Why Hawaii?

Melanie was honored as one of the 50 best performing employees of her Fortune 500 company. Her company flew these employees to the Big Island for three days of relaxation, sailing, snorkeling, kayaking, boogie-boarding, hiking, dining and entertainment by fantastic local musicians. Prior to planning to elope, we had planned on extending both the start and the end of our trip for a total of 9 days.

Melanie and I have been together for almost fifteen years and engaged for almost seven of those fifteen. We had planned what seemed like a hundred fascinating weddings at unique sites but were never able to realize any of them. Wedding planning is a lot of work and while we have great memories of going to weddings full of friends and family, the idea of eloping in Hawaii suddenly seemed like exactly the right thing for us to do -- easy, low-key, beautiful, unique, spontaneous and 100% focused on the celebration of our own love for life and for each other. We also value two things that the Hawaiians value: respect for others and respect for the land.

Approximately 1-2 weeks prior to leaving for Hawaii, we began looking for wedding coordinators. We knew we wanted a wedding in Hawaii, but not neccesarily a Hawaiian wedding. We also wanted to honor Mark's Catholic upbringing without having a traditional Catholic wedding. The third coordinator we spoke with was quite obviously the right one for us -- Debbie Cravatta of Paradise Weddings Hawaii. We cannot thank her enough for all she did for us -- from inviting us to her unique and inspiring church service, finding top-notch musicians and photographers and to fulfilling Mark's last-minute, 5PM-night-before-the-9am-wedding panic call to arrange for flowers, champagne and chocolate at our post-wedding cabin getaway out at the edge of civilization.

Melanie had already purchased her dress in San Francisco and shoes in India. Mark bought a tuxedo, new shoes and cuff links at Nordstroms in San Francisco. We picked and purchased wedding rings which we received days before we left. Despite what seemed like half of the Stonestown shopping center knowing of our plans, we had managed to keep it a complete secret form our family & friends.

Friday, 4/29/07: Arrive in Hilo

We had low expectations for our hotel in Hilo - it was the least expensive and Hilo is the wettest part of the island -- 6 miles inland from Hilo receives about 300 inches a year!

But alas, it was sunny and the ocean was 15 feet away from either of the two sliding glass doors in our corner room; fostering a restful night sleep with the sounds of waves, birds and the Coqui frog in stereo.

Our hotel was on Banyan Drive, adjacent to the Liliuokalani Gardens, which could be seen from our room and is seen, in part, in the last photo on the left.

To the Farmer's Market!

While Melanie finds gigantic ginger, Mark is celebrating with Paul on the phone about the Golden State Warriors Game 3 win against the Dallas Mavericks.

We bought bread, sauces, spring rolls, carrot juice, Thai food and a two-tone drum at the market and then it was time to go get our rental car.

Rainbow Falls

A quick stop at Rainbow Falls before driving to Volcanoes National Park....

Saturday: Volcanoes National Park

This place was amazing and is one of the two places on the island we will go back to explore in much more detail (the other being Waip'o Valley). We drove around the park, walked through lava tubes and then hiked through rainforests and across Kilauea crater; one of the two active volcanoes on the Big Island. This crater is one mile long and 3,000 feet wide. Flowing lava is constantly making the Big Island bigger and bigger.














What happens when Melanie asks Mark to look tough next to his Mustang? See the bottom photo.

Volcano Village: The Honeymoon Chalet

We absolutely loved the Honeymoon Chalet in Volcano Village as well as the cat that came with it. We ate at the Kilauea Lodge, soaked in the hot tub, sat by the fireplace, listened to big band music (on the CD player -- all three CDs!), had breakfast at home and enjoyed the canopy rainforest, which served as our curtains, in this otherwise curtain-less cute and well-designed A-frame. The town of Volcano itself consists of little more than 3 stores, 2 restaurants and a church.

Sunday: Blessing at Hale Lokahi

Under the leadership of Father George DeCosta, Malia Puka O Kalani Catholic Church blossomed as a pastorally vibrant community on the Big Island noted for its outreach to the poor, sick, and unchurched persons, as well as the native Hawaiian community. The parish was best known for its annual sponsorship of the Big Island Liturgy and Arts Conference (BILAC) that attracted prominent artists, musicians, liturgists, and clergy from around the world to the Big Island. In 2003, conservative Catholic Bishop Francis DiLorenzo announced the retirement of Father DeCosta and the appointment of an interim pastor, Rev. Scott R. Bush, for the parish, effectively ending an era of pastoral ministry and outreach, as well as sponsorship of the BILAC conferences.

DeCosta started a new Catholocism-based church, where the outreach program to the homeless (specifically in the economically devastated Fern Forest area of Puna, Hawaii) continues at Hale Lokahi in Volcano Village.

As it turns out, our wedding coordinator is a member of Hale Lokahi and it is here, at Sunday service, where we first met her. She drives 100 miles every Sunday to come here. We were very impressed with how warm and non-traditional this church is. In spreading love and helping the poor, they are adhering closely to what Jesus preached. During service they gave Melanie and I a blessing and sang the Hawaiian Wedding Song to us. It was their potluck day -- they invited us for lunch -- we had a fantastic meal with these very nice people.

Pu`uhonua o Honaunau: A Place of Refuge

Melanie and I then drove around the south part of the island, passing the Green Sand beach and stopping to explore Pu`uhonua o Honaunau.

Up until the early 19th century, Hawaiians who broke a kapu or one of the ancient laws against the gods could avoid certain death by fleeing to this place of refuge or "pu`uhonua". The offender would be absolved by a priest and eventually freed to return back into society. Defeated warriors could also find refuge here during times of battle. The grounds just outside the Great Wall that encloses the pu`uhonua were home to several generations of powerful chiefs. Getting here was almost like a game of Capture-the-flag.

There were many turtles swimming around in this little mini-bay (photo with Melanie in it).

11 Nene? Nope, No Nene!

The Nene is a rare bird found occasionally on the Big Island. No one we asked had ever seen one. For some reason however, Mark was convinced that he had seen not just one, but eventually, 11 of them!

We have video footage of Mark whispering while talking about how astonished he is to have seen 11 of these endangered birds on one trip when suddenly you can hear in the background two hikers walking by and saying, "nice looking pheasant."

Oops!

Holualoa: Big Island's Best-kept Secret

Holualoa is in the heart of the Kona coffee country -- up the mountain from and overlooking Kona Town. Aside from the resort that Melanie's company put us up in, this was the most luxurous place we stayed at. We arrived at about 6PM, with the entire Inn to ourselves -- just a note and the keys. Mark had arranged beforehand to have flowers, champagne and chocolate waiting in the room for Melanie. The sunset was beautiful. We were a bit overwhelmed by this place; owned by a woman who collects beautiful furniture.

Later that night, we began to explore the Inn and found that we had access to a beautiful dining hall overlooking the ocean. We played the piano that we found there for awhile before discovering that it was a player piano. Finishing off the champagne, we let the piano play for us, as we danced the night away. We felt like royalty. Melanie even had dreams that we were indeed royalty. For some reason, the roosters began crowing at 4am! We were up every day on the island by 6am.

Our place is the one pictured in the background of the photo of Melanie holding a glass of champagne while sitting in the rooftop gazebo.

We didn't see anyone until a woman showed up in the morning to serve us Coconut/Macademia Nut pancakes, Portuguese sausage, fresh fruit in a Papaya bowl and local Kona coffee.