From Kaua'i

So I'm officially married now and we've been in Hawaii now since the 13th. We had spent alot of time on the Big Island last time we were here and got to see even more this time but we also got to see Oahu and now we're on Kaua'i drinking coffee at this amazing little place on the eastern side near Lihu'e named Small Town Coffee. It's a collection of little buildings retrofitted to be a coffee shop and has great personality. Has a bunch of local things for sale, local art and is a nice change from the corporate feel of what I'm used to in Atlanta and even back in Honolulumwhich is just like any other city except the beach butts right up to the city sidewalk. We stayed in Waikiki and right across from the beach you could find shopping that reminded me of Las Vegas and the high end malls back home. We stayed at this modern little hotel named Stay which used to be student housing but has been renovated into a hotel. Inexpensive and very close to the beach, Amanda did not care for it much because of the thin walls we all remember from college and as it is our honeymoon she wanted something more posh... But it was just right for me. The highlight for me on Oahu was the North Shore. It was much more like the Big Island that I love but unlike the Big Island where it takes forever to drive anywhere, the North Shore was only an hour from Honolulu. The water was crystal clear, great snorkeling annnnd, at Waimea Bay there was a huge rock cropping that breached the beach and all kinds of kids were climbing it and jumping into the water... And of course I had to do it too. It was about 20 ft high and the water was probably 10 ft deep...it was awesome. And the water was probably the clearest I've seen so far. It was so cool. We just booked out helicopter tour of Kaua'i for tomorrow, and today we're checking out the beaches of the North Shore. Pics and more to come later today...time to head out.