After a whirlwind September that included our wedding, the High Holy Days and our Honeymoon, Michal and I are home and settling back into a normal routine. It is hard to express the gratitude we have for our family and friends that made this month possible. Our absolutely perfect wedding weekend led into our absolutely perfect honeymoon. It was truly the best month of our lives and we are so grateful for our amazing group of family and friends that enabled it to happen. I wanted to share our honeymoon itinerary and reflections in hope that they help someone plan their trip to Maui and frankly, so that I remember everything we did!

Itinerary

Thursday September 24 - HELLO HAWAII!

Flight: UA 636 LAX to OGG (90k Reward Miles for two round trip tickets - pretty awesome value there)
Pickup Car @ Hertz
- I generally thought Hertz was overpriced until I booked it through the United website. The discount makes it as affordable as any competitor but you get the best company (in my humble opinion.) Also, sign up for Hertz Gold. It's free online and when you arrive at Hertz, you check the board for your name and car stall, walk to your car and drive out. Easiest thing ever - still loving it.
Hotel: Fairmont Kea Lani
Dinner & Drinks: Luana Lounge in hotel

Friday September 25 - Pool Day

Breakfast: Kea Lani Restaurant
- Our package included breakfast at the Kea Lani Restaurant every morning. If any one small thing made our trip, it was included breakfast every morning - no small price at $85 for two breakfast buffets every morning. We got into a routine of waking up with the sun, coming down to breakfast by 7 AM, eating and doing the crossword together. The best - and we were by the pool earlier enough to get any chair we wanted.
Pool Day
- The adult pool at Kea Lani is serene. We spent much of our time reading by the pool. Michal and I had to go to Target/Costco to buy more books because we sped through the one we each brought.
Lunch at Caffe Ciao Deli
- In the hotel, there is a spot to grab sandwiches, salads, snacks, coffee, etc. Pretty expensive, but some good stuff. We only ate there a couple days because of the price, but it is certainly convenient.
Dinner at Monkeypod
- They have happy hour starting at 9 that gives you discounted drinks, half priced appetizers and cheap pizzas. It was one of our best finds the entire trip and absolutely delicious food. I'd have agreed with TripAdvisor's 4 star review if we had paid full price, but absolutely a 5 star experience for us.

Saturday September 26 - Makawao & Paia

Morning: Pool
Late Afternoon:
- Costco Run
  - We made the decision to escape $15 cocktails and buy a $19 liter of Kirland Tequila and some mixers. Highly recommended.
- Makawao
- Paia
  - Rock & Brews for Happy Hour
    - As we wandered around the cute little town of Paia, we came in here for happy hour. 50+ beers on tap, friendly staff and some tasty apps.
  - Ho'okipa Beach Park
    - Beautiful view with lots of surfers. A quintessential snapshot of Hawaii.
  - Mama’s Fish House
    - This place came highly recommended to us. We enjoyed the incredibly fresh fish caught by their fisherman that day (they even tell you who caught what fish where). Nice dining experience but I do wish we had dined at sunset.

Sunday September 27 - E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES! & Beer

Eagles Game @ Moose McGillycuddy's
- Naturally, I dragged Michal here to watch the game. The bar unfortunately opened at 7:30 AM (30 minutes after early kickoffs) but had every NFL game on an impressive arsenal of TVs. We paid $8 total for 2 Bloody Marys. All in all, a successful outing.
Wow Wow Lemonade
- Awesome lemonade, but most importantly, it's next to Coconut's which makes the best Fish Taco on the planet. We didn't discover this fun fact for another few days. Food hack: Get Fish Tacos from Coconut's and fresh Lemonade from Wow Wow. You won't regret your decision.
Maui Brewing Co
- One of the more important things to happen on our vacation was that our visit to Maui Brewing Co and a well selected flight yielded a newfound appreciation of beer for Michal. That's a really big win. This place was great, had games (we opted for Scrabble and Mancala), 25+ fresh beers brewed right there on tap, a delicious food truck and really good vibes.
Ko
- One of our best decisions we made was to dine at Ko, the award receiving restaurant in the Kea Lani. However, I read mixed reviews and wasn't sure if we were going to dine there. Lucky for us, they were running a $49 special for an appetizer, entree and dessert that was well worth the money. They make this dish called Oishi Sushi, which just means "Good Sushi". It was easily one of the best things we have ever eaten. The rest of the meal was almost as delicious. Hope we get the chance to eat more Oishi Sushi in our lives.

