Hey y'all!  Back from Hawaii, and had an absolutely fabulous time (I mean did you really have any doubt?)  I posted endless pictures on Instagram, which you can certainly check out, but I'll just post some of the highlights here, including, most importantly for the purposes of this blog, some of the food:

Travel:  This part is pretty boring... we just went from RDU to DFW to LAX to Honolulu.  It was so long and lots of layovers but we made it.  I became pretty delirious after awhile since we had woken up at like 5 to go the airport in the first place.  Fortunately, there was this incredible cut out of Anderson Cooper (swoon) that I placed all over the plane etc. to entertain myself, using the hashtag #ACdoesHawaii.  I was totally prepared to take Anderson with us everywhere in Hawaii but then I got overwhelmed with excitement and totally forgot, but here is the Anderson montage (and some pics from the plane):

Arrival:  After about 18-20 hours of travel, we were exhausted and hungry when we arrived in Honolulu.  Actually we were starving.  So starving in fact, that Matt made us jump off the shuttle to go to an IHOP that we saw on the side of the road.  No I am NOT joking.  We had our first meal there, where our waiter, Shane, gave us the scoop that it's really called HaVaii and Vaikiki and that all W's were V's and then he gave us some free pineapple...most winning IHOP experience.Ever.  We then arrived at our hotel which had an OUTDOOR LOBBY.  I die.  It was gorgeous and awesome...

Day 1: we relaxed, woke up to an awesome view super early (because of time change not because we are amazingly productive), went and fed some birds (the Japanese guy below shared his bread with me and showed me how to get the bird to sit on my hand! So nice!), hung out on the beach, went for a long walk, climbed some trees and went to the aquarium!

Day 2:  we went on a submarine tour! it was so flipping fun and we saw a (fake) sunken ship and airplane!  It was very very neat.  Then we went to relax on the beach (again), I mean it IS Hawaii.  Then we went to Roy's where I proceeded to indulge myself in the best meal I've ever had.  Hi Roy!  Thanks for tweeting me back...I'm obsessed with you (mildly I swear, and I know the laws on stalking don't worry).

Day 3:  we went on the LOST tour!  This was pretty much the whole reason that we came.  Matt had planned this tour because we are obsessed with the show and went through all 6 seasons in the summer that we were studying for the bar!  The tour was 5 hours and barrels of fun  (It also included some of Jurassic Park, 50 first dates, Godzilla, et al.).  Unfortunately, afterwards we went to this brewery place that our tour guide had recommended (who was right about everything else) but I got a bacon cheddar burger, which sounded fabulous at the time, but then when we went to go relax at the pool for a bit I started feeling awful and basically felt terrible until the next morning...here's how you know I wasn't feeling well: I didn't eat anything past 4pm... and I LOVE food.  (You can click on any photo to enlarge...I'm just making them small to be less overwhelming)

Day 4:  we rented a Smart Car, who I named MartytheSmarty (I know I'm ridiculously creative right?)  We drove up to the North Shore, which is much more deserted and "local"-esque than Waikiki (which Hawaiians call "Disney Land").  We went to the LOST beach (where the plane crashed, and the other beach where they set up camp...they are right next to each other).  We took a picture with the famous LOST tree and then decided we were starving again.  We drove around the North Shore until we found a Shrimp Truck and I about died because I had been searching for a shrimp truck the whole time we were there.  I was SO excited.  I was even more excited when later that night on the internet in our hotel when we discovered that Macky's shrimp truck was the one from LOST! It was like fate.  I then dragged Matt down the road in the opposite direction of the beach for some shaved ice.  It's Hawaii y'all and I was NOT leaving without getting some shaved ice...particularly in the Li Hing Mui flavor (dried plum) that is so raved about.  Well I finally got it and got 3 flavors: Li Hing Mui, Guava, and Papaya.  It was Totally Worth It.  100%.  (again all the small pictures can be enlarged by clicking them).

P.S. we also saw THIS on the way to the Smart Car Rental Place:

Day 5:  after our last fantastic breakfast at the hotel, it was time to go.  I was so sad :(  Aloha Hawaii... thanks for reading y'all!