Entries Tagged as 'kalaheo'

On the Eve of Our Wedding

March 18th, 2011 · No Comments

So, the day before the wedding. I don’t know what people were expecting of me, but relaxed and calm wasn’t it! I spent the day lounging around the pool, while people asked me a thousand times “Aren’t you getting excited!?” and “Shouldn’t you be doing something!?” Luckily I had everything worked out with Marlene, our planner before we left Chicago and she was taking care of all the work. Pretty much all we had to do was show up. This is why we paid for a wedding planner!

The only 3 things I needed to do were 1) Get my nails done. 2) Bring the wine to the venue. 3) Attend family dinner.

I woke up early in the morning to head to a local nail salon in Kalaheo. I’d considered getting a manicure and pedicure at one of the local resort spas, but when I saw that the combo starts at about $150 and goes up at some of these places, I decideded to get a recommendation from our wedding planner. She suggested Healani’s Nails.

Healani is the woman who runs Healani’s Nails. It was a nice, quaint locals kind of place. Healani, herself, did my nails. She told me she used to work at the Hyatt spa that charges those rediculous prices, so I felt good knowing I was probably getting about the same treatment but for about a third of the price!

After my appointment I stopped in at the Hawaiian Trading Post, at the corner of Koloa Road and Kaumu’alii Hwy. I’d passed by this place a million times and never stopped. They have an amazing selection of Tahitian black pearls and Niihau shell leis. They also have a ton of really affordable jewelry and other unique souvineers. I got at least 3 necklaces and a few pairs of earrings, I think.

After going back to the house and laying by the pool for a while. All the guys got back from golfing and Limey made this moving toast one day early.

Jess B and I got lunch at Kalapaki Joe’s and I was talking about our wedding planner and how she had everything taken care of and how she made this awesome event plan for us. I opened the plan to show it to Jess and realized that there was a task assigned to us for the day that we overlooked: Bringing the wine to the venue. No problem. After lunch Jess and I brought it over there… nice thing about staying less than a mile from the venue!

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Russian Fort Elizabeth & Kauai Coffee

July 30th, 2009 · 2 Comments

On our last day in Kauai, Dallas went golfing with Uncle Dee, so I hung out with Aunty Cathy. I had a few sights I wanted to check out and Aunty Cathy wanted to go shopping, so we just decided to do it all together and then go to the beach afterward.

First stop: Russian Fort Elizabeth. I’d always seen the signs for the Russian fort on the side of the road just before Waimea town, so I wanted to check it out. Surprisingly, Aunty Cathy had never been there, even though it’s only a half mile away from where she lives. Verdict: There’s a reason why she hadn’t been there, I think. There’s nothing to see really. It’s just an overgrown site. There’s one sign with a map by the parking lot, but you can’t take it with you, so when you’re on the ruins, you can’t identify anything. Major letdown.

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Kauai Coffee, Kalaheo, Kauai

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Coffee Plants :: Kauai Coffee, Kalaheo, Kauai

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Roasting Room :: Kauai Coffee, Kalaheo, Kauai

Next stop: Kauai Coffee. Again, a sign I’d passed by a lot and wanted to finally check out. This was a bit of a let down because I thought there would be actual tours or you’d be able to see how they harvest and make their coffee and there wasn’t any of that. Still, you could taste all the coffee you wanted, see the coffee plants, and learn more about the coffee-making process. There was a cute store and I bought a few bags of coffee to bring home with me.

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Roasting Room :: Kauai Coffee, Kalaheo, Kauai

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Tasting Room :: Kauai Coffee, Kalaheo, Kauai

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Kauai Coffee, Kalaheo, Kauai

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Polihale Beach

March 24th, 2007 · 1 Comment

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The last time we were in Kaua’i we tried to go to Polihale beach, but it was closed, so when we saw Jordan and he said that he and Caroline and Caroline’s friends were going there later in the day, I was psyched to go. Yay! A beach I’d never been to!

Polihale is the last beach when you drive down Hwy 50 west from Waimea, past the Pacific Missle Range Facility.* Actually, you go all the way to the end of the highway then you get on a dirt/gravel road and drive for about 20 more minutes. That was the most bumpy road I’ve ever been on. Huge holes… er.. pukas? :) You really have to wear your seatbelt or you’re going to get some bruises. Good thing we had an SUV. It wasn’t a fun drive, but the beach at the end was totally worth it.

Polihale Beach is Kauai’s westernmost point and it’s Hawaii’s longest beach with 17 miles of white sand. At the north end of the beach, where we were, are the cliffs of the Na Pali coast. I heard that the dunes here can get up to 100 feet tall and that because the entire beach is unprotected from the ocean, the surf and currents can get really fierce.