Monday September 28 - Spa Day

Couples Massage at Willow Stream Spa
- Our couples massage was great. I wanted a little more from the facility, but the overall experience was definitely positive. And we got a poolside cabana for the day. Win-win.
Ferraro's Bar e Ristorante
- Life is good when you get to dine oceanside and drink wine as the sun sets. The smoked short ribs and mushroom risotto were two of the best dishes I have ever eaten. Highly recommended.

Tuesday September 29 - Road to Hana

Road to Hana
- This was one of the most memorable days of the honeymoon. We left our hotel around 7:30 and headed out of Paia around 8:15 after we filled up our tank with gas and got some coffee. We downloaded the Road to Hana GPS Driving Tour app the night before and frankly, I'm not sure what we would have done otherwise. Service was spotty but GPS always worked, and as we drove, "Grandpa" as we called him, took us on a tour and told us where to stop. It's hard to describe but easily one of the most beautiful places we have ever been. We made it all the way to Ohe'o Gulch, but unfortunately the pools were closed. Instead we did a 4 mile hike to a beautiful 400ft waterfall. The Road to Hana is an absolute must if you're on Maui.
- At no point in the drive did I wish we had a Jeep. Seems completely superfluous to me. The road is very well maintained.
- If you get carsick, get your doctor to write a prescription for Transderm Scop. Michal gets car sick very easily but didn't feel a thing with the patch. It was amazing.
Dinner: Paia Fish Market
- We were planning on stopping at Paia Fish Market on our way back from Hana, and our virtual tour guide "Grandpa" also thought that was a good idea. We had some amazing Fish & Chips.

Wednesday September 30 - Haleakala

Haleakala
- When you go into Haleakala National Park, you pay $15 and get a receipt that's good for three days. Since we had entered Haleakala park on our trip to Hana, we still had a good pass. We headed up the mountain a little too early - we were aiming for sunset but went up about two hours too early. It only took us about 90 minutes to get to the top, even with occasional stops to take pictures and appreciate the views. There's not a ton to do at the top, and the 60-120 minutes we had allotted to spend at the top was too much. We really just wanted to see the sunset and come back down. Even so, the breathtaking drive was an incredible experience - it's not everyday you get to drive through clouds. An absolute must on a visit to Maui.
Hali'imalle General Store
- We had a great meal after coming down from Haleakala. We ordered the Brie & Grape Quesadilla, Sashimi Pizza, and Grilled Rack of Lamb. Everything was absolutely amazing. I had read about Bev Gannon and her influence on the restaurant scene in Maui and this place completely lived up to the hype.

Thursday October 1 - Pool Day & Best Fish Tacos EVER

Lunch at Coconut's Fish Cafe
- We had a lot of amazing meals on our honeymoon. The only thing we haven't stopped talking about were these fish tacos. Well that and Oishi Sushi. But these Fish Tacos were SO OISHI.
Dinner at Tommy Bahamas
- Solid happy hour with great Mai Tais. Excellent wait staff. Good food. They also gave us free dessert for our honeymoon. Best of all, they give you postcards with your check that they will send anywhere. We sent a few.

Friday October 2 - Pool Day & Best Fish Tacos EVER AGAIN

Lunch at Coconut's Fish Cafe
- Yeah we went back. What.
Happy Hour Hopping
- Our first day, the bartender at the pool bar gave us a great idea: happy hour hop through the hotel: 4-6 at Ko, 5-7 at Nick's Fishmarket, 8-11 at Luana Lounge. So we drank and ate our way through the night, with lots of Rummy 500 and a couple plates of Oishi Sushi. It was so Oishi.

Saturday October 3 - Pool Day & Bye Bye Hawaii

Lunch at Caffe Ciao Deli
Ululani Shaved Ice
- It's like Hawaiian Rita's. My niece V and I are on the same page - this place is absolutely delicious.
Dinner at Sansei
- The quality of fish at every restaurant on this island is truly amazing. Really good sushi here in a very casual atmosphere.

Some Final Notes

Weather.com and other standard weather sites are terrible for Hawaii. HawaiiWeatherToday.com had the best forecasts. I highly suggest it.
We came at the perfect time - the end of September. The island felt pretty empty, we had no trouble getting reservations at any restaurant, the ocean temperature was 82 degrees. If it's feasible, I highly suggest that time of year for a trip to Hawaii.
If you can book a package that includes breakfast, you will enjoy your vacation so much more. We booked through lhrcollection.com, the travel site through our United CC. It was a small thing, but made our vacation so much nicer.
After we realized that there was a Target and Costco right next to the airport, we wished we had waited to buy sunscreen and little travel necessities.
Also, save money on drinks and buy your liquor/mixers at Costco.

Our Perfect Maui Honeymoon