Just wanted to share a picture we received today from Nate Gowdy, who photographed our wedding for the Seattle Gay News, and let everyone know we are safely in Kaua’i, tucked away in a cottage on the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Barking Sands.

We had a wonderful day of travels. We left Seattle this morning after a flight change on Alaska Airlines that had us leave two hours earlier than expected. The good news is that got us into Honolulu early enough to make an earlier connection to Kaua’i on Hawaiian Air, which the nice girl at the customer service desk was happy to do for us–for free (and we didn’t even have to mention our honeymoon or flash Matthew’s military ID). At the gate we ran into TJ Thyne from Bones, who gave us some tourism tips after finishing a week on Kaua’i with his girlfriend (yes, Matthew introduced himself because they have a mutual friend in Los Angeles).

When we arrived in Kaua’i and got to the Hertz desk, there were two Phelps reservations, one for Matthew and one in his mom’s name. We confirmed that Mom wasn’t going to be chaperoning the honeymoon, as they had just arrived home in Chicago, and it was a mere coincidence. The girl at the Hertz desk was excited to hear of our wedding and told us about her girlfriend who is working in Saudi Arabia. She’s hoping for a positive decision on DOMA next month as well, as the current immigration laws for LGBT couples are preventing them from living together in the US.

We had a great drive around the southern side of the island and finally arrived at the cottages. Staying on a military facility is for us like being at a resort–private beaches, outdoor activity rental, even a Navy Exchange and a restaurant on the beach.

When we got into the Jeep to get some provisions, we turned on the radio, hit “seek” once, and landed on the public radio station KKCR during the Free2B hour as they were giving a tribute to LGBT troops and vets in honor of Memorial Day. When we called the radio station to thank them for the tribute and share the coincidence with the host, she asked us to stay on and tell our story to her listeners on the air.

So far, I think we are off to a great start.

Cheers and Aloha!!
{ Ben + Matthew }