn pancakes with plantain cooked in it with an orange creme fraiche. We both got (I think Orange Mango) smoothies with our leftover champagne mixed in, fruit, coffee, and of course, the grooms cake! The grooms cake was incredible! A moist chocolate cake with a fluffy peanut butter mousse filling 😊

After breakfast, we checked out, left our luggage at the front desk and walked to the spa for our noon massage. Mark had never gotten a massage before, but I've gotten my fair share of them. Even so, I had never seen such an amazing spa! It's separated by gender. You walk in, there's bathrooms to the right, then showers, outside was a jacuzzi, then to your left was the lockers and changing room, then in the center there was a steam room and a door that lead to the "relaxation room". I met up with Mark at the relaxation room all decked out in our robes and plastic sandals, where we were greeted by Cecilia and Mark's massage therapist (A man, who's name I can't remember). The massage was in a private room, with double doors opened up into a small private garden. The combination of the massage oils warmth, the cool of the breeze and the sound of nature, was just incredible.

After the massage, we went into our "gender specific spa's" and spent some time in the steam room. I took my time to get ready, because they had everything a woman needs; hair products, lotion, blow dryer, brushes, face wash...

That was Sunday, then came Monday: departure day! At around 8:20am, Mark's mom, Leslie, kindly came to pick us up for the airport. We got there, 2 hours early, and took our time using one of those automated boarding pass machines. We decided to check in one big piece of luggage to share and carried on my laptop and purse. Boarding started sooner than we expected. We meandered away from our rocking chairs we were chillin' at, up to the gate entrance. After boarding, we kept saying how we should sleep. There was no way I was going to sleep, too much excitement!

...5 and 1/2 hours later and we were almost there. Not quite, we were in Oahu. Don't get me wrong, we were more than excited to be in Hawaii, but we had an hour layover to spend for the flight to Kauai. So we did, with a tasty Mai Tai at this little restaurant called Stinger Ray's. It was sooo yummy! The tall, curvy glasses came filled with golden deliciousness and were topped with dark rum. Before we knew it, it was time to go!

After some brutal beating by Mark, in the card game Killer that is, we landed in oh-so-gorgeous KAUAI!!!

Then there was this place called "Budget" car rentals. Mark had called an agent prior to confirm that with his corporate code with US Bank, the underage charge would be waved and we'd only owe a little over $450. We got there, they processed our reservation and the total came out to be $700... We disputed it and they were claiming it was because of taxes, 50% taxes? We talked with a woman called Catz, short for Catalina. She was a sweet woman and tried to help as best as she could. She told us we might as well take the convertible because it was the same price as those tiny compact cars. And that later, we could hop on our laptop and look up that corporate code, to give to her to process.

Mark here, laying it down. After nearly an hour at the counter, we decided to just take the car and deal with it later. We didn't want this ruining our trip. So we drove with the top down, in and out of rain, through the jungle to our hotel/timeshare/condo/awesomespot. Seriously, Kauai is the most naturally gorgeous place I have ever seen. It's so lush, quiet, untouched, and naturally perfect. One thing Brittni and I have noticed is that there are wild chickens everywhere!!! The roosters like to cock a doodle doo when ever they want, and it's pretty hilarious.

Anyways, our lodging is this sick condo that overlooks the ocean, so the sound of the crashing waves permeates the very open layout. After exploring our room, we had to get something to eat. So, we started walking around looking for places to eat (yes, walking, I wanted to get my swerve on!). But a big shout out here goes to Matt Franzella for getting me the rental car info to handle the scandal! Crisis averted, thanks buddy. So after walking aimlessly for a few miles we got to Keoke's Paradise, a really cool garden tiki (go figure) setting. The food was killer! We got onion rings, baby back ribs, fish tacos, and a Hula Pie (an amazing Hawaii desert of ice cream, hot fudge, and macadamia nuts). We also had a few (shots of Patron count haha) tropical drinks and there was a chill Hawaiian band playing some mellow songs. After a few hours there, we walked back to Kuhio Shores and walked down some of the local beaches. Kauai is a very laid back place, and I can tell Britt and I will be having a really good time here. More later, aloha and mohalo for reading!

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