Have you ever left home in the winter to go on a warm tropical vacation only to realize that you left better weather at home than you found on your tropical vacation? Yes? No? Well, that’s Kauai… At least for much of our time there! Turns out the forecast at home during the duration of our trip is almost 70 and sunny. Turns out the weather here this week has been about the same temps with some sun and lots of rain!
We were excited to land on Kauai, hop in our mustang convertible rental car (ok, maybe less excited that it was a mustang but excited to have a convertible), and get settled into our hotel for the next three nights, the Kauai Beach Resort. The resort looked nice online and I was pleasantly surprised that upon check-in the property was exceeding my expectations. The pool deck was large and scenic with the beach and ocean just a step away. The room was spacious and comfortable with a great view. It could use a couple cosmetic updates and the door was a struggle to push open thanks to the rusty hinges, but overall it was better than I expected to be honest.
After getting settled, we did a quick loop around the pool deck to explore what was there and then walked down to the beach where we were greeted by the sight of a whale spouting and breaching off in the distance. The soft sand of the beach was inviting but the strong surf, crashing waves, and hard coral shelves butting up against the sand made the water itself a little less inviting…
It was early evening and top priority became finding dinner. After consulting my trusty friend, Yelp, we set off to The Local Kauai Kitchen & Bar, a spot just up the road in Kapaa that promised locally sourced and fresh fare. Perfect. It had started sprinkling on us during our drive to the resort and as we set off it started to rain even more. We ducked into a little store next to the restaurant so I could get a new hat and in the few minutes we were in there the rain grew even more aggressive and the wind really picked up. We hurried across the street to The Local and found a group of people huddled in the doorway waiting for tables, yet there were plenty of clean, set, empty tables. They made room for us to step inside too since it was really rainy and crazy windy now and we stood confused for a second trying to figure out the check-in and seating process when a waitress finally came over and told all 11 of us that were huddled by the door that, yes, they have tables open but there is just two waitresses so they are trying to get caught up before seating anyone else. At this point, we should have left, but there wasn’t much else around. As the wind howled fiercely the door to the restaurant started slamming around. Someone tried to pull the door shut but it just flew back open and smacked the wall outside. The waitress showed up and her solution? Her solution was to lock the door, thusly locking all patrons inside and closing it off for anyone else who wanted to enter. As we stood there I kept thinking we’d should find somewhere else but it had been a while now and I felt invested. Plus it was nasty out.
Finally, we were seated. We had ample time to review the menu while we waited so we were lucky to get our order in before the two larger groups had time to get the waitress’ attention. By this time another worker had again opened the front door, after realizing what a fire code violation they were creating. We watched as group after group were seated by the front door and then insisted on moving due to the angry wind howling against them. After the fifth or so group was moved from that table I think they gave up on trying to seat people there. Our meal was actually quite good; deviled eggs, taro falafel, and a shrimp Louie salad. The taro falafel and accompanying sauce was probably the best falafel I’ve ever had. I would go back there again just to eat more falafel. Service continued to be terrible but at least the food was enjoyable.
We had grand plans of soaking in the hot tub back at the resort after dinner but the rain and wind thwarted us. Instead we stopped at the grocery store on our way back for beer, hard seltzer’s, water, and breakfast snacks and decided to call it a night. The full moon cast a bright glow on the resort grounds and as we walked back across the parking lot I saw something that I had never seen before, a night rainbow! Yes, in the dark a little bright arc could be seen across the sky. So cool. Cozying up in our room we could hear a great lullaby of crashing waves, fierce wind, and pouring rain.
Bright and early the next morning the roosters started to crow. We could have gotten over them but also bright and early loud children started running up and down the hallway yelling. A lesson in how paper-thin the hotel room door really was. It was like having a little hellion yelling right in our room. Annoyed from our sleep, we decided it was time to wake up. We set no real itinerary for this trip so lazy mornings were in order. I was able to pull out my laptop and do some work while sipping my morning tea in bed. Brandon went down to the hotel gym and after I was caught-up with work I put the laptop aside and took a morning stroll along the beach. The sun was out and I had the sand to myself as I walked almost all the way down to the end of the beach and back. I couldn’t help but be amused by the furry coconuts nestled amongst the driftwood, looking like they were wearing bad toupees.
