Nick and I just returned from an amazing "babymoon" to Hawaii with our friends Kristen and Craig. We had the chance to stay in Kauai using my wonderful principal Michelle's timeshare. It was FABULOUS. It was the exactly what we needed before we start the next few months of major prep for Lexi's arrival. We flew into Honolulu on Saturday and spent the night there. Then we flew out the next day and spent the rest of the week in Kauai. Our condo was beautiful with a wonderful view overlooking the ocean. We had many amazing adventures, but here are a few of the highlights.
On the first day, we arrived in Kauai, picked up our Jeep and explore the area around our hotel. We checked out the beach, walked around the cliffs and hung out by the pool, where the boys enjoyed some happy hour Mai Tais and I enjoyed a virgin Lava Flow. That evening we went to a delicious pizza place, called Brick Oven Pizza, that was highly recommended by anyone we knew who had visited the island. We had a Hawaiian pizza (even though there is it just called smoked ham and pineapple). We were a little jet lagged and called it a night rather early.
The next morning, Nick and I being the early risers that we are got up in time to see the sunrise. We took a stroll along the coast of the hotels property and enjoyed the beautiful weather, the sounds of the ocean and a great view! Later that day we decided to venture out a little farther. Since we were staying on the south shore in Poipu and we drove up the coast to the north shore, but we made a few stops on the way. I'm a guidebook junkie, so the first place we went was Wailua Falls. We had to stop on the side of the road to get this picture, but it was beautiful. Our next stop was a fruit stand Kristen and I found in our "Ultimate Kauai" guidebook called Moloa's Fruit Stand where we got delicious fresh fruit smoothies. We stopped to see the Kilauea Lighthouse and Wildlife Reserve, but sadly the lighthouse was closed for renovation. It was a pretty view, where you could lookout and see the protected bird habitat, built up on the cliffs.
Then we drove up to the north shore and stopped at a lookout and found these wild roosters roaming the parking lot. I had read that Kauai had roosters all over the island that were released during the last hurricane. Sure enough, we found them everywhere. They are a pretty dumn and aren't entirely sure when they are supposed to crow so they do it at random times throughout the day.
After that we went drove to Hanalei Bay and stopped for lunch at Pat's Taqueria (which was really a taco truck). I have to say this was the best food I had all trip. I got a fish taco and a kalua pork taco and Nick and I went back for seconds and tried the carne asada taco as well. They were to DIE for! Then we drove to see a tide pool called Queen's Bath. We had to hike through the woods, climb over lava rocks, go past a waterfall and a scary warning sign, but the trek was totally worth it. It was an amazing tide pool that was completely protected from the ocean waves. The water was so clear I thought it was going to be shallow but it was about 8 feet deep. Nick, Kristen and Craig jumped off the rocks into the water while Lexi and I stayed safely below and snapped photos. After our busy day we drove back home and took a nap, then woke up and went next door to the Grand Hyatt for dinner.
On our 3rd day, everyone else went ziplining while I stayed at the resort and lounged by the pool. Nick didn't take any pictures so you'll have to imagine what he looked like zipping through the trees. That evening we went into Lihue for a traditional luau. After feasting on many traditional Hawaiian dishes (including poi which was disgusting), we sat through a show featuring a Hawaiian story, hula, and fire dancing.
