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Faith and I had the extraordinarily good timing to elope around the same time as our Gerard Design Hawaii retreat, which made the trip sort of a honeymoon for Faith and I. Hawaii really is like paradise. It was a first trip to Hawaii for Faith and I, and Faith has a newfound love for tropical climates now. By the second day she was looking into realty magazines and pondering a move there.

Speaking of accommodations, the Grand Wailea Resort and Spa is pretty close to heaven, and on returning to Chicago it was tough to make the adjustment back to our humble abode. The resort had a handful of restaurants, seven or so pools, and a network of waterslides. They also have the “Spa Grande” which is a nice way to spend a couple days on vacation. The spa featured five different mineral baths as well as hot tubs, saunas and more. Faith and I got a couple’s massage which was so relaxing I dozed off for a bit and started snoring. It was simultaneously the most expensive nap I’ve ever taken, and the best money spent on the trip.

I also learned a few things about myself in Hawaii, namely that I get motion sick in the water. Which is really a shame, because I was looking forward to our snuba trip more than anything else on our trip. However, once we got in the ocean to begin snorkeling I quickly realized that I had made a mistake. While the ebb and flow of the ocean waves was exhilarating for Faith, it quickly made me more and more nauseous. Combine that with the fact that I’m blind without my glasses, and snorkeling was pretty much a bust for me. I still tried snuba (we’d already paid our money) but that adventure ended quickly for me, and I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the boat. But Faith had a great time though, so I have no regrets.

Incidentally, going on a trip with a group of people is a lot of fun. It was nice to spend a little time with the Gerard Design gang, getting to know them better. Plus, it’s fun to walk around and unfamiliar place and run into folks here and there. Both the first and last nights we had a group dinner where we could socialize a bit with the rest of the group. And on the final night dinner, Carolyn sprung it on us that she’s planning on setting regular goals for us to be able to make this Hawaii trip a regular thing – every two years.

For pics of our trip, check out our set on Flickr.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 29th, 2007 at 10:13 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.