Ready to really start our day, we decided to head North to Princeville and Hanalei Bay, we’d figure out what to do as we went. Hopping into our car with the top down we hit the road. And we sat in some traffic. And we could feel the wind whipping. And it started to sprinkle. Finally, the top went back up as rain drops danced off the windshield. Lunch time was approaching and I found a place that had fantastic reviews and specialized in sushi burritos. Perfect! Traffic on the narrow highway alternated between flowing fine, flowing slow, and not flowing at all when, multiple times, we found ourselves at road closures that made for a single-lane road. One such lane closure was thanks to the power company trying to gingerly remove and replace a power pole that snapped in half. I guess last night’s storm was no joke! Hungry, we finally arrived at the SushiGirl. Only the damn girl wasn’t there. A bucket of paint sat in front of the little shack with a handwritten note, “Closed for renovations. Will reopen tomorrow.” Drat! I was disappointed but had seen great reviews on another place just a block away that promised delightful ahi wraps and poke bowls. Only, when we got there we found that they had no ahi and it would be about another 45 minutes until they did. Ugh. We gave up on finding food in that part of town and continued up to Hanalei.
We had originally planned to stay on Hanalei Bay and it definitely felt like a more bustling tiny beach town. The Hanalei Poke food truck was our third attempt at lunch and finally a successful one. We perched on a little picnic table by the food truck with our poke bowls, I thought mine was quite delicious. Brandon thought his was ok. A drop of rain hit my arm, then another, a few sprinkles wasn’t bad. The sprinkles QUICKLY turned into a hard rain as we ran from the table to finish our bowls in the comfort of our car.
Finally fed, we continued down the road to discover the bay. The rain had cleared again and only the wind was left to taunt us. We finally parked and walked down to Lumahai Beach. It was a beautiful, wide stretch of sand with ferocious waves. The surf was crashing against the adjacent point and white caps were barreling towards the beach. We watched the power and beauty of the sea until it was time to run to the car as the rain came back with a vengeance.
Leaving Hanalei, we had grand plans to drive back down from the North, past our resort on the East, and continue all the way down to the SouthWest to see what else the island had to offer. But traffic sucked. At times we just sat. In park. Not moving at all. Just sat. We decided to abandon this exploration and instead spend some time enjoying the resort. We’d been gone about four hours, much of it somehow spent in the car, so we were over it. Though the drive back did offer a couple scenic viewpoints, we were ready to just chill.
Cocktails in the hot tub with the cool air and occasional bouts of rain was a great way to kill the rest of the afternoon. Well, at least an hour or so until we were both bored and antsy. But by then it was almost evening anyways so a good time to shower up and figure out what to do about dinner.
I was thrilled to find that we finally had hot water in our shower. This has been an issue. Our first night the water was downright cold and in the morning, not much better. We had called the front desk and been told that maintenance would work on it but never received any follow-up, so I was thrilled to have a hot shower. The rain started to pour hard outside yet again. We opened the door to our balcony and it was a torrential downpour. We neither felt like getting back in the car nor getting rained on yet again so we decided to just stay in and eat at the hotel restaurant. And that was a mistake. Service was ok and the staff was nice, but the food was terrible. The salad wasn’t bad but both my salmon and Brandon’s fried chicken were extreme disappointments. I was glad we had rice cakes back in the room because I couldn’t even finish my gross meal.
Day three was my day to plan. And all I wanted to do was hike. Everyone kept telling us that Waimea Canyon can’t be missed and the weather in Waimea actually looked clear so I was stoked. Waking up at a decent time in the morning I was able to spend a couple hours working and then joined Brandon in the gym for a short workout. I’m still healing from a strained rotator cuff and being limited in what I can do is getting really old. I just want to lift weights and do yoga again!
Once again, we started down the road optimistically with our top-down, and once again, we found rain drops smacking us and back up went the top. As we approached Waimea the weather cleared, the sun was out and we actually felt warmth.
Winding our way up the highway along the canyon I was giddy to stop at all the viewpoints and see the beautiful green and red landscape. I’m pretty sure I drove Brandon crazy insisting we put the top down only to have to always put it back up within three minutes because rain drops were again starting to sprinkle as we gained elevation.
