- OUR HONEYMOON In Paradise: Part 1... Oahu, Hawaii

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OUR HONEYMOON In Paradise: Part 1... Oahu, Hawaii

After a shaky start to our honeymoon trip (see earlier posting)... the plane ride to Hawaii was great. Stewardesses served complimentary alcoholic drinks to any adults wishing them since we missed out on several hours of our on-island time in Hawaii. The remainder of the flight was relaxing, enjoyable and filled with anticipation.

We were not to be disappointed ! Once we landed at Honolulu Airport on Oahu and the fresh Hawaiian air hit us... we were in Heaven on Earth !

The thing I will always remember most is that first whiff of the Hawaiian air... it was so sweetly fragrant with the smell of all the island's Plumeria flowers on a hint of an ocean breeze. It was like the nicest, most intoxicating, yet subtle perfume you've ever breathed.

It was a whirlwind of adventures for those 4 days on Oahu... we did most of the touristy stops but also a few unique ones, too. We went to the International Market, Waikiki Beach (where our Hale Koa Hotel was) and the famous Kodak Hula Show where we made fools of ourselves (along with everyone else) as we tried to learn the Hula dances in a large group... it was fun, educational and very colorful. And of course, we visited legendary "Hilo Hatties" to purchase a matching set of a Hawaiian-print shirt for me... and sarong-wrap dress for Kathy... (hubba-hubba) !!!

We cruised the island in our sexy-red LeBaron convertible with the top down and enjoyed the fragrant breeze and non-stop gorgeous sites.

A tour of the Pearl Harbor WWII museum and then the Memorial out in the Harbor over the battleship Arizona gave proud, patriotic and awe-inspiring memories to us both... just to think what heroism began there on December 7, 1944.

Another highpoint (among the hundreds) was our afternoon spent snorkeling at Hanauma Bay (shown below)... we had underwater cameras and small "feedbags" to feed the super-colorful fish that swarmed around us in the reef-encircled Bay. We lazily snorkeled for hours enjoying the fish, the ocean and the sun. The sun did burn my shoulders (and the top of my head through my thinning hair) a little... but it was more than worth it to enjoy such an excellent, exotic afternoon snorkeling together. I later climbed up to the top rim of the Diamondhead dormant volcano from inside the crater... where there is a dark maze of tunnels with guide ropes and many, many steps that took me to the old, abandoned WWII gun emplacements and a breathtaking view over the city of Honolulu and the whole island of Oahu. (Kathy missed out since she wasn't feeling well... so she stayed in the car reading while I "hiked the crater" and took some great pictures.)

We went to an indoor luau and hula entertainment at our hotel one night. Little did I know that, I and the other 3 newlywed husbands, WERE the hula entertainment ! The show host asked all the newlywed couples to join him up on stage. Kathy and I joined the other 3 couples and proceeded to hear there would be a hula contest of the "new wives versus the new husbands".

It started off okay with the wives going first with the Hawaiian instructor lady standing out front and slowly working them through all the flowing hand and hip and dance moves. When they were done with their song, the audience all clapped, whooped, cheered and whistled loudly.

Then it was us husband's turn. So we walked up on stage in our fake grass skirts, got into position... and as soon as the music started for us --- the instructor lady turned and walked off the stage !!! We had nobody to follow or imitate ! We floundered around very badly to the faster paced hula music for several embarassing minutes... loud roaring laughter poured from the crowd as we crashed-and-burned as "hula dancers". A good laugh was had by ALL.

The romantic walks along Waikiki Beach, swimming in the pools and ocean, seeing the blowholes along the shoreline drives, seeing an unusually calm Waimeia Bay, meeting the friendly Hawaiian locals, enjoying the luxurious hotel room with its ocean-view lanai (Hawaiian for little balcony)...and soaking in all of the relaxing, exotic, and exhilarating sites of Oahu was a GREAT first half of our Honeymoon in Paradise.

And then it was off to Maui !!!

- OMENS BEFORE Our Hawaiian Honeymoon Trip

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Omens Before Our Hawaii Honeymoon Trip:

Our Honeymoon started like everybody elses... with a great wedding!

The date was 8 August 1992... and there were lots of family and friends; lots of dancing, drinking and celebrating; and lots of laughter, hugs and happy tears.

The wedding went off without a glitch... (except maybe for the point-blank shot to my bride's face with a fistful of bird seed thrown by one of the little kids). Even the reception went well... good food, dancing, toasts, jokes, and of course, the bouquet and garter toss.

Now, I don't want you to get the impression that EVERYTHING went totally smooth leading up to and immediately after the wedding... there were a few "omens" surrounding this marriage that worried us. Let me explain.

Omen#1: (big) One week before the wedding, I was at work and in a meeting in a co-worker's office on the first floor of our headquarters building. (My wife and I both worked at the Illinois National Guard state headquarters building; I was military and she was a Federal employee).

At about 9:30 am, my boss (the Colonel) came in and interrupted our meeting to tell me there was an emergency outside in the parking lot and I needed to come right now. He said, "A big tree just fell on top of your van."

Well, I knew he was joking because it was a sunny, clear day without a breeze or storm cloud in the sky. So, I figured I would play along, the Colonel must be getting me out of the meeting to surprise me back in our office with a pre-wedding, office party. BUT...

When we got to our office and I opened the door, there was no yelled "Surprise!" Instead my co-workers were all crowded at the window looking outside toward the parking lot.

