The flight from Phoenix to Kauai was not too bad. The plane felt almost roomy by coach standards and the time passed relatively quickly. The highlight was actually something outside the plane. The captain came on and said to look out the left side of the plane (which we were on). There was a 747 flying next to us. That plane flies slightly faster so it was only out there a minute or so. I don't recall ever seeing a plane that close while in the air (I suppose that's a good thing). It was actually a pretty neat sight.
More to come tomorrow...
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Honeymooners guilt
So we, of course, saw and met many Honeymooners on our trip to Kauai. (And I know I am obviously getting a bit older because I have to say that most of them didn't look old enough to be married.)
We actually started off our trip with a half a Honeymooner encounter. As we were getting ready to depart Phoenix for Lihue, Kauai, there were many, many empty seats on the plane. We were excited because we thought we'd get to spread out a bit. We were wrong. It just turned out there had been a lot of delays on connecting flights. The flight attendants reassured us it would be a full flight even if it didn't look like it.
At the last minute, a young guy rushed up to our row and took the window seat. He explained that their connecting flight was very delayed. I asked if he was from Hawaii or visiting? Actually, he said, I'm on my Honeymoon. Oh...where's your wife, I asked? He pointed toward the front of the plane. Apparently they had seats booked together, but they were given away and the two of them were split up. I felt so bad for them. I weighed in my mind offering to switch with them, but in the end it just seemed too troublesome. Thomas and I brought snacks to tide us over on the 6 hour+ flight and I didn't want to deal with the back and forth (plus I like sitting next to him!). I felt sort of bad about it, but the Honeymooner seemed okay.
We came to find out that another couple sitting in our vicinity were also Honeymooners and were also split up. So note to US Airways...might want to create a notation for Honeymooning couples to stay together because that's no way to start a Honeymoon.
More to come tomorrow...
At the last minute, a young guy rushed up to our row and took the window seat. He explained that their connecting flight was very delayed. I asked if he was from Hawaii or visiting? Actually, he said, I'm on my Honeymoon. Oh...where's your wife, I asked? He pointed toward the front of the plane. Apparently they had seats booked together, but they were given away and the two of them were split up. I felt so bad for them. I weighed in my mind offering to switch with them, but in the end it just seemed too troublesome. Thomas and I brought snacks to tide us over on the 6 hour+ flight and I didn't want to deal with the back and forth (plus I like sitting next to him!). I felt sort of bad about it, but the Honeymooner seemed okay.
We came to find out that another couple sitting in our vicinity were also Honeymooners and were also split up. So note to US Airways...might want to create a notation for Honeymooning couples to stay together because that's no way to start a Honeymoon.
More to come tomorrow...
Monday, July 13, 2009
No rain
It's a funny thing when the weather projections don't pan out as you expect. We once spent two weeks in Italy during the rainy season and experienced perfectly blue skies on all but two days. We had a similar experience while in Kauai. Those in the know, who have been there many times, described the standard daily downpour that comes each day, usually in the afternoon.
The thing is, it never really showed up anywhere we were. We had a couple of instances of scattered droplets, but nothing approaching a tropical downpour. I think it actually would have been nice to have some rain, but I guess our trip was destined to be dry.
More to come tomorrow...
The thing is, it never really showed up anywhere we were. We had a couple of instances of scattered droplets, but nothing approaching a tropical downpour. I think it actually would have been nice to have some rain, but I guess our trip was destined to be dry.
More to come tomorrow...
Sunday, July 12, 2009
If you're going to be a ______, you may as well be a _____ in paradise
This was one of our mantras during our week in Kauai. It seemed like you could pretty much make anything work. If you're going to be a chicken, you may as well be a chicken in paradise. If you're going to be a goat, you may as well be a goat in paradise. I imagine this applied to people too, but the animal ones stick out in my mind.
More to come tomorrow...
More to come tomorrow...
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Farmer's Market dash
I love a good Farmer's Market. Nine months out of the year, we are very lucky to have a wonderful market just a few minutes from our house, where (if you get there early) you can have your pick of wonderful, locally grown fruits and vegetables. I've learned to arrive right at the opening of the market because the crowds just grow and grow and soon everything is gone (plus the later you get there, the longer you wait in line to check out).
All this to say that I am used to a crowded and lightly competitive market environment. But that was no preparation for the experience of a Kauai Farmer's Market.
The guidebook we had very helpfully pointed out the location of the daily markets around the island. It just so happened that early in the week, one was taking place about five minutes from where we were staying. I also really appreciated that the book said to get their early. And I am very glad we took that seriously!
The market was in the parking lot of a large shopping center. When we arrived, we could see that all the vendors were parked in two rows with space down the middle to walk. But no one was in there and we soon saw why--there were ropes strung around the edge of the market. Apparently there is some sort of law about no sales before start time. So we lingered around, with no idea of what was about to happen.
All this to say that I am used to a crowded and lightly competitive market environment. But that was no preparation for the experience of a Kauai Farmer's Market.
The guidebook we had very helpfully pointed out the location of the daily markets around the island. It just so happened that early in the week, one was taking place about five minutes from where we were staying. I also really appreciated that the book said to get their early. And I am very glad we took that seriously!
The market was in the parking lot of a large shopping center. When we arrived, we could see that all the vendors were parked in two rows with space down the middle to walk. But no one was in there and we soon saw why--there were ropes strung around the edge of the market. Apparently there is some sort of law about no sales before start time. So we lingered around, with no idea of what was about to happen.
Then, at 3:00 on the dot, a whistle blew (literally) and a massive swarm of people descended on the vendors. I really didn't even realize that many people were in the vicinity, but soon the entire aisle was chock full of shoppers (according to the book and their clear experience with the process, they were mostly locals).
