Our second Friday in Kauai was our last full day on the island and we tried to make the most of it. Andy woke up early and drove about 30 minutes away to watch the sunset from Kealia Beach, which was the closest and easiest one on the east coast to get to from the main highway. Here are a few photos and videos from that, including a hyperlapse video of the drive from the beach back to Princeville.
Andy got back to the resort around 8am just as Kim was waking up from sleeping in. We had a later checkout of 11am so had plenty of time to pack, clean up and eat an early lunch before leaving the resort. Having seen most of the island already, but still nearly 12 hours away from our late night flight we decided to head back to the south.
Our first stop was the Safeway grocery store in Kapa’a for some bags of coffee and chocolate covered macadamia nuts to bring home as gifts or to enjoy ourselves. Andy signed up for a free grocery store membership in the checkout line and proudly saved $9 with coupons. Our next destination was Old Koloa Town with lots of small shops in historic buildings. After a quick stop by the 100 year old Monkeypod Tree, Kim grabbed fruit drink from the Sueoka Market. Next was the Koloa Mill Ice Cream shop where Kim got a chocolate milkshake and Andy got a Dole Whip. Finally, we concluded our time in Old Koloa Town stopping at a small art gallery where Kim found some vintage post cards to add to her collection.
Next we set out towards Spouting Horn, enjoying the view of several smaller beaches and a short stop at the Prince Kuhio park recommend by the Shaka Guide audio tour we listened to throughout the trip. We nearly stopped at the McBryde & Allerton Garden National Tropical Botanical Garden until we learned tickets were $75/person. It looked like a nice place but by this point in the trip we weren’t sure we wanted to spend the time or money on that without knowing more about it. Spouting Horn was interesting and a quick stop, but not especially impressive compared to other things we had seen.
By this time we didn’t really want to swim or go to many beaches, so we decided to continue west towards the town of Kalaheo. There was a free Japanese garden Andy was interested in checking out and Kim wanted to go by a local coffee shop there. The garden was relatively small and right next to a golf course, but interesting. Andy walked around and took some pictures while Kim took a short nap in the car (I think it finally hit me that I was tired, even though our trip home had not even started!! I don’t think we really had much jet lag throughout the week, so this nap was well overdue!). We learned that the coffee shop had already closed at 2pm, so decided to continue even further west to another small town we had skipped earlier in the week called Hanapepe.
There wasn’t much to see or do there so we had yet another decision to make. We could head back to Poipu Beach area and maybe hang out there until sunset or continue further west possibly back into the Waimea Canyon area which would also be a great place to watch the sunrise. We chose to continue west towards Waimea, and once we were there elected to just keep going west since there was still well over an hour before sunset. We knew there was another state park on the west coast near where the road ended so decided it would be fun to drive as far as we could and say we drove the entire length of the main Kauai road.
It was a nice drive but there wasn’t much to see or do on this stretch of road. We eventually drove past the Pacific Missile Range Facility and considered trying to see Barking Sands Beach which is so named because it has some unique sand or rocks that click together and make an unusual sounds. However, much of this beach or access to it is limited due to the nearby military base so we didn’t bother trying to figure out how to get there. We drove as far as we could in the direction of Polihale State Park but eventually reached a point where the road ended and suggested a 4WD vehicle to go further on dirt roads. We didn’t want to risk getting stuck or damaging our rental car so turned around and started heading back.
We made a brief stop at Kekaha Beach where Kim put her feet in the sand one last time. It was still early enough to make a reservation at our planned dinner location, Duke’s Kauai, and potentially watch the sunset while we ate. The restaurant is named after Duke Kahanamoku, who lived from 1890-1968 and was an accomplished Olympic athlete and is credited with introducing the sport of surfing to most of the world. The restaurant is also well known for a dessert called, “Hula Pie” which is what caught Kim’s attention and the main reason we came.
Our beach side table had a great view of the sunset and surfers. A huge cruise ship left the harbor while we were there which was fun to watch. Kim had the Prime Rib and Andy had a burger, with both sharing a Tropical Smoothie suggested by our server (POG: Passion fruit, Orange, Guava juices). Finally, the tasty and huge Hula Pie was delivered to the table. It took 4 people at a nearby table to eat one, so we didn’t feel too bad about only eating just over half of ours. (Our server said we crushed it and won, LOL)
By time we were done with dinner, it was dark and we didn’t need to get to the airport for another hour and a half, so we walked along the path outside the huge Marriott Kauai Beach Club. We sat outside the pool and talked for a little while then walked around the well landscaped property.
Finally, it was time to conclude our trip by heading to the airport to return our rental car and wait for the long overnight flight home. Overall, it was an amazing trip we won’t soon forget. We feel blessed not only by the beautiful things we saw or fun things we did or tasty things we ate, but most of all by the generosity of all our family and friends who made this trip possible. Thank you all for your love and support!
