Guest post written by my lovely wife, Kathleen.  Enjoy!

After planning a wedding for nearly two years, I was more than ready to sit back and let Rich do all the heavy lifting when it came to our honeymoon in Hawaii.  My plan of attack was simple:  Pack my suitcase and tag along.  While I obsessed over things like ostrich feathers and flowers, my beloved was quietly booking our flights, making hotel reservations and drawing up an itinerary for a relaxing and romantic (not to mention recuperative) getaway.  We knew that after the stress and tumult surrounding the wedding, we would be craving a little sun and frivolity.  All in all, the trip was exactly what we needed, but it didn’t exactly get off to a seamless start.

On the Monday following the wedding, Rich and I rose at dawn and embarked upon our trip, which, including a long layover in Seattle, was in fact a sixteen-hour odyssey over the continental United States and halfway across the Pacific Ocean.  Early in the day, my new husband remarked that he was feeling a bit “achy.”  I responded casually, “I hope you’re not getting sick,” but didn’t think very much more about it.  As the trip progressed, however, Rich continued to complain of muscle aches and began to exhibit symptoms of a fever.  It did occur to me that he had probably contracted some sort of illness, but, to be honest, I thought he was probably exaggerating and didn’t entertain the idea that he was actually suffering from some sort of serious affliction.  On our first night in Waikiki on the island of Oahu, however, I realized that perhaps I had been a bit hasty in assuming that he was simply being needy.

To make a long story short, I was startled out of a deep sleep at four o’clock in the morning by my spouse’s desperate declaration:  “Sweetie, I’m dying!  I have to get to a hospital.”  This got my attention, of course, but after such an exhausting odyssey, and having been so suddenly jolted from my slumber, I didn’t quite feel the requisite sense of urgency to bolt out of bed and dial 911.  Instead, I asked if he was sure.  He shivered and moaned for a while, but without definitive assurance that he was indeed on the verge of expiring, I rolled over and fell back to sleep.  Thankfully, my beloved survived the night, and by daybreak he was enthusiastically responding with, “I’m fine!” whenever I asked him if he was all right.  Though he still seemed a bit weak, we did try to proceed with our honeymoon as though nothing were amiss:  We transferred to our new hotel, went to the beach, even discovered the indomitable convenience of the ABC store.  Inevitably, however, Rich’s mysterious, flu-like affliction reared its ugly head again, resulting in an emergency jaunt to a medical clinic.  Equipped with Vicodin and a directive to rest and keep an eye on his symptoms, we altered our original itinerary so that Rich could recuperate in bed while I sunbathed and made frequent jaunts to the ABC store.  With the exception of a luau, where I had a blast while Rich seemed to wander around in a highly medicated haze, our time in Oahu was laid back, giving my beloved the opportunity to recover from what was most likely a nasty viral infection.

After three days in Oahu, Rich and I boarded a flight and headed over to Maui.  Thankfully, my husband was feeling well enough to fly, and the rest of our honeymoon proceeded without any further medical emergencies.  In fact, we had a really amazing time in Maui.  We arrived at the Wailea Marriott Beach Resort, which was airy and beautiful, and found our room to be a well-appointed, spacious suite with two balconies and lovely views of the ocean.  My favorite part was the saltwater Serenity pool, which had an infinity edge and, best of all, was for adults-only.  It was a peaceful enclave, where brats and cell phones were strictly prohibited (in fact, I eagerly ratted out to the pool attendants a screeching, wayward child who had wandered into my tranquil Eden).  Rich and I lounged there nearly every day.  A few other highlights from out time on Maui were:  our drive through the rainforest on the Hana Highway (I saw a beautiful male peacock and swam in waterfalls … what could possibly be better?); snorkeling in the Molokini crater and then swimming with giant sea turtles (a perfect day that was capped off by a school of magnificent dolphins!); straggling out of bed at three-thirty in the morning to drive up to Haleakala Crater to witness a breathtaking sunrise; and feasting upon a cornucopia of incredible sushi at Sansei in Kihei.    The memories are too numerous to describe here in detail, so take a look at the video montage and photos my husband has lovingly crafted.  They’ll give you a vague sense of how beautiful Hawaii is and how fabulous a time we had!

Honeymoon in Hawaii – November 2010 from Richard Vinhais on Vimeo.