Our Vacation in Paradise .. Day 1

Kevin and I have both been enjoying his radiation rotation for the month of February.  He has had a lot of time off, which makes my life a lot easier.  It also means that we got to go on vacation!!  Kevin's parents very generously invited us along to join them in Kauai for a week in paradise.  We had an absolutely fabulous week, and I'm going to share it here, day by day.


Kevin and I flew out of Syracuse on Saturday morning, stopped in Ohio, stopped in LA and finally made it to Kauai Saturday evening around dinner time (local time, it was around 11 pm to us).  After Kevin's parents picked us up from the airport, we enjoyed a quick dinner with them and then went to bed!!

The next day, well rested, we were super excited to get going.  Kev and I woke up early and took a walk around our resort and to the beach nearby.  We were staying at Marriott Waiohai Beach Club near Poipu Beach Park, and it was beautiful.  We enjoyed the sunrise and some early morning whale watching.

 

 

Poipu Beach, Kauai HI

After breakfast we set out for the day, our goal was to explore the East Shore and North Shore of the island.  Kevin was so excited to take the top off of the Jeep we rented .. and sure enough it rained 5 minutes after leaving the hotel.  He didn't mind because it was blowing in the faces of his mom and I in the back!

Our first stop was Kilauea Lighthouse, it is the northernmost point of the main Haiwaiian islands, had beautiful views, and was a great place to whale watch.

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From there we drove through the towns of Hanalei and Princeville.  I wish I had pictures of that drive because the area is really beautiful, it was a very enjoyable drive nonetheless.  We stopped for lunch at Hanalei Bay, which is a breathtaking beach.

We continued our drive until the end of the road ... which brought us to Ke'e Beach.  We relaxed on the beach for a bit, and watched the really rough surf (which is typical for the north side of the islands .. especially in the winter).

The Na Pali Coast is beyond Ke'e beach, and it is absolutely beautiful.  It is only accessible by hiking, helicopter/plane or sea.  Unfortunately we did not have the ability to see it any of those ways, so we would definitely like to return someday to fully explore that area.  The surf is too rough to go around the island by sea in the winter, but high on my list is to take a kayaking tour around the coast, while camping on beaches ... some summer, sometime.  We did take a quick hike up the beginning of Hanakapi'ai Trail, which had some amazing views, and was really steep!

 After our hike, we made our way back to the resort.  We had mai tais on the beach while whale watching, and then enjoyed dinner at Keoki's Paradise and an early bed time!!