Easter in Kauai

Whelp. It’s our last day so we decided to get out and do something. First, we had a delightful breakfast of fried eggs over Hawaiian fried rice. Seems like a staple right?

We started with a full mini van since Joe stayed behind to watch the Masters golf tournament on tv. 

We drove up a mountain to a monastery but along the way we stumbled upon another waterfall. Opaeka’a Falls is a 151 foot waterfall and it’s completely visible from the road so there is no hiking involved. 

It’s a look from afar kinda experience but the walk across the road gives you beautiful views of the Wailua River State Park. That was an impressive view!

Pretty huh? It’s very green and lush. Our next stop was the Kauai Hindu Monastery which we visited in 2015. It’s a tranquil place to visit with beautiful gardens and a place to meditate if you’re into that sort of thing. 

It’s a lovely place to stop and learn about a culture and religion that maybe you don’t know much about. It’s the kind of place that appreciates you covering your exposed skin, so they have sarongs for you to cover your legs and arms. It all adds to the ambiance I’d say. 

I scored a matching set so I was styling! Next up, we drove a different way back down to town and drove further north out to the Kilauea Light House which was sadly closed, but we got some nice photos from a distance. 

It’s out there. Waaaaay out there! 😂 Oh well, it’s a lighthouse so you know, tall building with a lightbulb. Food was calling from tummies in the back so we drove south to Kapaa and found our favorite taco joint Tiki Tacos. Turns out, there is a new southern location that we saw a few days ago on the way to the canyon. Anyway, this chicken really wanted to come inside and snag a bite. 

Since Kaitlyn isn’t much for tacos, she yelped a poke place with awesome reviews and we got some takeout for her and Todd. They both liked their bowls, but Todd wanted his to be spicier. 

And guys, one quick stop at Walmart in Lihue for much needed ice cream and I was ready for a nap. We drove back to the condo and I promptly fell asleep listening to my afternoon meditation on the Calm App. My go to for any stress that tries to mess with my day. 

After a nap, Kaitlyn pushed us to take a walk down to Brennecke’s Beach which is only a half mile walk from the condo. There was no rain in the forecast. I repeat, no rain. I checked the weather app before we left. And still, we got poured on as we arrived and again just before we left. A little rain never hurt right? Luckily our phones are waterproof. 

She is smiling and I’m wet :/ We got to see some whale tails far off in the distance which was super cool. The beach was cute and there’s a place for the turtles to come up on the beach to chill at night. Forgot to get a photo of that. 

Card games and leftovers were our chill tonight. A gorgeous sunset that was STUNNING in person but this photo simply doesn’t do it justice. Enjoy, it’s been a lovely last day in paradise and although it wasn’t our normal Easter, it was still a good day. 

Beaches and the Fancy Resort

This morning started off with some fresh papaya and fruit that we picked up at a farmers market. Coffee, tropical fruit, and a view like this…

Next, we filled our morning lusting after the high life with a trip to the Grand Hyatt. Why did we go to that resort? Well we saw online that they had a very nice restaurant overlooking koi ponds and the ocean. This is only a half a mile from our condo complex but it was more than double the cost, hence why we didn’t stay there. But it made for a nice trip this morning and a lovely walk around their lagoons. 

Yeah it was bougie! I would have to have a lot more followers on this blog to get them to sponsor my next trip to Kauai…

We enjoyed the walk and they had not one but four parrots in the lobby on display. That was a pretty cool bonus find!

We snapped lots of photos near the koi pond and made our way down to the ocean where Katie and I found a few tide pools and very white sand. 

Some people chillaxed in a swing to avoid getting sand in their toes. Next, we ventured down to Spouting Horn to see the area where the ocean meets rock and makes a horn sound. It makes a very loud sound!

It’s a pretty quick stop as there isn’t much to do there, except gawk over the expensive homes for sale. There was one on Zillow for a cool 30 million 😮 The bathrooms at the aspiring Horn park had some positive messages in the ladies restroom. And who doesn’t need some compliments while using the potty?

The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent tanning at the pool and eating leftovers. Lots of Lazying around and resting since we are on vacation after all! 

A quick drive into the town of Koloa to find a meat thermometer for the tri tip dinner left us with cookies, blueberry muffins, more Coke Zero, goldfish, and no meat thermometer. Luckily, the boys know how to grill and it was cooked perfectly! 

Dinner was a tasty mix of Costco premade mashed potatoes (which were actually delicious), asparagus from a local farmers market, and a Costco pre marinated tri tip. Tasty! 😋 

We were supposed to go to The Beach House for dinner but the only reservation they had was for 3:45pm and we just weren’t feeling it. Plus, we have leftovers to eat tomorrow so we opted to have the tri tip tonight. It looks like it will work out perfectly and tomorrow we can eat everything left in the fridge. And if God forbid we run out of food…there are plenty of places around!

Shopping and Ignoring the Date

Yes, I realize there are only three sleeps left and I’m sad and I don’t want to think about that. 

Bacon and toast breakfast was our treat today courtesy of Todd’s amazing cooking skills. A slow start to the day but we drove into Lihue for some shopping of Hawaiian gifts and maybe some coffee creamer - because we have priorities. 

These are the only photos I took and yes that’s a Starbucks. Have you seen the Been There series of cups? They are popular in the gift giving world and the world of Starbucks junkies. On my side of the family, we have a lot of former Starbucks employees. Or “partners” as we were all once called. These mugs have become collectors items and now my sis will have one for her birthday!

