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Got back last night from what was probably my best Hawaiian vacation ever. What did I do? Not much, and it was awesome. I was accompanied by my dreamy boyfriend Kirk, my roomies Ben & Matt, and good friends KJ & Danny.
Ben kept a near constant stream of freshly & expertly prepared cocktails flowing. Most of the time it was mojitos, (we nearly exhausted the island's supply of mint) but he did whip up an amazing batch of fresh strawberry daiquiris using spiced rum and brown sugar. Simple syrup is an amazingly helpful substance. /drool
Our weather was fantastic all the way through, with just one *slightly* hazy day, which enabled a great deal of casual beach-going and lanai-lounging. My campaign over the last few months to get Kirk into swimming lessons bore some real fruit as his new-found confidence in the water allowed him to frolic happily in the warm pacific, to our mutual delight. He'd never been to the islands before, and I wanted to make sure he got as much out of it as possible, and I think we're "Mission Accomplished" on that front.
This was also the longest amount of time that Kirk and I had ever actually spent together at a stretch. (8 nights) And I've got to say, it was pretty great. Waking up next to the man I love everyday is something I could get used to. Actually, I kinda did get used to it, so this morning was a real drag.
Oh, and the food! We self-catered, and split up into three meal-teams. While I think Kirk & I responsibly discharged our duties as Team Lunch (grilled burgers and sausages, mainly), teams Dinner & Breakfast really stood out. There were pancakes, grilled ribs, profiteroles, bread, raspberry syrup, and grilled fish... with almost everything being made fresh. Matt was using a book called Ratio to guide his cooking and baking endeavors, and it really worked out well. He will likely be pressed into further pancake & bread making activities in the near future.
And I'm pretty serious about doing almost nothing on this trip. The beach was 100 yards away, and though we went to another local beach as well, that was only 15 minutes down the road. Also, my family's condo is right next to a great little pool & hot-tub, so yeah, there's that... Kirk and I also got in a whole lot of snuggle & nap time, and that was pretty much the best part. And of course, what tropical island vacation would be complete without some Winter Olympics on TV? The one major event the whole group got up to was the early morning car ride up to the crater of Haleakala to watch the dawn. We made that trip a little extra special by getting up an extra hour earlier to watch moonset at 4:15, at which point we all piled into our cars and raced up the mountain to catch the dawn. All this excitement was followed up by substantial napping and then some congratulatory cocktails.
I can't wait for my 2011 trip back out there, but 2010's gonna be hard to beat.
Ben kept a near constant stream of freshly & expertly prepared cocktails flowing. Most of the time it was mojitos, (we nearly exhausted the island's supply of mint) but he did whip up an amazing batch of fresh strawberry daiquiris using spiced rum and brown sugar. Simple syrup is an amazingly helpful substance. /drool
Our weather was fantastic all the way through, with just one *slightly* hazy day, which enabled a great deal of casual beach-going and lanai-lounging. My campaign over the last few months to get Kirk into swimming lessons bore some real fruit as his new-found confidence in the water allowed him to frolic happily in the warm pacific, to our mutual delight. He'd never been to the islands before, and I wanted to make sure he got as much out of it as possible, and I think we're "Mission Accomplished" on that front.
This was also the longest amount of time that Kirk and I had ever actually spent together at a stretch. (8 nights) And I've got to say, it was pretty great. Waking up next to the man I love everyday is something I could get used to. Actually, I kinda did get used to it, so this morning was a real drag.
Oh, and the food! We self-catered, and split up into three meal-teams. While I think Kirk & I responsibly discharged our duties as Team Lunch (grilled burgers and sausages, mainly), teams Dinner & Breakfast really stood out. There were pancakes, grilled ribs, profiteroles, bread, raspberry syrup, and grilled fish... with almost everything being made fresh. Matt was using a book called Ratio to guide his cooking and baking endeavors, and it really worked out well. He will likely be pressed into further pancake & bread making activities in the near future.
And I'm pretty serious about doing almost nothing on this trip. The beach was 100 yards away, and though we went to another local beach as well, that was only 15 minutes down the road. Also, my family's condo is right next to a great little pool & hot-tub, so yeah, there's that... Kirk and I also got in a whole lot of snuggle & nap time, and that was pretty much the best part. And of course, what tropical island vacation would be complete without some Winter Olympics on TV? The one major event the whole group got up to was the early morning car ride up to the crater of Haleakala to watch the dawn. We made that trip a little extra special by getting up an extra hour earlier to watch moonset at 4:15, at which point we all piled into our cars and raced up the mountain to catch the dawn. All this excitement was followed up by substantial napping and then some congratulatory cocktails.
I can't wait for my 2011 trip back out there, but 2010's gonna be hard to beat.