Kauai - Day 9 - Lazy Sunday

You will never believe what we have planned for today.  No. 

Nothing.  We have absolutely nothing planned today.  We can't wait.

We wake up early anyway though, and with the time difference, the Pats game starts at 8am.  This was quite the depressing way to start the day.  (WTF, Tom Brady?!)  It actually forced us to begin drinking much earlier than normal.  No matter because we are in Kauai, in our open-air cottage, lounging in bed while watching Sunday football and drinking beer.  We can hear birds and the wind, and we can smell the jungle and the ocean.  Lazy Sunday = Bliss.

After a few hours of this, hunger begins to set in.  We have a plan to cruise down to the Marriott in Lihue because they are supposed to have an amazing Sunday brunch complete with champagne. All you-can-drink champagne and a huge seafood selection?  Yeah, that sounds like us.  Imagine our sadness when we arrived and we are told that they are no longer hosting this brunch in the "off-season".  Apparently we smart and thrifty travellers are not good enough for their champagne and sushi.  Screw 'em.

So.  What now?  We were planning on doing a little snorkeling in Poipu after brunch (unless we overdid it on the bubbles), so we decide to head down that way.  Surely there must be a good food option around there.  Well, there's actually not that much. We end up at a place called Keoki's Paradise in the Poipu Shopping Village.  We sat in the bar (much cheaper than the restaurant), and it was actually pretty good.  Mahi mahi sammie for me, kalua pulled pork for Tim.  MAI TAIS all around!  It was sort of touristy-cheesy, but the food made up for it.  And so did the amount of rum in the maitais.

We did end up doing some snorkeling off of Poipu Beach afterwards.  If you ever go snorkeling here, make sure you enter the water on the right (facing the ocean) side of the beach.  If you go in on the left (as we attempted to do), you'll find out quickly that the reef is right there.  And then when you fall trying to put your flippers on, you'll cut your hands and it hurts.  Don't make our mistake.  The right side is super sandy and lovely, and you can swim over to the reef area later.  The snorkeling is okay here.  I would love to see what Kauai snorkeling is like in the summertime. We saw some cool fish, and the reef is interesting, but nothing spectacular.  After snorkeling, we attempted to "beach" for awhile. 

Sadly, Tim and I have realized we are not good at doing nothing. 

After about 10 minutes on the beach, we decide to pack it up and head back to the East shore.  Hey, it's 230p - almost Happy Hour!  With no plans, it seems like a good day to drink around the island.  And drink we did.

We started at the Pool Bar at the Islander on the Beach resort at Coconut Plantation.  This is definitely a local bar - the Islander is a timeshare, and the bartender had been there for 16 years.  Everyone sitting at the bar knew everyone else, and it was a real friendly "Norm!" kind of place.  Their happies are from 4p-6p, and they have a drink called Kamanawannalaya.  Heeheehee.  Kamanawannalaya!  That's funny.  And the drinks are hella strong.  And so it begins. 

After the Pool Bar, we walk back over to Hukilau Lanai.  We had a couple more drinks and also tried their ahi nachos . This is raw ahi on top of crispy wontons topped with a wasabi cream sauce.  Holy Hell - these were freaking incredible.  Tim also really liked this place 'cause the bartender commented on his Ween t-shirt.  This could be the reason why our drinks knocked our socks off. 

We then went over to Trees, and we already know that their happies go til 7p.  And then it was 7p, and we had basically been drinking all day long.  We were tipsy, sunburned, happy, and in love.  What could make this day better?

Yeah, pizza.  Back to Brick Oven for some carryout, and the day is wrapping up.  While waiting for the pizza, we drunkenly decided that we should hike the Inca Trail for our honeymoon.  Hell yeah.  More hiking.  Oh damn.

Day 4 - Kauai - "This is gross!"

Tuesday morning, and it's not looking too pretty outside.  We had checked the weather report when we first arrived, and we knew that today was pretty much supposed to be the crappiest day weather-wise.  The South Shore is almost always sunny so we decide this would be a great day to head down there.

Once again, we jump in the rental car and head for Poipu.  And then we got lost.  Yeah, Kauai has like 4 main roads, but we managed to get lost?  Yep.  You got it.  After several wrong turns, we find ourselves back on the correct road.  Yes, it's the way Tim thought we were supposed to go to begin with.  Shut up.

We drive to the Hyatt beach so we can park for the Makehewi Cliff hike along Shipwreck Beach.  I wouldn't really call this a hike.  It's just about 2 miles one way, and it's pretty much flat.  You've got some beautiful ocean views & cliff views, and it borders a gorgeous golf course for part of it as well.  It's a really unique location. 

Loved the hike.  Did not love the fact that we didn't bring water.

Dehydration + Emily = Bitchiness

Pretty much everything during this hike pissed me off.  The sun.  The other hikers.  The sand.  My top.  The golfers.  Tim's choice of route.  Really, you wouldn't have liked me.

And when we were done, I was starving.

Dehyration + Emily + Starvation = Mega-Bitchiness

Tim (wisely) wanted to stop at a convenience store on our way back to Lihue to get me some water and chips to tide me over.  But no, I said.  I can make it.  Because I was at that point where I just wanted to be a bitch and be mad.  We had decided that after the hike we were going to go back to Lihue and check out a place called the Whalers Brew Pub that we found in the Lonely Planet.  So we pulled out the map, and we followed directions.  And it was no where to be found.  So we double-checked the map again.  And drove around and around and around.  And still, no Whalers Brew Pub.  Finally, we find the street where it's supposedly located.  No pub.  No brew.  No whales.  Utter disappointment.

At this point, bitchiness is in full effect and eating is essential.  We decide to hit a little burger shack near the Marriott called Kalapaki Beach Hut.  They did not have beer, but they did have an amazing opah sandwich that absolutely saved the day.  Their burgers and shakes were good too - and totally reasonably priced.  Bitchiness has subsided. 

Our afternoon plan was to hit the Lihue Farmers Market for some fresh produce, sample some delicious rum at the Koloa Rum Factory, and maybe do a little Costco-ing.  This plan basically turned into one damn thing after another.  The Farmers Market was in the Costco parking lot, so we stopped in there first.  We realized that they had some way better deals than other groceries.  When travelling to Hawaii, definitely make Costco your first stop.  You'll save a ton of money.  Tim and I, however, are not that bright.  We went to Costco, but did not buy anything because we figured we would find better deals elsewhere. 

We would be wrong.

We went to the Farmer's Market, and we had absolutely no idea what half of the produce actually was.  We left without buying anything.  We went back to Costco and bought everything we should have just purchased in the first place.  Then off to the Rum Factory.  Rum would make everything all better.  Right?  Right?!  Well, it would have if the rum was delicious.  But it was not.  The Koloa Rum Factory isn't actually where they make the rum.  It's just the place where they sell it.  You can get a sample or two while you're there.  The white rum is atrocious.  It tasted like rubbing alcohol.  The spiced rum is slightly better.  It tasted like rubbing alcohol mixed with some cinammon. 

Finally, after our day of missteps and mistakes, we headed home.  After stopping at Fish Express for some ahi poke and salmon lomilomi, we were back at the cottage.  We blissfully made a delicious dinner of grilled shrimp and corn and grilled peppers.  We drank wine and played cards.  We were ready for a new day.

P.S.  It actually did rain today.  For 15 minutes.  During one of our trips to Costco.  So at least we got the weather right.