Hawaii - October 10, 2003
There was nothing to do on this morning except get packed and get out of town. We caught our flight to Kauai by way of Oahu and arrived on the island well before our check-in time at the Plantation Hale. We opted for a smaller car this time and I wasn't too happy with it. It drove like a boat and stank of cigarettes. It was also raining on and off and we couldn't leave the windows down to air it out.
Kauai is certainly the most beautiful of the islands we'd visited. Its first appearance was nothing like Hawaii. It was green and wet and the ground was often vibrant shades of red.
First we found the hotel to see if an early check-in would be possible. It wasn't, so we headed on down the road. We stopped for some food. The only restaurant that presented itself immediately was McDonald's, and despite my earlier vow not to eat there again on this trip, I was too hungry to stand on principle. There were no comic misadventures of any kind at the McDonald's; however, I did see something called "Saimin" on the menu. Once again I used my cell phone to send text messages back to the mainland to do a little Internet research. It seems saimin is a noodle dish similar to ramen soup and popular in Hawaii. So far, we'd not encountered any mention of this food. I decided to make an effort to try it before we left.
Eating killed enough time so that we could check in and put our stuff in the hotel.
The hotel rooms were nice, but obviously old and well-used. Still, they contained everything we needed, including a full kitchenette. The rooms were decorated with a pair of brightly painted wooden fish. My mother-in-law was instantly taken with them.
We had no plans for that day, so we decided to drive around the area. We headed north and came across an arts and crafts fair. We stopped in hoping to find some painted wooden fish for my mother-in-law. While everyone else started looking, I walked down to the shore and took a couple pictures of the beach. The beaches were certainly prettier on Kauai and this one didn't look too intimidating. On our drive into town we had passed a beautiful beach, but the surf crashing into it was positively terrifying! Signs were visible everywhere telling people to stay out of the water, but there were still a few people surfing in it.
We continued north until we found the lighthouse at Kilauea, which was closed, but we were able to get a good look from the hill. It was beginning to get dark, so we decided to return.
Since there were no Costcos on the island, we stopped at Safeway to do some shopping. Prices aren't any cheaper here than Hawaii.
Kauai - a beach |
Kauai - Kilauea |
Kauai - Kilauea |
