Travel Day

Monday (the 14th) is a travel day. We have to get to the Kona airport, drop off our car, and catch a 9:50 AM flight to Honolulu. In Honolulu we have less than 30 minutes to connect. Our flight is actually 5 minutes late, so we go quickly to our gate, and the flight to Lihue, Kauai is already boarding. I'm happy to report our luggage made the quick transfer too. We all arrive in Kauai at about noon time.

We can't check into our rental until 3, so our first order of business is to stop at KMart. Why KMart, you ask? well, Todd did ask. Because there is a lady in the parking lot who makes fresh malasadas and they are the beston Kauai. We have to compare them to the ones from Tex' on the Big Island. I had to say, these are very good, but we like Tex' better. they are a bit eggier and richer. Plus, I like the fillings.

I hope no one reading this blog is surprised how much of it is about food. Finding new places to eat is one of the fun things we do when we travel. I'm thinking about this trip as the "Food, fish and flowers" trip already, since that seems to be what most of my photos are of.

Next we go looking for lunch. We'd heard about Hamura Saimin and wanted to try it out, but we arrive only to find they are closed until the 21st of September, which is the day we leave. Bummer! We drive north for a while, and go to "Duane's Ono Char Burger" in Kapa'a. It's pretty good, but not as good as the guidebook led us to believe. Their milkshakes are particularly disappointing.

We are, however, serenaded by plenty of Kauai chickens. I know there will be lots more of these.

Its gotten later in the afternoon than I expected. We made the mistake of driving through downtown Kapa'a, instead of taking the bypass. The traffic through here is ridiculous. I don't know why its so slow, but it took us maybe 40 minutes to get through. So after lunch, we are headed for our rental. We do stop in Princeville at the grocery to pick up a few supplies (tequila for margaritas, cream for the coffee...these are the key things :) ). Then we continue into Hanalei to look for our house. It's very close to town, and about 20 steps from the beach. It is a guest house, behind the main house, so it doesn't have a full beach view, though we can see the water from our little balcony on the second floor. Its very cute and very European looking inside. I can't wait to walk down to the beach and take a swim before dinner.

But first...we have arrived just in time to catch the final quarter or so of Monday night football :) I have not forgotten, the Pats are on...but they are losing 17-10! Fortunately I get to see the awesome comeback. And then it will be time for a beach walk and then get ready for dinner.

We were thinking of trying Hanalei Dolphin, but its mobbed, and we can't find parking, so we go across the street to Postcards. This is a very crunchy-granola kind of place. They serve no beef or chicken, only fish and vegetarian and some vegan entrees. They have excellent fresh fish though, and the vegetables they serve alongside are really food. Strange combinations though...shredded beets with rasberry and wasabi? I don't like it much, but Todd does. He has wahoo, which is the same as ono, and its very good. I have a Hawaiian type of swordfish called shutome, and its also very tasty.

The camera stayed packed all day. This is the first time I have a day with no photos.