*The Pacific Missile Rang Facility (PMRF) is the world’s largest instrumented, multi-dimensional testing and training range. It’s also he only range in the world where submarines, surface ships, aircraft and space vehicles can operate and be tracked simultaneously.

When we left Polihale, we went to Waimea Brewing Co. in Waimea. I had two beers – the Leilani Light, a crisp light golden ale brewed with just a touch of crystal malt and malted wheat that delivers a pleasantly mellow hopped character along with a smooth finish, and the Lilikoi Light, a light golden ale with a passion fruit flavor sure to tantalize your taste buds. The Lilikoi Light was a little too fruity, but I liked the Leilani Light a lot.

On the way home we called Brick Oven Pizza and picked it up in Kalaheo before going back to the condos. The pizza at Brick Oven is excellent and we often get while in Kaua’i, but $80+ for 3 pizzas is kind of ridiculous! Don’t remember it being that much the last times. Then again, I think Dallas’ parents paid last time.

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Pupus With Friends, La Playita Azul, Barbecue Inn

July 20th, 2005 · No Comments


Larry, Eleanor, Kathy, Dallas


George, Caroline


Pupus


Pupus


Pupus


Kathy, Dallas, George


Larry, Eleanor


Larry


Eleanor


Eleanor, Gary


Larry, Eleanor, Kathy


Mountain Apple Tree


Mountain Apple Tree


Mountain Apple Tree


Mountain Apple Pit


La Playita Azul


La Playita Azul


Kathy at La Playita Azul


Smoked Meat at BBQ Inn

That night we went to Larry & Eleanor’s house in Kalaheo for pupus. Larry showed us his mountain apple tree and we tasted the fruit from it – kind of sweet, with a kind of bitter skin and was much smaller than a normal apple. Eleanor and Larry had prepared and purchased a ton of pupus. Everything was so good, I wanted to eat a ton, but I also wanted to save room for the dinner I knew we were having later on at one of our favorite restaurants, La Playita Azul.

We dropped off Dallas’ dad, George, and his sister Caroline at Barbecue Inn in Lihue for a night out with George’s cronies. Then Dallas and Kathy, his mom, and I went over for mexican seafood in Kapa’a at La Playita Azul. This was a place we fell in love with last year and HAD to go back to.

Later on, back at Barbecue Inn, George’s friends peer pressured me into eating some smoked meat of some sort.. I think they said it was wild pig? I don’t know. It actually wasn’t as bad as it looks. It’s the pride of Kaua’i, I’m told.

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Around Kaua’i's South Shore

July 20th, 2005 · 3 Comments


Kathy :: Grand Hyatt, Poipu, Kaua’i


Koloa Town, Kaua’i


Koloa Town, Kaua’i


Koloa Town, Kaua’i


Rachelle, Koloa, Kaua’i


I thought the gas would be more expensive. These are only a few cents higher than Chicago prices. Kalaheo, Kaua’i


Kalaheo, Kaua’i


The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger :: Gillin’s Beach, Kaua’i


Gillin’s Beach, Kaua’i


Kite Surfing :: Gillin’s Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Dallas Bodysurfing :: Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i.


Dallas Bodysurfing :: Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i.


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Shipwreck Beach, Kaua’i


Hawaiian Treat: Unripe mango .. dip it in the shoyu/sugar sauce.


Brick Oven Pizza, Kalaheo, Kaua’i


Brick Oven Pizza, Kalaheo, Kaua’i


Brick Oven Pizza, Kalaheo, Kaua’i


Brick Oven Pizza


Brick Oven Pizza

The next morning we were back at the Hyatt for our favorite brunch buffet. Except this year they seemed to have slimmed it down. What happened to the meat shaving station? And the tiers of dessert? And the sushi bar? It was still a good brunch but we couldn’t help missing what was there last year.

Afterwards we ran some errands in Koloa Town. Stopped at some stores, stopped by the post office. In the afternoon we went back to Gillin’s Beach. And then spent some time at Shipwreck Beach.

For an afternoon snack we had a local treat. You mix some shoyu (soy sauce) with sugar and a little vinegar, if you have it, then you dip green, unripe mango in it. The mango is bitter and the shoyu mixture is kind of salty/sweat. Not bad, but I think it’s an acquired taste. Then for dinner we had pizza from Brick Oven Pizza in Kalaheo. Everyone had been talking about how good it is and how it was the best on the island so I had to try it. Really good. I liked how the crust was made with either homemade white or wheat dough and was fluted and brushed with garlic butter. YUM.

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