Once again, we were up early to watch the ship come into port. As soon as I saw the island, I started taking pictures and sending them to my mom, who will be visiting Kauai with us in May. She is so excited already!
First glimpse:
I did alot of research on Kauai and determined that the best plan would be to explore the south shore of Kauai, which would include visiting the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific," Waimea Canyon. Staying closer to port to maximize the time we had made the most sense. The southern coast of Kauai is the drier, sunnier side, especially in November. So this made it an easy decision.
So once again, we would be renting a minivan from Avis to drive around the island. We all met at 8:00 am to disembark so that we could be on our way to the canyon as quickly as possible. Clouds can roll in and obscure the view so I wanted us to get there as quickly as we could without rushing.
We took the shuttle to Avis and got our final minivan of the trip. It was another beautiful day in Hawaii!
We again used the Shaka guide to narrate our drive to Waimea Canyon. With the help of the Shaka guide, I knew where the lookouts would be, which ones would be good ones for us to do, which ones to skip, where to stop for lunch, etc. A little research always pays off!
We got to the first lookout at the canyon around 10:00 am and it looked beautiful so we all got out and took pictures. This way, if the clouds rolled in later in the drive, at least we got to see it.
Our next stop was a small waterfall that I didn't really want to stop at in the interest of time--but who can resist seeing a waterfall up close?! So we made a quick stop.
We continued our drive up the mountain.
During the hike, I saw a little opening that was kind of steep but I saw I could scale it and asked Ben to follow me. It led to a gorgeous clearing that was just breathtaking and I asked Ben to take what is my favorite picture of the entire trip!
This picture captures for me everything I love about Hawaii, the freedom I feel when I am there, and how I want to just embrace everything it has to offer!
Around 11:00 am, we made it to the big Waimea Canyon lookout and there still was no sign of clouds so we were incredibly lucky. Many people drive straight to this lookout to see the canyon without stopping, but I loved that we stopped along the way and got to do a small hike, and still got to see this incredible view.
It was crowded here but everyone was happy to take turns viewing.
There was a native Hawaiian there giving a lecture about the canyon and he even mentioned how lucky we were that it was still so clear. Fran got a great picture of him speaking.
These are the Waipo'o Falls that cascade down 800 feet. You can hike to the falls, but it's a 4 mile hike called the Cliff Trail.
Ben and I went down before everyone else so he could use the restroom--and see the chickens!
Our next stop was the Kokee Museum that I knew was a good place to take a break and use the restroom. They had a nice gift shop there and a restaurant as well, but everyone said they were good to wait awhile for lunch so we just stopped and got a few souvenirs and some water.
Our last stop was the Kalalau Lookout where you can view the Nā Pali Coast. I could already see that the clouds were here and would probably obscure the view and I was right. Oh well, you can't win them all I guess! Mother Nature had certainly cooperated up until now and I couldn't complain.
I thought seeing the canyon was more important so overall, I couldn't have been happier. We would be seeing plenty of the beautiful Nā Pali Coast the next day.
It was a long drive back down the mountain.
By the time we got to Waimea, it was after 1:00 pm and everyone was ready for lunch. We had an early dinner reservation at 5:30 so I agreed we should stop here and get something to eat, and it is also a great place to try shave ice at a famous place called JoJo's. I told everyone to get the ice cream on the bottom--that's what makes it so ono!
I didn't get a shave ice which I kind of regret but I look forward to getting one with my mom in May!
The plan now was to drive to Poipu Beach. We could spend time at the beach and then we would be right at the Sheraton Hotel where our dinner reservation was. Once again, our timing worked out just about perfect.
On the way to the beach, I told Ben we could stop at the Spouting Horn blowhole to kill a little time. It wasn't blowing too crazy but it made a really cool sound when it did.
We got to the beach around 3:30 pm. Luckily there was both a big parking lot and shade, so it worked out perfect!
There was a little island across the way that Alice and Ben walked out to. You could see big waves crashing behind them.
Jason and I stayed on the beach. This beach reminded me a little of Kapalua Bay on Maui.
We cleaned up at the beach park and I threw on a pretty cover up over my bathing suit and tried to do something with my beach hair!
We left the beach and made it to Rumfire at the Sheraton at 5:00 pm, in time for aloha hour. We got $6 mai tais that were delicious--I liked this one even better than my favorite one at Merriman's on Maui. It just tasted like Hawaii! (I definitely have to come back here on our May trip to have another one!)
At 5:30, we were seated at a table by the windows for dinner. We saw a beautiful sunset--I was sad we weren't outside to take pictures but it was beautiful even from inside the restaurant.
For dinner, I got a steak and butterfish and Ben got Ahi and Ono. The restaurant let us mix and match entrees which is always fun to do. My steak and fish were very good.
For dessert, Ben and I got the Baked Kauai for Two which was a pineapple cake, coconut ice cream and meringue that the server bruleed at the table. It was so delicious, I am still dreaming about this dessert! We ate almost the whole thing!
It was a lovely anniversary dinner.
Back at port, Ben and I talked about what we wanted to do with the rest of our evening. It was only about 9:00 pm and we felt like we could still stay up for a bit. Which was nice because usually in Hawaii, we are in bed by 8:00!
Ben and I had $500 in onboard credit when we started the cruise and had not spent very much of it and the cruise was almost over. So we decided to get a nice bottle of champagne to celebrate our anniversary.
We went to the wine bar and saw they had a bottle of Dom Perignon, which neither of us have ever had before. We looked up the vintage (2008) and saw that it was ranked very highly. So we said--let's do it!
The server gave us chilled champagne flutes and an ice bucket to take to our cabin.
We went back to the cabin and I took a video of Ben popping the champagne and we drank it out on the balcony. It was delicious--in case you are wondering if you can tell the difference between Dom Perignon and less expensive champagne, the answer is YES! (We have actually bought another bottle since we got home!)
I am just realizing that after all that champagne, we forgot to order our room service for the next morning! It was an anniversary to remember for sure!