We rushed into the din to search out our fruit, which was actually a lot of fun as long as you just decided not to be too uptight about all the chaos. Our first stand was some beautiful pineapple...really in the end, some of the best I have every tasted. We also bought guava, mangoes, papaya, lychees and bananas. We spread the love out among several vendors and walked away very happy campers.
We ended up eating that fruit all week, both just cut up fresh, as well as blended into delicious smoothies. And next time we know...definitely get there early and be on your mark at 2:59.
More to come tomorrow...
We rushed into the din to search out our fruit, which was actually a lot of fun as long as you just decided not to be too uptight about all the chaos. Our first stand was some beautiful pineapple...really in the end, some of the best I have every tasted. We also bought guava, mangoes, papaya, lychees and bananas. We spread the love out among several vendors and walked away very happy campers.
We ended up eating that fruit all week, both just cut up fresh, as well as blended into delicious smoothies. And next time we know...definitely get there early and be on your mark at 2:59.
More to come tomorrow...
Friday, July 10, 2009
Killing time
One afternoon in Kauai, we had a plan to do a bit of roaming around and sightseeing in a little town, and then round out the day with a nice early dinner at a restaurant that came highly recommended. The plan was to partake of the Happy Hour menu, which was actuallly a specially price six course tasting meal only served from 5-6 pm.
We arrived in the town around 3:00 or so, thinking that would work great. We would walk around, do a bit of shopping (window and actual) and be right in the vicinity for our 5:30 dinner reservation.
Just one small problem...it was incredibly hot and humid that day. So after about 20-30 minutes of wandering around, we were very hot and altogether done with wandering. And we still had about two hours to go before our dinner reservation. It was pretty sad actually...who is two hours early for a 5:30 reservation!
We decided to tool over to the restaurant/resort, figuring at least we could find a cool place to relax and perhaps have a drink. The resort was located right on the beach so we wandered down there. With the ocean breezes and some shade, it was actually quite nice out. We entertained ourselves with taking pictures...pretty much every conceivable angle and configuration. Nearby was a woman who was very amused by us. She finally took pity on our attempts to use the timer at group shots and offered to take a photo of us herself.
Unfortunately, these antics only occupied about a half hour, so we still had another hour to go. We wandered back up to the lounge area to await the 5:00 opening. We asked the hostess very nicely if we could be seated at 5:00 instead of 5:30 and she said no problem. There were nice cushy couches in the lounge, so we waited, read the menu, debated having an appetizer (decided no since a six course tasting menu is plenty of food) and waited some more.
Finally, mercifully, our wait ended. At 5:00 on the dot, we were ready to be seated. They gave us a lovely table out on the lanai and we then enjoyed an absolutely delicious meal. Definitely worth the wait.
More to come tomorrow...
We arrived in the town around 3:00 or so, thinking that would work great. We would walk around, do a bit of shopping (window and actual) and be right in the vicinity for our 5:30 dinner reservation.
Just one small problem...it was incredibly hot and humid that day. So after about 20-30 minutes of wandering around, we were very hot and altogether done with wandering. And we still had about two hours to go before our dinner reservation. It was pretty sad actually...who is two hours early for a 5:30 reservation!
We decided to tool over to the restaurant/resort, figuring at least we could find a cool place to relax and perhaps have a drink. The resort was located right on the beach so we wandered down there. With the ocean breezes and some shade, it was actually quite nice out. We entertained ourselves with taking pictures...pretty much every conceivable angle and configuration. Nearby was a woman who was very amused by us. She finally took pity on our attempts to use the timer at group shots and offered to take a photo of us herself.
Unfortunately, these antics only occupied about a half hour, so we still had another hour to go. We wandered back up to the lounge area to await the 5:00 opening. We asked the hostess very nicely if we could be seated at 5:00 instead of 5:30 and she said no problem. There were nice cushy couches in the lounge, so we waited, read the menu, debated having an appetizer (decided no since a six course tasting menu is plenty of food) and waited some more.
Finally, mercifully, our wait ended. At 5:00 on the dot, we were ready to be seated. They gave us a lovely table out on the lanai and we then enjoyed an absolutely delicious meal. Definitely worth the wait.
More to come tomorrow...
Thursday, July 9, 2009
End of the line
One notable thing about Kauai as a Hawaiian island is that, because there is a section in the northwest part of the island that is inaccesible by car, you can't drive all the way around the island. This means that on both the north and western shores you literally reach the end of the line when driving. On our last day on Kauai, Thomas and I took the opportunity to drive all the way to the end of the road on the north shore.
As the end approaches, the area around the "highway" becomes more and more residential and the road starts getting smaller and smaller. Then the one-way bridges start (which of course many people couldn't seem to understand...apparently they like playing chicken with other cars?!). Then the the road just gets downright tiny. And then it all ends at a very small turnaround at Ke'e beach. You literally just run out of road.
Parking is also a bit of a nightmare so we weren't able to explore that beach, but we did finally find a spot a bit of a ways east of there. It was a very bright and beautiful day--not a bad way to end our trip at all.
More to come tomorrow...
As the end approaches, the area around the "highway" becomes more and more residential and the road starts getting smaller and smaller. Then the one-way bridges start (which of course many people couldn't seem to understand...apparently they like playing chicken with other cars?!). Then the the road just gets downright tiny. And then it all ends at a very small turnaround at Ke'e beach. You literally just run out of road.
Parking is also a bit of a nightmare so we weren't able to explore that beach, but we did finally find a spot a bit of a ways east of there. It was a very bright and beautiful day--not a bad way to end our trip at all.
More to come tomorrow...
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