ChargerGrl, tell us about Hawaii

[Skippy123]

I would love to hear about your trip

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Hiya Skippy

You are too sweet to "page" me about my Kauai trip!

DH and I had a fabulous time! We were in Kauai for 4.5 days to celebrate our 2nd anniversary (it's actually in late Sept)

Our hotel, the Princeville Resort was paradise and we created some lovely memories. Sadly, we were one of the last guests to stay there. It's set to close in about 10 days time for an extensive 9-month renovation and will re-open as a St. Regis property.

I'm off to a vacationing friend's home to feed their dog/water the plants and will be offline for the rest of the evening. I promise to give a full trip report and share pics tomorrow!

For now, here's a couple of teasers- this was the panoramic view from our room. (imagine all three pics pasted together: pool-beach-ocean)

 

[ChargerGrrl]

the beach

 

[ChargerGrrl]

the tent was for oceanside massages!

 

[AmberWaves]

Eeee!! I was on that beach!! Soo fun, but there were a ton of dead little fish that had washed up. How was the weather??

 

[ChargerGrrl]

AMBER!

have to share that we luved Kountry Kitchen. i had the banana pancakes, and hubby had the moco loco with kalua pork special. YUM. We only had one other "real" breakfast- at the Prince Golf Course Clubhouse. it paled in comparison to Kountry Kitchen.

the weather was gorgeous! it only really rained a handful of times- and they all happened to be when the top was up on the convertible.

can i say just how yummy the shaved ice was?? i took the obligatory pic of it and will post it this eve.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 9/8/2008 12:56:44 PM
Author: ChargerGrrl
AMBER!

have to share that we luved Kountry Kitchen. i had the banana pancakes, and hubby had the moco loco with kalua pork special. YUM. We only had one other 'real' breakfast- at the Prince Golf Course Clubhouse. it paled in comparison to Kountry Kitchen.

the weather was gorgeous! it only really rained a handful of times- and they all happened to be when the top was up on the convertible.

can i say just how yummy the shaved ice was?? i took the obligatory pic of it and will post it this eve.

I went to Kountry kitchen too, did you have the coconut syrup? hehe We love Princeville too!

Your pictures are great!!! How was the Na Pali Catamaran?

I am dying to hear about that!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Kauai. LOL
Wow, you all sounded like you had a fab time!

Happy Anniversary and I am glad you had a wonderful anni celebration is Kauai!

 

[AmberWaves]

Eeeee! Charger, I am SOOO glad you loved it. Weren't those banana pancakes just SOOO freaking good? I told Paul that it's amazing because a.) I never eat bananas and b) nor do I eat coconuts, but while we were there, that's all I ate- and we had the EXACT same breakfast that YOU guys did! Did you have mai tais? Did you get lost going to Princeville, like we did? Then again, it was like, beyond dark there (sooo weird, as LA doesn't have DARK skies like Kauai, where it's just pitch black at night- with stars) when we arrived.

I'm so glad you had a great time!! Can't wait to see your shave ice pics- post them in the TTC area, too! We can catalog them! They've totally ruined sno cones for me now!

 

[littlelysser]

I''m glad you had fun Charger!!! And we definitely need pictures of the shave ice! YUM!!!

We did the Na Pali coast catamaran...it was one of the most beautiful things we''ve ever seen. EVER. Just awe inspiring!!

Skippy - I love Kauai and miss it darn near every day...

 

[miraclesrule]

Date: 9/8/2008 12:56:44 PM
Author: ChargerGrrl
AMBER!

have to share that we luved Kountry Kitchen. i had the banana pancakes, and hubby had the moco loco with kalua pork special. YUM. We only had one other ''real'' breakfast- at the Prince Golf Course Clubhouse. it paled in comparison to Kountry Kitchen.

the weather was gorgeous! it only really rained a handful of times- and they all happened to be when the top was up on the convertible.

can i say just how yummy the shaved ice was?? i took the obligatory pic of it and will post it this eve.

