Elements of a Perfect Day * * Part 2

Your big day is coming right up. Here you are in Hawaii, and your wedding will be happening … this day you have anticipated in many ways and in many moods over years.

What better way to get ready for your amazing occasion than on this golden beach, and in this turquoise water.

This is Waialea Bay, the beach popularly known as Beach 69. It is not marked on the highway. There are no signs to it. The road there is a twisty little potholed sometimes single lane stretch between Puako and Hapuna. I am giving away nothing here, as Yelp shows it, and guidebooks tell you exactly how to get there.  So, it may not look as empty as it does in this photo, particularly on a summer day, or during the winter holidays. However, a weekday during the rest of the year can be just what you see here. Sweet stretches of sand punctuated by a few beach chairs, people chatting. Keawe trees stretching into the ocean.  A couple of rope swings. A long stretch for walking. the ocean itself, just right for snorkeling or swimming, most days.

For perfection, bring along a hammock and string it in the keawe. Sound a little extreme? You can buy one at the Bamboo in Hawi, about a forty-five minutes north, and mail it home to yourself at the end of your stay. Why not?

Bring along sunscreen, and a picnic. There are no food vendors here.  Stay for the sunset, and don't be surprised if it gets so dark as you return to your car that you wish you had a flashlight. You may be walking by the light of your cell phone.

Waialea Bay may feel far from the rest of the world while you are there, but there are some great places to stop for dinner just a few minutes away.  Next blog post!