We’re on our 20th anniversary trip on the Big Island of Hawaii. Only been here a couple of days, but they have been eventful.

We flew non-stop from San Diego to Kona on Alaska Air. The non-stop is a huge plus, and our $60 extra “premium” seats were a great bargain. No bag fees, go through all the first call lines/check-ins, and an extra four inches of legroom. Win-win-win.

Upon arrival, we expected to have to go through all kinds of paperwork and checks, as described in the Hawaii state website. Turns out all we had to do was show our vaccination cards and we glided right through. A good surprise.

Our “maybe too good to be true” Airbnb is as good as advertised. Right on the water, something you just can’t get at the big resorts up north. Listening to the ocean waves crashing all night 30 feet away is very soothing, even therapeutical. Love it.

We went exploring yesterday, including a survey of the aforementioned big resorts up north. We took a break and visited a promising-looking state beach (Hapuna), and enjoyed getting in the temperate Pacific water on a huge sandy beach. Turns out by complete chance we visited the #1 beach in the US, according to CNN. Who knew? Hapuna pictured below.

Later in the day we met an interesting entrepreneurial young (everyone seems young, very young, these days) couple at dinner last night. Their lives are very different than ours, but we had a lot of fun talking with them. The young man almost spoiled things by having too much to drink, but we helped him say no to another round and wished them well.

And today’s the actual anniversary. At almost exactly this time 20 years ago we were in Castle Stuart getting hitched in one of the all-time great destination weddings, if I say so myself. That’s a great memory, and one we celebrate today. Happy Anniversary, Kathryn! (And to me too…)