Ewwwwwwww, it''s so funny how that dish is so popular among islanders, but I can''t stand it. My daughter loved it though. And every morning when we were in HI, my daughter and her best friend, her MOH would have to go to the locals breakfast joint and eat it. I liked the rice part, but that was about it.

More pictures!!!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 9/8/2008 8:51:45 PM
Author: littlelysser


Skippy - I love Kauai and miss it darn near every day...

I miss it too

I daydream about it from time to time and wish I was there, that is why "we" need to live vicariously through ChargerGrrl!!! hehe

Awesome to the Na Pali Catamaran, I was such a chicken for 2 days whether to do it or not but so glad I did because it is the highlight for sure, even though everything you do there is FAB! hehe

 

[ChargerGrrl]

whew... what a long tough day at work. coming home and going thru our Kauai pics really put a smile on my face!

First off, just a quick mention of the resources I used for planning my trip. I''m a total researcher when it comes to our vacations and am always looking for the best travel tips. Tripadvisor.com is still tops on my list for travel info. The forums there are awesome- there''s such a wealth of info, and the folks who post are so nice and helpful! And we also used The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed (also known as the "blue book")

I mentioned in my first post where we stayed. WOW- the Princeville was a flashy and plush resort- a bit outta place for Hawaii. it''s bit outdated- i can totally see why it''s being renovated.

We explored the area around the Princeville after we checked into the resort. There was a farmer''s market (sunshine market) at a parking lot in Kilauea- a nearby town. We had a blast checking out the local produce: papayas, breadfruit, starfruit, guava. as well as the flowers. everything was fresh and lovely and it was so cool to see the locals out and about buying from the farmers.
We stopped into a small grocery store (Kilauea Farmers Market- yep, that''s the name) and struck the mother lode- they had an EXCELLENT selection of wines that were very reasonably priced. If you''re staying on the north shore, you have to stop there for your wine needs. We picked up a couple of bottles to enjoy at the resort.
We drove around a bit more, stopping at a couple of beaches and just squishing our toes in the sand.
Dinner was at Hanalei Gourmet. We''d heard that you don''t go to Kauai for the food. well, this is true- mostly. I can understand why people would say this. we had some nice meals during our trip, just nothing truly spectacular (which you think you should get considering the prices!) I admit we''re foodies, but we appreciate good food regardless of presentation or cost. Anyway, dinner there was good. I enjoyed it more than DH- he had the macadamia nut/panko fried chicken and i had the fish tacos.

Here''s a view of the Princeville resort from one of the small beaches we stopped at during our first afternoon in town. Looking at the map, i think it was Lumaha''i Beach.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Day two began with an AWESOME breakfast at Kountry Kitchen- thanks for the rec- Amber! Too funny that we ate the same thing as you and Paul. Miracles, the moco loco there was excellent. This version had Kalua Pork instead of the hamburger patty. that was a nice twist!

We then drove down to the south side, and checked out Waimea Canyon, Spouting Horn and other sights. We were so full from breakfast that lunch was a beer from the Waimea Brewing Company at the Waimea Plantation Cottages- a beautiful property that i had to see because a friend had her destination wedding there 4-5 years ago before we met. she still waxes poetic about it today so i had to check it out.

We made our way to to east side later that day to attend a luau in Wailua. It was great and I would totally recommend it. The Smith family has operated it for many years, and you feel like a guest in their home.

Here''s some pics of Waimea Canyon (dubbed the Grand Canyon of the Pacific). It was truly spectacular!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

More Waimea Canyon

 

[ChargerGrrl]

The beaches were divine! What was really cool was the trekking/hiking to discover them. There was a little gem- Hideaways Beach, just below the Princeville Resort. There were maybe 8 people there- talk about secluded! We spent a couple of hours here and then set off for Hanalei for our Na Pali snorkel trip. We first stopped at the Wishing Well to FINALLY have some shaved ice. I ordered the Haena Sunset with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream underneath. YUM!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

A highlight was the Na Pali ocean tour. We went with Na Pali Catamaran. The crew was great- they were funny and informative. The only downside was that we weren't able to go into the sea caves- you usually can't on the afternoon trips

But the scenery more than made up for it.

