Costa Rican Honeymooning Part 1
From passport issues to breathtaking foods, amazing food and drinks to brand new experiences this trip has it all. Our honeymoon was memorable in more ways than one and provided me with an abundance of new firsts. To start this story I have to go back 4 months prior to wheels up.
Part 1 - Passport Issues
When trying to settle on a honeymoon destination Aubry insisted on going out of the country. Obviously this requires us to have a passport and both of us would require new ones. Aubry had a passport when she was younger, but it had expired after 5 years because she was a minor. I never had a passport to begin with. I went to the post office 13 weeks prior to the trip which was my first mistake. I was told it would take between 8-11 weeks which would give me a 2 week buffer unless I expedited the processing which I declined. That was my second mistake. Aubry went 2 weeks after I did, opted for the expedited processing, and received her passport within a couple of weeks.
Every week I would check the status of my passport only to see that it was still processing. Week 8 arrives and I am still optimistic that my passport will arrive on time and without issue. That was peak optimism and the graph slopes sharply downward over the coming weeks. Week 9 no change. Week 10 no change. Week 11 no change. Now I’m stressed. We get married in less than 2 weeks and are supposed to be on a plane to Costa Rica 4 days after that. Pro tip, calling the help line for the passport office is useless until you are within 7 days of your travel date. They will tell you to be patient and continue to wait until then. 3 days before the wedding the only appointment for emergency passport processing is in Hawaii, I live in and am getting married in Louisiana, so this does me no good. I’ll call back tomorrow. 2 days before the wedding the only appointment is in Vermont, but the man on the other end of the line shares a crucial tidbit of information with me. My passport is being processed at their office in New Orleans.
I had already been in contact with my local congressman to try to give the passport office the hurry up. My aunt has me try John Kennedy’s office in Lafayette since my passport is only 2 hours away. I call the morning of the wedding just to see if there is an appointment anywhere. They had an appointment in Miami for 1pm. The ceremony is at 6:30pm, pictures are at 4pm, the flight is 2 hours, so assuming the stars align I could make it to Miami grab my passport and be back in time for the ceremony. I bought the first ticket and I’m on a plane to Miami. Absolutely not, Aubry would have lost her mind. Instead I told Aubry that same joke which she did not laugh at and we agreed that on Monday morning, the day before our flight, we would get to the New Orleans office when they open and hope for the best.
These offices do not allow anyone without an appointment inside and after being yelled out of the office by the manager we continued to call and email any congressman that we could be associated with. Sick to my stomach, stressed out of my mind, and without any hope I’m sitting with Aubry in the lobby of the Westin on canal street in New Orleans. My phone rings. Kathy from John Kennedy’s office is on the other line and she says, “I can’t promise anything but best case scenario you will have to drive to New Orleans today to pick up your passport.” , at which point I tell her that I’m already in New Orleans. She responds with, “Keep your phone close, I’ll see what I can do!”. Aubry and I take the elevator down to the ground floor and begin to walk to Mother’s restaurant for breakfast. We are in the median of canal street about to cross when my phone rings. It’s Kathy. I pick up the phone and she tells me, “You have an appointment to pickup your passport today at 2pm. If anyone gives you any trouble I’ve sent you an email confirmation and you have my direct line”.
In that moment all the weight on my shoulders was lifted and I felt like I could finally breathe. We were going to make it on the flight tomorrow. To kill time before our appointment we ate breakfast and spent the day at the Audubon Zoo. By 2pm we’re walking out of the passport office, passport in hand, ready to drive to Houston for our morning flight to Liberia. Our first 3 days of marriage were most certainly memorable.
Stay tuned for part 2 where the relaxation and fun begins!
