Aloha from Hawaii! (Days 1 and 2)

It was a bit of a rough start to the trip as I came down with a horrible case of food poisoning (not mentioning any names...Beck's Prime) that kept me up most of the night on Sunday before our flight and lasted all the way up to the terminal entrance at the airport. But we made it on the plane, and 8 long hours later we landed in beautiful Honolulu! After waiting some more time for our short flight to Lanai, we landed after dark and were shuttled to the Lodge at Koele. As we drove up, we knew we were in for a treat when we were greeted by the hotel staff with hot towels, lei's, and pineapple cider. Our room was a very spacious deluxe garden suite with a huge private porch.

We woke up on Tuesday rather early, had a nice breakfast, and explored a little bit of the grounds.

We then decided to take the Koloiki Ridge Hike, which is a 5 mile round trip trek to a beautiful scenic lookout.

 

 

We made it back to the lodge just in time as the gathering clouds finally started to rain. We took this as an opportunity for a "quick" nap. In the early afternoon, we decided to take the shuttle to the Manele Bay Resort (the sister resort to the lodge) and catch some rays on the beach.

Because of the food poisoning incident, this was the first opportunity for a fruity alcoholic drink by the pool. A ginger mojito sounded like just the right medicine, but Marlana's Island Punch drink was actually much better.

We decided to stay in Manele and have dinner overlooking the ocean. This was an easy decision. ;) We watched the tiki torch lighting ceremony, and had some really good (and expensive) food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow we will be renting a jeep and exploring the island. We can't wait! We wish you all could be here with us (but we're glad you're not!...just kidding).

-Ben and Marlana