ETA- I'm sad to report that DH got sick. He was feeling queasy almost the entire time and ended up feeding the fish on the ride back to Hanalei Bay. I felt sooo bad for him! He was quite the trooper

 

[ChargerGrrl]

More Na Pali views

 

[ChargerGrrl]

We quite a bit of cleaning up to do after the trip, but did it quickly as we had BIG PLANS. We popped a bottle of bubbly and went up to the resort''s main terrace to enjoy the sunset. Kauai sunsets are stunning!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

This is us just before the sun went down. Gotta love my wet hair!

 

[miraclesrule]

Those are awesome photos. I love the canyon, but that sunset

Sting said he was with some Shaman who believe that looking at a sunset has the same internal systemic anti-depressant effect on the human body as taking Lithium. It was the reason he wrote the song "Lithium Sunset" on his "Mercury Rising" Disc.

I think I need some sunset action.

 

[Skippy123]

Great pictures, thank you!!! You and your husband look beautiful and so happy!!!!!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

OK- time to wrap this up- are you sick of me yet??

We had a blast exploring the local beaches. As i mentioned before, you usually had to do a bit of trekking to discover the gems! Tunnels was a great snorkeling spot. We saw so much marine life! Oh yeah, it was MUCH better than the snorkeling site that NaPali Cat took us too. That one was just OK, but I did see a couple of sea turtles! So back to Tunnels- it had a wide reef and plenty of fish. Although it was a popular site, it didn''t seem crowded.

Another gem was Queen''s Bath in Princeville. You had to follow this funny trail through jungle-like conditions to reach the water''s edge. Queen''s bath is actually a swimming pool carved into the lava coast. It was a bit crowded, but certainly worth the trek- you won''t be disappointed! Here''s a pic of a waterfall feeding into another pool on our way back up the trail.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 9/9/2008 12:39:09 AM
Author: ChargerGrrl

OK- time to wrap this up- are you sick of me yet??

No way! more more more

Hubby and I did Queen's bath too, down toward the bottom is lots of rocks. Super Cool Pictures!!!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

And the very last pic...

we got a kick out of the wild chickens & roosters on Kauai. there's all sorts of stories about why there's so many on the island. who really knows??

 

[ChargerGrrl]

THANKS, Skippy & Miracles! We had a wonderful stay on Kauai. I can see why people rave about it.

 

[diamondfan]

I miss Hawaii too!!!

From here it is simply too long of a trip and I cannot deal. We do the Caribbean instead which is lovely but Hawaii is just magical to me.

Sounds like you had a ball!!

 

[AmberWaves]

Charger, the pics are great. Ahhh. We also did the Smith Family Luau, and it was a great time! We actually met a couple with their kids there that just took a liking to us, so we hung out with them for a bit. I loved Kilauea, too, and we also went to that little market! Sigh. I want to go back!

 

[snlee]

Gorgeous pictures! Looks like you had a lot of fun! Happy anniversary! We''ve visited Oahu and Maui. Kauai is next on our list when we visit Hawaii again! I love Hawaii!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Oh my- Many THANKS for your nice words!
I'm glad y'all enjoyed the pics.

Amber- the swim-up bar bartenders at the Princeville made some killer mai tais! We did a bit of star-gazing at night. DH would point out constellations.
LittleL- I too miss Kauai just about every day. We jokingly talked about starting a shave-ice biz. "L.A could use some shave ice!"
Skippy- Queen's Bath was a highlight for me. It was so cool to see this perfectly-formed pool of water in the lava rock.
Miracles- i have one a Kauai sunset pic on my computer desktop- that's my daily "sunset action"!
DF- DH grew up in Philly, and didn't visit the HI islands until moving out to L.A 5 years ago. It's a looong trip from the east!
Snlee- you'll love Kauai!
SDL- We were very lucky to be able to visit Kauai. That's one I can cross off our travel list!

 

[Skippy123]

Charger, which is your favorite island or do you love them all? hehe