We left for Lihue, Kauai today through Houston. We arrived late afternoon, picked up groceries and headed to Poipu. We rented Wendy and Jay's condo which had a view of the ocean. It was a beautiful site to see and set up our next week in a wonderful way.
Feb. 9th
We left early for Allerton Gardens. It was started by Mr. Allerton and John Guage(?). They were domestic partners, but because it wasn't recognized and due to their age difference, Mr. Allerton adopted John, so he could inherit the land and gardens they created. Jurassic Park was filmed in the gardens. There were a huge variety of plants, domestic and native. Our tour guide was very informative.
Roosters and chickens everywhere!
Jurassic Park roots
After visiting the Gardens, we walked across the street to watch Spouting Horn shoot water up in the air. It was very beautiful. We then drove to Waimea, stopping in Hannepepe. We walked across the swinging bridge to visit an art studio and wandered along the streets seeing the other studios. There is a bookstore here that is called Talk Story. That is the term used for chit chat.
Spouting Horn
Some sort of cardinal we saw in and around Allerton and Hanepepe.
We had to turn back to get ready for dinner. Kayla's mom and grandma were taking us to dinner at Duke's on the waterfront in Lihue. We met at Duke's on the waterfront and enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Kayla, Clara Myake, Carl Myake, her brother and his wife, Fran. We ended our dinner with Hula Pie which we split. Sue had made Forrest and I angel hair yarn leis which we wore to the wedding. All the adults special to Kayla were wearing them. We felt truly honored.
On the beach at Poipu
We walked the beach in the morning with Leah and Karen who stayed with us Friday night before meeting the other girls and their partners in the house they all rented. There was a Welcome Food Truck lunch in Koloa, which was a five minute drive from our place.
Started the day joining the girls on Poipu Beach doing Pilates. The sun had risen and the view was great. Then I walked to the girls' house that they rented and had a cup of coffee before heading back to our place. We left at 9:00 am for the north shore. We stopped in Kapaa and had breakfast at Hemmingways, which was great. We walked along the Bike/walk path along the ocean to get to the restaurant . Then we headed up following the road to literally the end of the road at Ke'e Beach, where we ascended the Kelalau Trail on our way to a sandy beach on the NaPali coast. The trail was rocky, vertical, wet and slippery, but the views were fabulous! We talked to people along the way whose feet and legs were completely drenched in mud from the descending part of the trail to the beach. We decided since we didn't have our poles, that we would not go all the way to the beach, but turned around to go back to Hanalei. We walked around Hanalei looking at shops, toured the art market in Princeville, had a sunset drink at St. Regis overlooking Hanalei Bay, and then on to Killauea to see the lighthouse. We also stopped along the way to look at the taro fields and the refuge area . We ended our evening with dinner at Brennakes' having fish and chips.
Monday, Feb. 12th
Kayla and Charlie's wedding day. It was a perfect beautiful day! The service was at the Lihue Christian Church in Lihue. It was the place her grandma attends. The minister was hysterical, relaxing everyone and truly making it a celebration of these two people. Kayla looked beautiful! I got a photo with my middle school students- 7 of the 10 Trifling ten were Anwatin students!
The reception was at Poipu Beach at the Park Pavillion. Kayla and the girls decorated the pavilion with paper cranes. There were white tablecloths on the table with greenery and beautiful flowers adorning the table. There was an appetizer hour which provided coconut shrimp, steamed pork balls, veggies and drinks. Then dinner included fish, chicken, pork, side dishes and passion fruit wedding cake. There was shaved ice being served the entire time. Lawn games were set up and there were monk seals who decided to lay on the beach that day that provided entertainment. We also saw several whales out in the distance. After sunset and dinner grabbing a quick burger, we went back to the kids' place and enjoyed time with them. It was there that our world changed. We found out Leah was a bad girl in high school!!
Tuesday, Feb. 13
We drove up Waimea Canyon after coffee to look at the canyon. There was a lot of fog so were unable to get a good view. We stopped at Salt Pond Park, Kauai Veterans' cemetery, Poipu shopping mall, Kauai trading post. We went swimming at the resort and then we enjoyed dinner at home watching the Olympics.
Wednesday, Feb 14
We woke up early to go on a hike up Sleeping Giant (Nou You) with the group. It took a couple hours. Afterwards we went to Sue's house to clean up and grab water and snacks and tour her garden. Forrest dropped me at a quilt show after pursuing a quilt store there. Leah and Forrest returned all showered for our helicopter ride. We had lunch at the Greenery Cafe which was part of a home. Christine Stehno joined us on the open door 4 door helicopter. It was fabulous!! We saw waterfalls and areas where no one can access via the helicopter. We think Christine would be a great match for Brad- they've talked on Instagram.
Thursday, Feb. 15
We flew to Oahu to meet Honolulu to meet Brad. We connected at Yardhouse for appetizers and stayed for dinner catching up. We stayed at the Imperial Waikiki hotel not far from the beach.
Friday, Feb. 16
Sat. Feb. 17
We toured Pearl Harbor and the Missouri and went to the Arizona Memorial site. It was quite interesting and very humbling.
For dinner this evening we walked around Waikiki and had a drink at the Maui Brewing Company and ended up at Me'e Korean Barbecue which was fabulous. It was a hole in the wall where we ate outside at picnic tables. We walked home and took in the bustle of the Waikiki area.
Sunday, Feb. 18
We waited in line to enjoy breakfast at Heavenly. Then we hung around before catching a ride to the airport. It was drizzling so it was a good day to leave. We went with Brad to San Francisco and Leah went home to NYC.
