Maui Wowee Wedding!

  Maui, Hawaii, United States
Wednesday, January 9, 2008

I wanted to call this entry "The Calm Before the Storm" as this trip was for a wedding that just happened to be about a week before our journey through the Southern Hemisphere, but seeing how much Andrew and I loved Maui, I could not resist calling it "Maui Wowee". This was Andrew's first trip to Hawaii and my first trip to the Island of Maui and it was the perfect time to visit the island, seeing that we timed being there during two of the biggest storms to hit San Francisco in years. As our friends hunkered down back at work after the New Year avoiding high winds and ferocious rain, Andrew and I happily attended cocktail and dinner events, sat by the pool, played golf, drank cocktails out of pineapple's and snorkeled in crystal blue waters. As we basked in perfect 75 degree weather, we couldn't help but enjoy the fact that this was going to be our life for the next couple months.

Andrew and I left our apartment at 7am on January 2nd for our 10am flight to Maui. The early departure was the result of a discovery we made when we tried to check-in the night before. We found that we must have been a little over anxious when we booked the tickets a few months before as I was checked in as Lisa Duffell, a name that I had not yet changed to. We had not yet picked up our marriage certificate and after having the fear of God be put in us by Aloha Airlines customer service, we figured the extra hour or so couldn't hurt. After a few security screenings and a pat down by TSA, we were off!

Andrew and Woddy (the Groom)

We arrived in Maui at 1:30pm and met our friends David Forst and Rebe Glass at the airport. They had rented a car to take us to our Hotel: The Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea. Upon our arrival we were greeted with Aloha's, friendly faces and flower and macadamia nut lei's. We immediately went to the Polo Beach Bar and Grille for a bite to eat and a cocktail overlooking the gorgeous pools and windswept blue ocean. Just as we finished lunch, we got the call that our room was ready and were escorted to our gorgeous suite where I took a long bath and relaxed before going to cocktails to celebrate the bride and groom.

The group at the Fairmont

We met our friends Todd and Jessie Harris, Brian and Serena Ralph and Dave and Rebe in the hotel lobby and took the shuttle to Sea Watch Restaurant at the Wailea Golf Club. We sipped on Maui Sunset cocktails as we watched the actual Maui sun set in the distance and met the wedding party who arrived throughout the evening. Andrew went out to the first tee on the Wailea course at sunset to scope out the first tee and came back more excited than I had seen him in a long time. He was like a little boy on Christmas Eve and he couldn't wait until our 7:30am tee time the next day and wanted to go to bed early so that it would be the morning.

Golfing at Wailea

Andrew and I woke up early on Thursday to get to the course and hit a few balls. We were playing the Emerald course at Wailea and it could not have been more spectacular. The views could not be beat and the course was in perfect shape. After an amazing round with scores of a 90 and an 83, we retreated to the beach at the Hotel, where Andrew spent a better part of the afternoon being a boy and riding the waves with his friends.

Later that afternoon we boarded buses that took us from Wailea to Lahaina where the groom's family was treating us to an authentic Hawaiian Luau, complete with all the Mai Tai's you could drink, as much pork as you could eat and as much hula as you could watch in one sitting.

On the beach at the Old Lahaina Luau

As Andrew and I looked out the window of the bus on the way to the Old Lahaina Luau we watched Whales breach in the distance on one side and rainbows form in the mountains on the other side. It was at that moment when Andrew wanted to figure out where he could possibly work in Hawaii so we could move there.

We woke up early the next morning and got coffee from Cafe Ciao at the Hotel and walked along the beautiful ocean path to the Four Seasons where we stumbled upon the groom and a game room where I proceeded to beat Andrew in Shuffleboard. : ) There were also a number of video games in the game room and I simply could not understand why all of these kids were sitting inside playing video games when they could be outside enjoying the gorgeous beach.

We returned to our hotel where we enjoyed a spectacular brunch with all the bacon I could possibly eat, laid by the pool drinking cocktails out of enormous pineapples and snorkeled off of the beach at the Fairmont. We left the Hotel for the wedding which took place at the gorgeous oceanside Makena Unitarian Church and headed to the Four Seasons for drinks, dinner and dancing under the moon and the palm trees.

Our table overlooking the beach

As we dined on Fillet from Duo restaurant and sipped on red wine, I decided that The Four Seasons Maui could not have been a more perfect venue for a wedding. After partaking in a glass of champagne and the chocolate fountain after the reception was over, we joined Rebe and Dave for a barefoot walk down the pitch black ocean path back to the Fairmont.

We woke up the next morning and joined the wedding party for Brunch at Spago at the Four Seasons and Andrew and I left early to play golf at Makena South. We had gone off a friends recommendation, but if you are reading this and you are a golfer, do not bother going to Makena South. I determined that Makena must have meant crappy in Hawaiian because that is exactly what it was. Andrew liked it because he shot a 77, but all I can say is that for the price, Wailea is a MUCH better deal. After golf we drove to Kihea and had few drinks at Lulu's, an open air sports bar iwhere we watched the Steelers get pounded by the Jaguars. After a Lapperts Ice Cream in the Wailea shopping center, Andrew and I got a couple cocktails back at the hotel and sat under the tiki torches by the beach and recounted our Hawaiian experience and talked about our upcoming travels.

Before I finish this entry, I must briefly talk about the Spa at the Grand Wailea. If I could possibly create an image of Heaven in my mind, this would be it. Jessie and I walked from our hotel on Sunday morning, the day of our departure and arrived at Spa Grande. After a quick tour of the place Jessie and I had a full hour to enjoy Hydrotherapie before our 50-minute hot stone massages. I was like a kid in a candy shop. I hoped from the papaya enzyme bath to the seaweed bath and over to the Aromatherapy bath, before going into the champagne bubble spa and the steam room. It was so relaxing and in one word, fantastic, as was my wonderful hot stone massage overlooking the ocean with the sound of fountains in the background.

Andrew picked me up for our return flight and I honestly thought he was about to cry as we lifted off from what could only be referred to as Paradise! Onwards and forwards we go. One week until our departure for Hong Kong and the Southern Hemisphere. We could not be more excited.