After a long day at the pool and the beach, Paul and Kate had to pack it up and get ready for their flight back to Chicago. How depressing! They so did not want to leave! Especially Paul!
To procrastinate, Paul walkedl me over to show me the Kauai Marriott weather station.
Goodbye big, beautiful pool!
Paul said goodbye to the stray cats that live on the resort.
Goodbye koi!
Driving on Kaumuali?i. Goodbye Kauai Marriott resort! It was fun!
Tags:beach·cat·Hawaii·kalapaki beach·kate·kauai·kauai marriott resort·koi·koi pond·lihue·marriott·paul baker·pool·Weather
When Paul met me at the Marriott Kauai Resort so that we could hang out at the pool, he gave me a quick tour of the resort. The craziest thing was the koi pond they have. They regularly feed the fish and one lady was doing it when we got there. It was making the koi go nuts! Freaky. The Hyatt in Poipu has a koi pond too, but not like this!
There is also a pretty bird that hangs out by the koi pond.
Tags:bird·Hawaii·hyatt·kauai·kauai marriott resort·koi·koi pond·lihue·marriott·paul baker·poipu
My first view of the pool area. Whoa!
Paul and Kate in our cabana.
This gecko was our cabana friend.
Paul brought the Stanley Cup of bowling. I’m surprised Kate didn’t throw it in the ocean.
Each columned area contained a hot tub. There were 5 or 6 hot tubs total.
There were many fountains spewing water into the pool.
The view of Kalapaki Beach from the pool.
The bridge leading over to the “island” where all of the cabanas are.
Chicken Caesar salad wrap. Wait staff provides food and drink to the pool area from Kalapaki Grill. Loved the steamer baskets.
Many of these. Not a bad view! 
I never wanted to leave this pool!
There were some kids in this pool but there was also a separate keiki pool, so it was a bit calmer in the main pool.
Close up of one of the fountains.
Paul and Kate have a timeshare at the Kauai Marriott Resort and the end of their vacation overlapped the beginning of ours. They invited me one day to go hang out at the resort pool one day so I drove over. Little did I know that this pool is the largest single-level outdoor pool in the state of Hawaii! It was so beautiful! And HUGE!
Paul and Kate rented one of the cabanas by the pool. These were like big comfy beds. The one they got was partially shaded, which was good because we’re all pretty prone to sunburning. We spent the day drinking fruity drinks and playing in the pool, with only a brief interruption when we walked over the beach for a while. What a great way to spend the day! I haven’t spent much time at resorts on Kauai because we always rent houses and condos when we stay there, so this place knocked my socks off.
Tags:bowling·cabana·fountain·gecko·Hawaii·hot tub·kalapaki beach·kalapaki grill·kate·kauai·kauai marriott resort·lihue·marriott·paul baker·pool
After lunch we stopped a few more places in Lihue and then headed for the airport. While there we saw Loden, Trent, Shannan, Todd, Kelly, Brian, Sara, Adam and Christine – all flying back to the mainland, while we stay in Hawaii for 5 more days. HA! We flew from Lihue to Honolulu and then Honolulu to Kona. I wish you could just fly from Lihue to Kona, but you cannot.
When we landed in Kona we got our rental car, a red Sebring and then got on the road. We were staying at the Hapuna Beach Prince about an hour north, up the coast, from the airport. The drive was easy enough, the only confusing part was that you enter the resort on the eastern side of the roade when the beach is to the west and the resort is on the beach. Ends up the road loops under the main road.
My first impressions of the Kona coast of the Hawaii (the Big Island): Very black from the lava rock and bleak. I mean, it looked like even weeds were having a hard time growing on all of the black rock. I did find this “local-style graffiti” to be pretty interesting. People would spell things out with white rocks, which really stood out from the black lava rock.
Tags:adam·airport·big island·brian·christine·dallas·graffiti·hapuna beach prince·Hawaii·honolulu·kauai·kelly·kohala coast·kona·lihue·loden·oahu·sara·shannan·todd·trent
On our last day on Kauai we packed all of our stuff up and checked out of our house. I went to the Poipu Shopping Village with Matt and Ross for a bit. Then we headed over to the Makahuena where Dallas’s parents and sister were staying. We had to sort out some financials with our wedding gifts so we weren’t carrying around a bunch of stuff for the rest of our trip. From there we headed into Lihue. Caroline, Tammy and I stopped at the bank and then at Hilo Hattie for some gifts. After that we met up with Ross, Matt, Jordan and Dallas at Hamura’s Saimin Stand.
Hamura’s is a hole-in-the-wall kind of place on a back street of Lihue that is popular with the locals. It’s nothing to look at inside, just a big menu on the wall and u-shaped counter seating. Dallas has been telling me they have the best saimin on the planet for the entire time I’ve known him. Dallas has been to Hamura’s on visits back to Kauai but for some reason I’ve never been there before this trip.
I ordered a wonton saimin.
Dallas ordered the extra large special saimin, that had the works.
We also passed around and shared crispy wontons, shrimp tempura and barbecue sticks of chicken and beef.
This saimin was so delicious! And so filling.
I heard that Hamura’s is also known for their lilikoi chiffon pie, so even though we were all stuffed to the max, I had to order a slice just to try. I mean, who knows when I’d be back! I thought the pie was good and so light and fluffy, but not like amazing. Maybe it’s because I was already so full, but I’d say stick with the saimin! You cannot go wrong. SO good.
Tags:caroline·dallas·george·hamuras saimin·Hawaii·hilo hattie·jordan·kathy·kauai·lihue·lilikoi·liz·makahuena·matt·poipu·poipu shopping village·ross·saimin·tammy·wonton