By the time we made it to the main viewpoint and starting points for hikes, the weather had turned miserable; cold with pelting rain. And so cloudy. The canyon could barely be seen anymore because it was filled with clouds. Water rushed down the road and formed pools at every low point. We weren’t prepared to hike in this. Not at all. My Kauai hiking dreams were officially dashed. We settled for a quick jaunt around the viewpoint, waiting for a time when the rain died down for a couple minutes, and given the beauty we could see even amongst all the clouds, I can only imagine how amazing it must be a on a clear day. A perfect rainbow arched across the canyon; reminding me that even with my disappointment in not being able to do any hiking that we were still someplace magical.
Winding back down the canyon, the sun came back out (though not entirely consistently) and the temperatures warmed again. We decided to see what Poipu Beach, on the South side of the island, was all about and found it only necessary to get out of our car for five minutes and check it off. It had calm waters (the first time we’ve seen calm waters) and the sun shone bright. But it was very busy with people all over the place and the water congested. We had a beach back at our resort, we needed to go enjoy that.
And so we did. Again back at our resort we changed and headed down to order a snack by the beach. Situating our chairs to stare out over the water I took my sweater on and off. And on and off. And on and off again every time the sun went behind the clouds and took away the warmth. Chickens brazenly scuttled about, one even jumping on my leg, waiting to see if we had any food. A server brought us our quesadilla and, well, we were both disgusted by how greasy it was. I barely made it through one piece and that was enough, I can’t eat things that greasy. Brandon struggled through and finished it, because he can’t waste food. Which I admire, but I’d rather waste food than put grease and nastiness in my body. The sun hid again, this time not coming back out as quickly, and it was cold so more hot tub time was now in order. But not for as long. Brandon wasn’t feeling great and the hot water wasn’t helping. Evening was setting in so it was again time to clean up and figure out what to do about dinner anyways.
That greasy quesadilla did a number on Brandon. I ended up going to get dinner myself as he laid in the hotel room feeling sick. Such a shame too since it was the best meal by far in Kauai! After some quick googling I left to find the Sleeping Giant Grill, apparently it has been featured on a FoodNetwork “Best Thing I Ever Ate” (or something like that) episode. And wow was it spot on! The ahi wrap was out of this world, definitely one of my favorite things I’ve ever eaten. And worn… that sucker was juicy and before I knew it the foil wrapping gave out and my jacket and jeans were COVERED in a pinkish sesame dressing. I cannot wait to do some laundry when we get to the Big Island to wash them out! If you are ever on Kauai. Eat there. If we had discovered it out first night I probably would’ve wanted to go back there every day! While there I also realized that BYOB seems to be a thing here since I’d noted that at a couple different small dining establishments now.
Our final morning on Kauai I, once again, was able to do some work, and then it was time to pack-up and abandon ship for the next leg of our trip. Brandon still felt crappy and it was a slow morning. We had a couple hours to kill post checkout and before we had to be at the airport. Resorting to the power of zooming in on GoogleMaps until I found something that looked like it was worth navigating to we ended up at the Kilohana Plantation. It was, again, pouring rain when we got there, but the timing was perfect as we could hop on a train tour. All I knew about the plantation was that it was some old sugar cane plantation but now just some historic place. And, well, that’s pretty much still all I know. The rain pelted for about five minutes but magically cleared up as we boarded the open-air train for a 40-minute tour of the plantation. I’m not really sure what we were supposed to be touring though as it just felt like staged examples of things you can grow in Hawaii.
However, they had farm animals and boars. And at one point the train stopped so we could get off and feed the animals. These animals know that this train means food and as it approached the feeding platform animals came bounding in waiting for their snacks. The goat could be seen running and skipping with haste from the other side of the pasture. It’s enthusiasm and zest for food reminded me of our black lab, Ducky, and how excited he gets for each meal.
The boars were of all sizes and ages, including tiny little babies that looked like toys as their little legs scuttled them along. They didn’t have a chance of getting much thanks to the jackass larger boars who bullied them and stole all the food so they eventually gave up. I felt bad for all the little piggies actually as some of the larger ones were downright mean and snapped at them whenever they tried to get a piece. Feeding the animals was definitely the highlight of the Plantation.
While Kauai is lovely and I’m sure the hiking is amazing in better weather I can’t say that I’m aching to return to this island. Traffic was heavy, food was not amazing for the most part, and if it’s pouring rain then it’s really quite boring. It doesn’t help that we couldn’t get to the NaPali Coastline; afternoon seas were too rough for a cruise and we couldn’t get hiking pass reservations. I’m glad we only booked three nights on Kauai and are headed to the Big Island for the rest of our trip…
Taking On the World 
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