Just a warning, Shayna, if you’re planning on travelling to a U.S. territory outside the 50 states - Spiny may have problems without an Advance Parole document. I know that US immigration does check for passports from people arriving from at least some of these islands, probably due to fears that non-nationals could sneak onto them more easily. Check it out before you go.
friends spiney and shayna,
sunflower and i spent our 25th anniversary in san juan puerto rico. a tropical island that is technically part of the usa, so the green card issue would not apply. we had a tremendous time! we spent three days at the san juan grand hotel in the isle verde area with an ocean view room.
the beach was perfect, the night life fun and interesting, and a shopping trip to old san juan was wonderful. we drove about 45 minutes to el yunque national rain forest park, and hiked about five miles through the forest. there was never a time in the forest that we couldn’t see clouds of butterflies, and tropical flowers growing wild.
we spent three days at the hyatt cerromar hotel in dorado. again, a beautiful, ocean view room. the beach there was even prettier, and about a 30 minute, beachfront drive back to san juan for the tall ship regatta, and exploring the historical sites.
all in all, the best trip we ever took. in a couple of years, we are going to maui, so all of the people giving this as advice, thanks!
Congratulations again you two and I’m sure whereever you end up it will be fun. If you are in love you could be in the back of a 1937 DeSoto in Yuma, Arizona and it would be nice (sweaty, but nice).
My wife and I are obsessive skiiers so we spent our honeymoon in a beautiful cabin just off the ski slope in Crested Butte, Colorado. We loved it. It had it all, isolation when we wanted it (with a hot tub and fully stocked bar), the fun of the village when we wanted it (nobody lets you buy your own drinks on your honeymoon by the way), great skiing and, of course, each other.
I’m sure you’ll have as much of a good time.
Not to put a damper on such a wonderful event …
Considering the INS is one of the worst government agencies, and you are so close to receiving the official okey-dokey, I would not risk it by travelling outside of the USA until you have all the required visa documents in hand. The hassles you could run into would surely put a stain on any honeymoon. You might laugh at them years later. Then again, an INS screwup might very well mean being denied re-entry for a long time.
Having said that, once you free to come and go, think Australia. As long as the OZ-USA dollar exchange rate stay in favor of visiting Australia, you can do/see quite a bit there.
And, you don’t have to enjoy your visit by hitting the hot tourist spots. Oz has so much to offer. I lived there for several years and saw quite a bit of it, especially places not in the tourist trap areas, but just a beautiful, wonderful and downright different.
Another sugestion for Hawaii.
I’ve recently been to the Big Island, Oahu, and Kauai. I stayed with my brother-in-law and his family at Pearl Harbor on Oahu. Its pretty cool when a relative is a submarine commander and has Captain’s housing on base. However, I’d pass on Oahu if I were you. Wakaki is like a piece of NYC with a beach . Granted, its a stunning beach and there is great stuff to do as well. Go climb Diamond Head. Go up on the north coast to Sunset and Bonzai.
While we were there, the lovely wife, kids and I went to the Big Island for a few days. If you go, try staying at Volcano House. Its on the national park property and sits just on the uphill side of the crater. Nice dining room with huge picture windows so you can look out into the crater from your seat. Foods ok too. Also, rent a four wheel vehicle and go down into Wiamea canyon. The car rental people say you can’t go, but you just need the 4 wheel to get back up the road when you leave. We did it and it was great. It’s like a lost world there. The green and black beaches are cool too.
I’d have to say though, Kauai was better. Definitely take a boat ride out to the Na Pali coast. Excellent snorkeling there and a place like no other. Also, take the hiking trail in from the north side at the end of the road and climb up into the mountains and see Na Pali that way. There won’t be much time to spend laying on a beach. Go to a luau. Sorta corny but fun.
Well, just some ideas. Good luck to you both on your new life together.
That means it got bought by a chain - there are Fado pubs in Austin, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Seattle. That can’t be a good thing. At least the Owl and Thistle is still there and un-ruined.
Sorry about remembering it being three blocks over from where it is - it’s been three years so I don’t remember all the streets too well…
The most romantic city in the U.S. (or the world- IMHO) San Francisco. Mrs elf6c and I went to San Francisco on out honeymoon, rented a convertible Mustang- visted all of the sites and then drove up to Napa and Sonoma to tour some of the wineries with the top down. It was great.
-me
If Hawaii is your destination, I can’t recommend Kauai or the Big Island enough!
Kauai is absolutely beautiful, and if you go there, you must take a helicopter tour of the island - the single most exciting and fascinating experience we had.
And the Big Island was so relaxing and comfortable. I found Maui and Oahu to be very crowded and “touristy”. But the Big Island was a pleasure. If you go there, I recommend staying at Hale Ohia, a wonderful little B&B just down the road from Volcano National Park.
If you can afford it, and if you are going to be there for a long enough period of time, I recommend buying a seven-day island pass on Aloha Airlines. For about $325, you can island hop as much as you want. This made it incredibly easy for us to see four islands (Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Hawaii) while we were there.
If exotic is not to your taste (my wife’s wasn’t), you don’t like huge crowds (I don’t) and you don’t have much money (we didn’t), and since you live in or near L.A., why not go where we went…
Santa Cruz!
I’m serious, actually. It’s a nice little resort/beach town/New Age/psuedo-hippy bedroom community for Silicon Valley, but it borders on some terrific redwood forests and is just beautiful countryside. We (Mrs. CaptMurdock and I) actually stayed at the Brookdale Lodge, a few miles away. That place is kinda neat in itself: a) it’s supposedly haunted, b) it has a swimming pool with an underwater glass wall where you can see into the bar (and vice versa) c) it has a huge restaurant that has a river running through it d) it has pretty spacey rooms that usually include a kitchenette. Some of the rooms have large jacuzzi-type bathtubs as well.
Take a commuter flight to San Jose if you don’t want to drive up (and if you do go through San Jose, stop by the Winchester Mystery House – very cool!). Santa Cruz has a great boardwalk and pier; we ate at this seafood restaurant that rivals anything I’ve ever had.
If you are going within the next two months, you should be well ahead of the tourist season as well.
I’ll also put in a good word for Kauai. It is the least developed of the islands and has so many things to do (many have already been mentioned). It doesn’t have a lot of night life, and that may or may not be a problem.
- just returning from the medical, inspected & injected, it appears that I’m not considered (too much of) a health risk.
I think we’re sold on (one of the isles of) Hawaii, although there’s a lot of great stuff for when I can leave the States with the option of re-entering. But for a Scandinavian like yours truly, Hawaii sure is exotic enough - and being a bit of a WWII buff, there’s that to consider as well. Kauai sounds great.
You people are great!
Heh. Are you sitting comfortably, or was this one of those sissy injections they put in your arm?
One in each arm, plus a blood sample. To quote Dilbert: “The people at the clinic called me Bob - short for Shishkebob”. On the bright side, I got to keep the chest X-ray.
Good to see you posting, ol’ buddy. I wonder what you’ve been doing with your time, lately ? 
Most recently, driving back and forth to Luxemburg. Which reminds me, I’ve got a Pit Thread to compose…