After shopping and grabbing some necessities for the condo, we headed back to lounge at the pool. The pool is pretty quiet and not too crowded so our afternoon was tranquil as we attempted to sun and tan ourselves. This girly was happy!

Dinner was in tonight and Grams had been slow roaring pork baby back ribs for five hours in the oven. Our favorite bbq sauce Sweet Baby Rays is always a nice accompaniment and more of Ts fried rice made the perfect side dish. Some Spivey honey was drizzled on shrimp and we had ourselves a feast! No pictures because this isn’t a restaurant and we were hungry. One photo we did get was Katie’s sketch of the buildings and view from the balcony. Quite good!

Red wine flowed and some Hawaii 5-0 streamed in some AirPods for Papa to decompress. Some card games and some boob tube as Grams calls it and we were climbing the stairs for bed. An uneventful day but one that was still spent in paradise 🌴 

Oh yeah, it rained on us a bit at the pool. 😂 

Lazying Around on Joe’s Birthday

We didn’t move much today. We thought about getting up and going out. We talked about it for a bit. We even showered and got ready. But then we hung out and watched the Masters golf thingy on tv and some of us tanned in the rain/sun. A pretty standard day in paradise. 

Check out the downpour as Katie and I attempted to get some color on our winter white skin. 

We came back after an hour and played some George which is a family card game. Katie won. 

Some light snacks were eating and a few people napped  our day was lazy in many ways but our early birthday dinner at RumFire at the Sheraton was something we were all looking forward to.

After getting dolled up and grabbing a nightlight from the local Longs, that’s a story for another day… we had just enough time for a few photo ops before our reservation. There is lots of wind here! 

Our dinner spot was suggested to us by friends Doug and Denise who were here just a few weeks ago. The ambiance and decor was lovely and this is certainly a place where you’d want to celebrate a special occasion…like someone turning 64!!! No, not me. 

The obligatory food photos are below. The poke flatbread was actually quite good and I have eaten more poke and raw fish this week than ever before. Ch-ch-changes!

Lots of fish was ordered but short ribs and a filet mignon were also on the menu so we tried the beef and we were not disappointed. Everything was lovely, and many forks were passed around to share and taste everything. The portions are not overly huge so every plate was cleaned as we ended the entree portion of the evening and began thinking about desserts. And since we had two birthdays we were celebrating, we ordered one of everything. 

Somehow I didn’t end up with photos of all the food but even the dessert plates were licked clean. I think some of us skipped lunch and came prepared for a meal! Me included.

Birthday photos commenced 🎉 and we swiftly drove back to the condo for cards and some lighthearted boob tube as Grams would say. Being thankful and happy, and applied. A fine way to spend a birthday. 

Waimea Canyon and the Bridge

Today the water at the condo was off from 10am to 2pm so we planned a trip to Waimea Canyon. It rains here a lot even though there is no rain in the weather app. It poured in traffic as we drove to the canyon. There is a reason that this island is so green!

It was an hour drive from our area of Koloa and we arrived to the top of the lookout point just before noon. The curvy roads weren’t fun for the motion sick inclined party members, but the views were pretty incredible at the top. 

It was worth the drive, but the bathrooms were nothing to write home about :/ You would think for the steep entrance fee that the bathrooms would be nicer. https://dlnr.hawaii.gov/dsp/parks/kauai/waimea-canyon-state-park/

After milling around for a bit, we decided that lunch was needed and we headed down the steps and winding hill. Thankfully the drive down the mountain is much faster! 

We stumbled upon a highly rated Yelp restaurant called Japanese Grandma’s Cafe in the town of Hanapepe. We found their food to be delicious and the outdoor seating and ambiance was lovely. 

From poke bowls to sushi, the food was great and all of us said that we’d return. After our meal, and many glasses of water to stay hydrated, we ventured to the Hanapepe Swinging Bridge. We’ve heard of this place and figured that since it was right next door, we might as well see what the fuss is about. 

So what does a swinging bridge look like? It’s wooden and old and it shakes a lot when you walk on it, but walk on it we did!

We made it across and that was pretty much it. There is a house at the other end that has converted their lower level to a museum/shop type thing, but that’s about it for the experience. And then we had to walk back. Or race back since Papa John was already 1/4 of the way back before we noticed he had walked off. 

We also discovered that the tiny town of Hanapepe is the inspiration behind the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch. Cute, right? This Disney family was excited to find this cute mural in town too. 

There were a few other photo ops before we jumped in the rental van and headed back to the condo. 

Kaitlyn is our designated photo op person. It’s always nice to have someone in the group who wants to have pictures snapped and finding cute pictures is what mamas do best. 

And so we headed back to the condo where rum runner Mai tais were calling our names. Costco has good deals on drinks! 

And I wasn’t the only one enjoying drinks…

My drink was prepared by a heavy handed bartender so one and done was it for me. It may have led to some loud conversations while scouting out whale blowholes with the binoculars. It’s still whale season here in Kawaii!

A beautiful evening with a view from the lanai commenced and the boys headed down to the barbecue to cook up the protein. Bbq’d chicken and some Hawaiian fried rice was a delight made by T. Some lazying around, a little Cooking Network later, and the sun was setting and eyelids were drooping. Until tomorrow!