Waimea Plantation Cottages

My brother's wedding was held down at Waimea Plantation Cotttages, right on the ocean at Waimea Beach, which is almost-black sand. It's more brown, really. Even though swimming is not a good idea (the dark sand makes the water brown and prone to sharks), it was still lovely to be by the sea. We rented one of the big houses there and had the wedding out on the lawn. 

Walking out on Waimea Pier:

The black (brown) sand beach is littered with stark branches of driftwood:

The lawn was completely shaded by an ancient banyan tree, which looked like a jungle all by itself:

Tables out on the lawn, surrounded by tiki torches:

The inside of our historical house was decorated in Hawaiiana style:

My bedroom window looked out on the Pacific Ocean, and it was so wonderful listening to the waves as I fell asleep:

A cool lamp filled with seashells:

Opening the doors to lanai created a sense of indoor/outdoor living:

The kitchen was sunny and bright:

The setting was just perfect for the wedding:

And when you needed to get away for a bit, relaxing in one of the seaside hammocks was a great idea:

Bones on the Beach

Skeletons of salty vagrants are swept to shore like so many bones on the beach. They clutter together in cadaverous piles that bleach under the sun. Sea-scavengers are we, delighting in this death. We choose our seashells with care and hide them in our pockets. Only the best of the dead things will we take home. We burn the driftwood for our fires. We stack the sun-dried branches for our shelters. We collect the sand-dollars and starfish, the remnants of the living, to decorate our houses. We reuse the once-lost and find beauty.