One More Day to Aloha

We spent a lot of time reading reviews about the best places to eat. We had 3 different books and compared the reviews carefully. But we only ate out twice. The first time was breakfast somewhere between Lihue and Poipu. Neva said "turn here." So I did. It was good. Guess who took my picture at breakfast? (Hint, it's fuzzy and my head is cut off.)

Jan, photo by Neva

We didn't eat out again until our last night on the island. We had finally found a restaurant in the books that we wanted to try. When I called to make a reservation, I discovered it wasn't open on Sunday evenings. So we missed out. When we checked into the Kauai Beach Resort, they took away our car and parked it somewhere out in the boonies. So we just had dinner at the hotel. It was very, very good, a pleasant surprise. I had salmon, Neva had a New York steak, and neat freak Char gnawed her way through some yummy looking ribs. We probably wouldn't have done better elsewhere.

The groceries we bought on our first day in Princeville lasted us all week. As we left for the airport we fed the last bits to the chickens.

We missed doing a couple of things that we'd talked about. We never made it to a fabric store. I didn't get to buy any material to put away in my box of projects that I'll never get to. We didn't make it to a botanical garden. That was my fault, the reviews of all the gardens said there were areas that were quite steep. I could picture myself at the bottom of a path, having rolled all the way down after I tripped on my own feet. And I wouldn't even have been able to see Dr. Mike at the hospital because he was off on his honeymoon.

The gardens were also expensive and the reviews were mixed. So we just enjoyed looking at plants and flowers everywhere we drove.

This place was right across the road from two of the botanical gardens. It's called Spouting Horn.

Spouting Horn

This is a blowhole. When the ocean water hits the shore, it travels up a lava tube and out through the small spout opening. It sometimes blows as high as 50 feet. Three things about this place are remarkable. First, this blowhole makes a moaning (some say farting) sound when the water rushes through it. Second, there was a bigger blowhole just a few feet away that had been much more impressive, but in the early plantation days it was dynamited because it blew water on the sugar cane that was growing near it. All that's left is a big hole where the water gurgles around. And third, I find it remarkable that this is one of the most dangerous places on the island. There is a lovely fence that keeps people at a safe distance, and you can see everything from there. But some fools crawl through and try to stand next to the blowhole to have their picture taken. This does not always work well.

There was one place that we hadn't planned to see. On our way back to Lihue we passed a sign for "Kauai Coffee Company." I swung off the road before we could even vote about it, a cup of coffee sounded good right then. It was a lucky move. We got to the farm just as a guided tour was leaving (on flat ground). We got to walk through the rows of coffee trees that are loaded with berries right now. We got all our questions about growing and making coffee answered. And then we got to taste 20 different coffees. Neva and Char also tasted the coffee ice cream.

I had Kona coffee last year when we were on the big island. I like Kauai coffee better, it's not acidic but it has a bolder flavor. My two favorites are Kauai Blue Mountain and a chocolate coconut flavored blend. I want my own coffee tree. And a cacao tree. I'll plant them in the back yard near the avocado tree and maybe they won't notice they're in Northern California.

After the coffee place, we drove down to see the Menehune fish pond. The Hawaiians dug a pond next to the river 1000 years ago and diverted water into it to raise fish. At the "out" end was a wooden screen to keep the fish in. The wall between the river and the pond is 900 feet long and 5 feet high. Legend is that it was built in one night. Obviously government projects in those days were easier to accomplish.

Menehune Fish Pond

Char and Neva at the fish pond

We continued down the curvy little narrow road to Lihue. We came around the last turn to have this staring at us.

What the heck is that?

It looked like it was sitting on solid ground, maybe a really ugly hotel? When we got next to it, we could see it was a ship. Here's a view of it (on the left just in front of the mountains) from the other side of Kalapaki Bay.

None of us has any desire to go on a cruise. Too many people, too confining, too much food, and my own personal reason...too big a target for a terrorist.

We stopped at Hilo Hattie's in Lihue and looked at all the stuff. I don't think we bought anything there, but it's a great place to look. Then we went back up the coast to the Kauai Beach Resort.

The next morning we were up early and ready to go to the airport to fly home. Neva spent some time on the balcony enjoying her last morning view of the island.

Neva

I spent my last hour checking us in online, on my laptop. We had no printer and I wasn't sure what we'd do with no eTickets. It was not a problem. I dropped Char and Neva off with our luggage in front of the Hawaiian terminal, then took off to drop off the car. By the time I got back one of the Hawaiian employees had taken care of everything.

It was a very long, boring flight home. Boring is good when you're flying. We landed in Sacramento at 10:30. Char's husband Bob picked us up and in no time at all we were back in the middle of traffic flying by at 70 mph, weaving in and out, big trucks hogging the road. Home sweet home.