Hitched: Hawaiian Honeymoon Part 1, Oahu

Hi there lovelies! Today we will be starting a little something new here at Life with Elizabeth. Instead of Bridal Talk Tuesday, I am starting a new series, Hitched, where I will be sharing all of the details of our wedding. We still have a week and a half before our professional pictures will be ready (not that I’m counting…) so we’ll start today with discussing our honeymoon. I want to make sure to do it justice because it really was the most spectacular trip we’ve ever been on, so this will take several posts. Before I get started, I want to say a big thank-you to the four ladies who held down the fort while I was away on my honeymoon and a special thank-you to those of you who continued to stop by and support them.

Corey and I left for our honeymoon the Wednesday after the wedding. This worked so well for us because we were able to come home from Charlotte and fly out of Newark. We were also able to pack for one event at a time which really eased the stress. I highly recommend waiting a day or two after your wedding before you leave for your honeymoon if you get married in a city other than where you live. 

Corey and I flew from New York to LA and then from LA to Honolulu. Our tickets were first class on the second leg of our flight, which was awesome because we were served a hot lunch and endless drinks. We really  needed the lunch since our layover was only 32 minutes and we didn’t have time to eat in LA!

We arrived in Honolulu after twelve hours of flying but it was only about 1:30 there. We picked up the rental car then took a leisurely drive up to the North Shore, where Turtle Bay Resort is located. I cannot say enough good things about Turtle Bay. I am so glad we chose to spend half of our time there. We had our own little beach front cottage (bonus points if you know what movie was filmed here). 

We headed to 21 Degrees North, the resorts upscale restaurant, for dinner on our first night. Everything was delicious but this salad was amazing. It was a romaine stack with parmesan and pineapple croutons (roasted pineapple) and a garlic peppercorn dressing. Yum!

The next morning we woke up super early and went on a hike around Turtle Bay’s property. This resort is huge with so many fun activities to do. We even found a World War II bunker on the property. 

We had a couple’s massage in the morning then spent the afternoon at the pool relaxing. 

We explored the island a little the next day in the morning. It was absolutely gorgeous! The scenery in Hawaii is just amazing. We stopped for Hawaiian barbeque for lunch – this was absolutely delicious. 

Then, we went back to the pool and Corey went surfing. He used to surf when he was younger so he was really good at it. 

We tried Ola, Turtle Bay’s beach front restaurant for dinner then we made smores at the fire pit by the pool.

The following morning we went scuba diving, which Corey loved but I absolutely hated. Then, we had a delicious local lunch and relaxed in the hammock by our room before heading to dinner. One our way to dinner, we stopped by Giovanni’s, a local garlic shrimp truck, to try Oahu’s famous garlic shrimp. They were pretty awesome. 

Then, on Sunday morning we checked out and headed to Waikiki for a night and spent our last day in Oahu at Pearl Harbor before heading off to Maui. I think Pearl Harbor deserves a post of its own so more to come on that next time! 

I highly recommend Turtle Bay resort and Oahu’s north shore. It was the perfect start to our honeymoon. It felt very private and “natural Hawaii” and everyone was so welcoming and we were constantly congratulated on our marriage (and gifted free champagne). 

Happy Tuesday loves!