I looked out too and to my shock... there WAS a giant 100+ year old oak tree laying directly on top of my full-size (already beat up but clean) 1983 Chevy conversion van. The van was "squished" like something you would see in a cartoon or comedy movie... but this was real ! I went outside to inspect the scene and salvage what I could from inside the van.

Sunshine with not a breeze in the air.

The whole insides of this monstrous, 50-foot oak tree had been turned to sawdust by decades of termites. AND it chose THAT day to break off and fall over ! AND it chose MY van to fall directly on top of. (Other cars parked next to my van were scraped and slightly dented... but my van was TOTALLED !)

(What are the odds ???)

Omen #2: (real big) Immediately following the wedding reception, some family and friends (although a bit tipsy from the beer, wine and dancing) stuck around to clean up the huge mess in the reception hall... to help us lower the cleanup charges from the hall rental. It was often a frenzy of stripping the tables, packing decorations, taking out trash, wiping up spills and sweeping floors.

Little did I remember (in my own somewhat "celebration"-fogged mind), that hours earlier... our wedding photographer, before he left, handed me the couple rolls of undeveloped film with all the ceremony and posed shots on them. (Being a cheapskate, I hired a semi-professional photographer/coworker and I said I would get the film developed. We could then pick various sizes for reprints... BIG, BIG mistake... one of the BIGGEST of my whole life.)

All I remember during the reception festivities is seeing the film roll canisters a few times setting on the table next to me at the head table. I don't remember putting them in my tuxedo pockets or in a sack to take home and develop.

As you can now guess... they were LOST in the cleanup !!! I didn't even notice them missing till early the next morning!

In my panic (and with a modest hangover) I searched all our present packages, decoration boxes, the cars, the house... nothing. Then I panicked more as I remembered the reception hall and the cleanup activities. I hurried back there and started going through every trash bag still there. Some of the trash had been dumped already and was GONE.

NO FILM was ever found... it was GONE and LOST Forever. (Luckily we did have several disposable cameras at the reception and other people with wedding snapshots and a video... but nothing can replace those lost semi-professional photos.)

(It could only happen to me!)

Omen #3:(really big) The second day after the wedding, was our scheduled departure for our Hawaiian Honeymoon. Seven nights, eight days of paradise to come! Although I really have no excuses for what happened next, the ones I try to use are: wedding exhaustion, hangover, and confused depression from losing the wedding films. My wife doesn't buy off on any of these excuses either.

Anyway, ...I misread the departure times for our flight from St. Louis to Los Angeles ! Here we are driving to the St. Louis Airport at 9:00 am figuring our plane didn't leave till about 11:00 am... But NO... I misread the times and our flight was leaving RIGHT THEN ! (Another lame-brained mistake by me.)

I called the airlines and was told of flights from St. Louis to Dallas to L.A. to Hawaii that we could get on for an extra $100 re-ticketing fee. That would get us to L.A. and off to Hawaii about eight hours later than we originally had planned.

We took it. Then we decided to relax, enjoy the airports, and try to make the best of our honeymoon delays to Hawaii.

Finally, we took off and our flights to Dallas and L.A. were uneventful.

We ensured our baggage made the transfer to the Hawaii plane and we started getting excited as we boarded the last flight of the evening to Hawaii from LAX. The takeoff went great and we were smooth-sailing, flying west over the California coast and out over the Pacific Ocean.

About two hours into our flight, it was still daylight enough to see the ocean and occasional ocean-liner vessels far, far below. Then I felt our plane make a slow, graceful turn toward the southwest. I guessed there must be some "magical spot" over the ocean where they always make the turn toward Hawaii.

But wait, we KEPT turning... curving slowly until we were headed back EAST again. Toward California !!! I thought I was seeing things, but no, the sun shadows had flipped completely around and we were headed east!

What could be wrong? There was no announcement from the Captain or stewardesses.

I looked out at the wing and engines on my side and they looked fine to me. I looked around the plane and there were a couple other guys looking around nervously with the same puzzled look on their faces, too! We continued smoothly heading due east.

Five minutes passed. Ten minutes. Still no announcement. Then finally, a woman first-officer came on the speaker from the cockpit and said, " You may have noticed we have turned around and are heading back to LAX. Please remain seated and we'll be there shortly."

With a static "click" the message ended. No explanation, no reason, no comforting words, not even instructions on how to bend-over-and-kiss-your-butt-goodbye in a coming plane crash!

People then got very nervous, worried and agitated. Five minutes more passed.

Then the Captain came on and explained that "...there had been a drunken disturbance in 1st class and it was now dealt with. We are going back to LAX for Federal agents to deal with the situation." An hour later we arrived.

Upon landing, the plane was immediately surrounded by police and Federal cars with lights flashing. Agents quickly boarded and we watched them haul a drunk, heavy-set Texan, (cowboy hat and all) away in handcuffs. Everyone in 1st class clapped and cheered as he was arrested. He must have caused quite a disturbance up there.

The Captain immediately got on the speaker and sternly said, "Everybody SIT DOWN, keep quiet and buckle up." "We have to get refueled and leave here in the next 25 minutes or we will be grounded for 'crew rest' overnight."

Everyone cooperated and we left just in time. Our plane arrived about eight smooth hours later in Oahu, Hawaii. We had officially missed out on 12 hours of our paradise vacation. The rest of our Honeymoon vacation was AMAZING !

Wow... but what a travel story we had to tell back home !
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(By the way, even with those huge omens...

...my wife and I are still happily married after 15 years ! Hard to believe she still puts up with me, isn't it?)