Kauai 2018

Pictures from Kauai, Hawaii – February 2018

Views from around the Courtyard Marriott at Coconut Beach:

First two days was spent checking out our surroundings. First order of business was fish tacos from El Taco Feliz, a food truck turned permanent fixture in Kapaa not far from us. The entire menu looked great so luckily the owners informed us today’s special was the fish taco meal (with creamy refried beans and rice) and we were set. I was hoping Alexa would be full after the first taco but when I offered to help her finish I felt the icy glare of death permiate my skull. We walked around town, soaked up some sun, and got some poki at the nearby Foodland market for a light dinner/snack. Also added some new flavors to my Spam collection.

Got up bright and early on Friday to kick off our 10th anniversary with a helicopter tour of Kauai.

Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tour:

Later that evening we headed down to Poipu and Koloa to visit the Beach House restaurant which came with a pretty decent view:

Stopped by the local Harley-Davidson on the way back to the hotel but couldn’t find a shirt I liked with my size in stock. Maybe next time…

Had breakfast Saturday at the Kountry Kitchen. Traditional Loco Moco for me, and Kauai Benedict for her. Yum times two.

On Sunday it was time for another adventure with some mountain/river/tunnel tubing courtesy of Backcountry Adventures. Rainy day but we were getting wet anyway. Stopped by Historic Old Koloa Town on the way back and checked out some local shops, and yours truly picked up a ice cream cone – macadamia nut crunch in a waffle cone dipped in chocolate and chopped macadamia nuts, and a hot cup of chocolate macadamia coffee.

Monday morning we headed up to the north shore to visit the beaches up there and see more of the island we ended up at the Dry Caves at Maniniholo and of course had to wander in and find out if it was our time to meet certain death:

In fact, we lived to tell this story and walk across the street to check out the beach at Maniniholo:

On our way back toward home base we stopped in Hanalei at the Ching Young Village Shopping Center and I found myself a Bamboo Cay shirt which is awesome and will allow me to further annoy everyone back at the office. Decided we needed a break from local flavors and got dinner at Bobby V’s Pizzaria at the Coconut Markets

Tuesday morning, time for another adventure. We head out to the Shops at Kukui’ula where we have an appointment with Skyline EcoAdventures – a company promoting outdoor fun while preserving the land and culture of the islands. Since we didn’t get up early enough for breakfast we asked about good places to eat and discovered Da Crack – about as close to the definition of “hole in the all” as you’ll find and worthy of a visit from Guy Fieri if he hasn’t already. Special of the day was Chipotle Shrimp so Alexa got that in a salad dish while I got the burrito. Nom nom!

Oh speaking of which, some fellow zipliners informed us of a little place in Kapaa called Nom. Guess where we ate the next day…? When I saw the menu, I knew my life would not be complete without experiencing the Notorious P.I.G. – a cheddar jalapeno cornbread waffle. maple braised pork belly. sunny egg. drizzled with maple au jus. My blood sugar just spiked as I type this.

Sunrise on Wednesday morning was particularly nice, not sure why I was up so early.

Somewhere along the way we picked up and some “Island Macs” (chocolate covered macadamia nuts) Caramacs (add caramel) and Toffeemacs (yes, toffee). I had every intention of turning these into office gifts to share, however the caramel and toffee variations are locked in the safe. Oddly enough, the Spam macadamia nuts were not deemed worthy of a lockup so those made it to the office and I still have most of them left – lucky me!

We took another drive through the island and found the Wailua Falls, and drove up to the Wailua Canyon Lookout only to discover it had already become rather cloudy at the top.

Our last day on the island we were greeted with a cloud-filled sky which the forecast said was going to be around for the next week. Good time to get our last bit of shopping and dining done and prepare for the long flight back. We went back to the Kountry Kitchen for some more debauchery, checked out the south end of the island where the cruise ship(s) park (not impressed) and ended up getting dinner at Street Burger. Burgers will never be the same. I, perhaps not surprisingly, ordered the Wailua burger with crispy spam, jalapeno-pineapple marmalade, kabayaki glaze, spinach, and Alexa got the Frenchie burger with brie, caramelized onions, arugula, garlic aioli.

Food-related loot from the trip:

First meal back on the mainland – Spam sliders…: