Hi Friends! Courtney here and I am pleased to have the honor of introducing you to my fabulous parents. I got my excellent sense of humor (and clearly my humility), creative spirit and my desire to wander the globe from them. And I am excited to share my father’s story, written in his own words, with you, about a photo he and my mom re-created to celebrate 50 years of marriage! Who am I kidding, I can’t resist giving you my commentary as well-just keep an eye out for that purple text.

“Kristie (momma dearest) and I are celebrating 50 years of marriage on December 20, 2019. We decided to revisit our honeymoon destination of Hawaii. Our original trip started with a flight from NYC to Oahu then on to Hilo. From there we traveled on to Kona, Maui and finally Honolulu. (Fun fact: my husband and I also went to the same Hawaiian spots for our honeymoon – cue the “awwwws”).

“To replicate that itinerary, we decided on a Hawaiian cruise from Vancouver on the Celebrity Eclipse. It was an unusual route, but the stops in Hawaii duplicated our honeymoon. We selected some photos from our Honeymoon album, non digital, to try to re-visit the scenes in the photos. Our first stop after six wonderful days at sea (can you imagine still having things to talk to each other about to fill 6 days at sea, after 50 years of marriage?!) was Hilo. We had stayed at the Orchid Isle hotel back in 1969 and had a photo of our younger selves (aka hippies) in front of the hotel. We discovered that the hotel had burned down in the 80’s, never to be rebuilt. A disappointment. (Whomp Whomp – it gets better I promise, or why would I share this with you? I mean, come on, have faith).

“Back in (not the summer of) ’69 (get it?) we visited a black sand beach on the Big Island. For the recreation, we booked a tour on the ship which would take us there. What we found was the beach had been covered with lava flows from the last volcanic eruption. Strike two! (Eek, you are losing faith aren’t you? Hold strong).

“On to Kona. We had stayed at the Kona Hilton. The building is still there but has been branded as an independent hotel (How rude! BTW how many of you thought of Michelle Tanner when you read that? YES, you are my people) with different signage than appears in our original photo. A photo op but only partially successful (the start of an upswing?).

“On Maui, for our honeymoon, we had stayed at the Maui Hilton. We still got to visit the gorgeous beaches that we remembered, but the hotel was demolished in the 90’s and redesigned and rebuilt. Foiled again! (OK I spoke too soon).

“Our last stop was Oahu. We had this great picture of us at the Pali Pass. Using the Waze app we drove towards the Pali Pass outlook (Look at my parents using technology!). As we approached the entrance, we were confronted by a barrier. We discovered that the area had been closed due to a very recent landslide! (Are you freakin’ kidding me?!).

“Our last attempt to recreate a memory was the Polynesian Cultural Center. The center is still in business (YAY). As we stepped up to the ticket counter, I showed the picture of us standing in front of a particular tiki statue. I asked if the statue was still there (pause for dramatic effect). The ticket agent asked why and I told him of our adventures so far (Oh, the buildup). He said that he thought the statue was still there (Drumroll…). He suggested we step out of line and pointed us in the direction of Jimmy. He is one of the park managers (not the statue). When I told him about our quest he led us to the VIP area. He arranged for one of his colleagues to pick us up in a golf cart, drove us to the statue, took the picture with us holding the original honeymoon picture! (YAY JIMMY! Again-the manager, not the statue – the statue clearly looks more like a Charles). At last, success. Jimmy also arranged for us to enjoy all that the park has to offer (Jimmy’s a great dude, mahalo). He demonstrated the Aloha Spirit and we got our perfect capture, 50 years in the making!”

So that’s their amazing Hawaiian anniversary adventure!! My parents are serious #COUPLEGOALS, right? 50 years is definitely brag worthy. They are also avid travelers – 50 countries and counting! We are joining them in August to celebrate their 50th Anniversary by going on an African safari and we can’t wait!