Archive for the ‘Hawaii’ Tag
Opaeka’a Falls is a short drive from Lihue … we saw a flock of Nene grazing nearby.
Wailua Falls is also near Lihue. Make a day of it; see them both!
We had this vision of Kauai as a rustic tropical paradise — the least developed of the major islands. It sounded like the perfect place to celebrate our 30th Anniversary.
In previous posts, you learned about our 30th Anniversary plan, which started in Honolulu and then continued onto Kauai. We spent 5 days there … again, not nearly enough time, but it was enough for us to find what we were looking for.
We’d never been there, of course, so we were relying on the recommendations of friends and guide books. We made a few mistakes: we didn’t go to any of the paid gardens (who knew that they were really, really pretty?). We didn’t go to the best luau on the island. And we didn’t find 3 of our 4 favorite restaurants (more on that later).
What did we do? We celebrated our 30 years of marriage in grand style, and found our new favorite getaway. We have since returned 3 times in 4 years. Get the picture … for people that didn’t go on vacations, we discovered a reason to do so!
So what’s on Kauai?
Waimea Canyon is gorgeous. Maybe someday I’ll shoot a picture as nice as this one! There are plenty of hiking trails and lookouts around the Canyon; explore to your heart’s content.
Waimea Canyon: The Grand Canyon of the Pacific. That’s what Mark Twain called it … and it is without question one of the best sights in the islands. On the other hand, I’ve never been able to take spectacular photos of it … so the photos shown here are from a Hawaii tourist website. The view is spectacular, but we didn’t hit the weather right to get spectacular photographs.
This sea urchin hotel is one of my favorite pictures from the south shore, on Maha’ulepu Beach.
Beaches, of course! There are all manner of beaches, but we most enjoyed visiting Poi’pu Beach on the south shore. We found a secluded spot, with no other humans visible … anywhere. We found beaches for sunsets, beaches for surfing (well, for watching surfing), and beaches for relaxing.
Good news: they will ship your purchases home, so you can freeze and then savor Kauai Coffee for many months following your visit.
Exotic foods are grown … in exotic places, naturally. We enjoyed all manner of tropical delicacies, and especially enjoyed touring the Kauai Coffee plantation. It’s a great couple of hours for a coffee connoisseur like Velda. And I tolerated it, too.
If you haven’t tried Shave Ice, then you don’t know what you’re missing. Try it with some sweet cream and tropical flavors, just sayin’.
Unique foods were also tried. After days of searching, we finally did find some malasadas to taste. And we ate shave ice for the first time in a place called Hanalei.
Love this bush growing in red dirt near a creek on the way to Waimea Canyon. I take a picture of it every visit!
You need an icy beverage and a flower in your hair while on Kauai. Check!
A rare photograph shot by Velda, at Maha’ulepu Beach. We lost our car in the 20′ tall bushes separating the beach from the sugar cane field. We still made our flight, though!
I still haven’t taken the perfect sunset photo, but I am not going to stop until I do.
To paraphrase my good friend Dennis, “Married 30 years, and those have been 25 of the best years of my life.” You can see me winking, right? Right???
We just didn’t do it. Most people do vacations. They go to exotic places. Tropical places. Far away places. Disney places. Velda and I … not so much.
Stanley Kubrick got it right in Stephen King’s “The Shining” … you need to get away or you’ll go crazy (or, in this case, be dead!).
No honeymoon. One SoCal theme park tour when I was in that business. One long weekend to Santa Barbara on our 10th anniversary. Family camping trips. One long weekend to the Grand Canyon. And rather infrequent trips to the midwest to see family, when we could. And that was it.
People work for a living; that’s nothing special. But I do think its essential that you GET AWAY once in a while. Vacations are good for the soul.
They grow unusual trees in Hawaii.
We talked about going to Hawaii for our 25th Anniversary … didn’t happen. Kids were still at home and in school; there was just too much going on. I think we went out to dinner somewhere. So, by the time we were nearing our 30th Anniversary, it was clear that we had to make something happen. I’m the guy that likes Big Hairy Audacious Goals, right? Time to go big.
Neither of us had ever visited Hawaii, so we decided to visit 3 of the islands: Oahu, Kauai, and the big island of Hawaii. We only had a dozen days, so we had to make a lot of tough choices.
Which part of paradise to see? Right, tough choices.
The Memorial building — that you reach after a short cross-harbor ride on a US Navy launch — is over the sunken Arizona. You see oil drops rising to the surface, and you see wreckage extending above the water.
We ended up only staying two nights on Oahu; long enough to only get a taste.
Waikiki was very photogenic, and I regret not having more time there.
We visited the USS Arizona Memorial, which to me was most like visiting the cemetery at the Gettysburg National Military Park. At Pearl Harbor, you are literally visiting the final resting place of many sailors lost in battle … and even more sailors that survived the battle chose to return there for their final resting place. The whole experience is sobering and humbling. This kind of emotional catharsis isn’t a common goal for vacations, I believe, but you will plumb the depths of emotions at this Memorial.
The USS Missouri, now basically a floating museum, faces the memorial for the USS Arizona. The peace treaty ending World War II was signed with the Empire of Japan on the deck of the Missouri.
Should you go there? Absolutely, just be prepared for the experience.
Next to the Arizona is where “Mighty Mo,” the USS Missouri, is on display. Nice to see those big guns that helped us win WWII. And, those are the same guns that Cher used in her video. Pretty amazing, when you think about it!
A much more “vacation-like” experience was wandering through the International Market Place in the heart of Waikiki Beach. I’m not a shopper … but Velda did get some new jewelry.
I’m pretty sure that’s when I was forgiven for not getting to Hawaii until our 30th anniversary.
We used our 2 days in Honolulu to get into vacation mode for our “real” vacation on Kauai. We definitely accomplished that, but I do regret that we have not yet taken the time to explore Oahu. There is much more to see there … and I’m now pretty sure that I need to buy some koa there.
Maybe next time!
I’m a woodworker, but I never considered holding my workpiece with my bare feet. And this craftsman is even using a sharp chisel!
The statue of “the Duke” is very visible on Waikiki. You see it in every episode of Hawaii Five-0! There’s a webcam pointed at the statue; we had fun texting the link to family & friends, and then posing for the poor people stuck back home.
Who hasn’t dreamed of lounging on Waikiki?
A baby albatross, hanging out in a public garden in Kauai. Taken near the north shore, 2011.
In yesterday’s post, I talked about things you must do when visiting Maui. Implicit in any itinerary is the search for the Perfect Sunset.
OK, not the perfect sunset, but definitely my best afternoon, under the umbrella reading on Ka’anapali Beach.
These young ladies were having a lot more fun than I sharing the sunset … immediately! The wonders of WiFi on the beach, creating instant jealousy among the friends back home.
Perhaps not the Perfect Sunset, but I’ll take it any day. Ka’anapali Beach, Maui.
Cue the sailboat….
