Magic In Paradise

My friends got married in Hawaii and invited me along to their destination wedding in paradise. I was too broke to go, but I went anyway. I'm exceedingly glad I did.

Followers of the blog will know that 2008 has been a bit rough on me. I was dumped back in January, couch surfed for a couple months in the summer, and moved in to a small studio apartment with my dog in August. I still don't feel fully moved in... all I have in my fridge right now is a Brita filter and a half drunk bottle of Rose'. That's right, living large.

So you can see why going to Hawaii felt like a necessary, transformative, and relaxing idea, despite the fact that I could not actually afford to go and be a responsible adult at the same time. I was looking for a "Sarah Marshall"-esque Hawaii experience, damnit, so who cared if I didn't have, you know, money?

I arrived in Kauai before everyone in the wedding party... including the bride and groom. I was actually alone in Hawaii for more than 24 hours... but I know, boo hoo, right? Poor me. I laid out on the beach and floated in the rocky part of the ocean, getting badly sunburned and cut on one of the rocks but feeling very relaxed overall. And the delicious Mai Tais at the nearby restaurant didn't hurt, either.

When my friends got into town, we really got to see more of the island. We drove to a river where we went Kayaking, hiking, swimming under a gorgeous waterfall, and cliff jumping. It was an awesome Hawaii adventure, where I once again got horribly sunburned.

The next day was the wedding day, and we spent the morning swimming near our hotel in the ocean... with sea turtles. Yeah, fucking awesomely large and old Sea Turtles, who would just swim up to us and let us touch them without getting too annoyed. When they popped their heads to get a breath of air, they made the funniest puffing sound and have this funny old man look on their faces. Clearly, these creatures had some sort of wisdom of the sea to impart, and my close encounters with sea turtles was the most magical part of the trip, by far. Even though I got horribly sunburned again.

The wedding was beautiful, informal as can be with everyone wearing Hawaiian shirts and Leis (which was the only place I got Leied. I always thought that Hawaii was more Lei crazy, that I'd get one right off the plane, when I got in a cab, when I got out of the shower, etc. This was not the case, though people were wearing them everywhere and making me wonder where they'd gotten them. Maybe it's just another sign of apocalyptically bad economy that they don't just give Leis out willy nilly anymore. What a tragedy.) The officiant was a funny old hippy who said "God, you're awesome," and seemed to be thanking the lord for his choice Maui Wowie. That's the kind of chill religion I can't object to. And the reception was great, as we were overloaded with an unending variety of delicious appetizers.

The day before we flew out of town, my friends and I walked over to the nearby shopping center and ate at Puka Dog, which serves amazing hot dogs covered in tropical flavored relish and Hawaiian style sweet mustard. I mean, these dogs were outrageous, and maybe only second to the sea turtles to win the title of most awesome thing about Hawaii (and Kayaking was awesome... I'm not criticizing the Kayaking trip, I'm just trying to express how fucking good the Puka Dogs were.) Against my better judgment, I had two dogs for lunch with their amazing Mango relish. Two dogs is way too much for any one man, but just look at these things:

Don't judge me. You'd have a second one too, if you were leaving town that day.

Anyway, the trip was too brief, and I wish I could have spent more time exploring the rest of Kauai's many beaches and checking out some of the other islands. But I know I'll go back one day. For now, my four days in Hawaii served their purpose... to get me out of my world for a little bit, to break me free of my worries, to let me relax for once after a year that has been fraught with tension, and to just float away and escape. I came back horribly sunburned but refreshed, and now I can dream easier of memories of the island (and those amazing Puka Dogs) instead of worrying about life as much.