Weird Bird With A Rat Tail

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We woke up refreshed and ready to explore a little more of Kauai with no plans and a broken computer (fixed it!). So we headed to the local market to buy some essential supplies (aka alcohol and underwater cameras). After purchasing our wares, we spoke with the cashier and she told us of a good local breakfast spot. So, we headed over to Joe's On The Green, a cool outdoor cafe situated on a golf course (go figure). It was a very nice setting, and we had to split some local food with mimosas. We got a loco moco, which is a bed of rice, with a hamburger patty and fried egg, with gravy slathered on it. It had a great Salisbury steak flavor, but with the richness of the egg and the starchiness of the rice, highly recommended. We also got banana macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup, a tropical sweet delight.

On our way back, we wanted to see the Poipu Beach, which has been rated as the top beach in Kauai. It was very nice, plenty of grass as well as sand areas to chill at. The beach has sand, but the water has rocks at the bottom and the currents are tricky. There was a Sheraton right there, so they provided chairs all over the place which we commandeered to maximize our comfort. Boo-yeah. I guess Hawaii has been having an unseasonable cool year so far and the water is not as warm as it usually is. You normally hear of the really warm waters of Hawaii, but the ocean water here is crisp, not as cold as Southern California, but no where near as warm as the water in the Caribbean.

After returning to our humble abode, we wanted to see the more jungle side of the island. We swung by the McBryde National Tropical Botanical Garden. There we saw some pretty epic tropical vegetation from all over the world. This wasn't a typical garden, as it was mostly in a wild setting, no pattern growing or symmetrical designs. A year ago at this time, they were filming scenes from the latest Pirates Of The Caribbean in this garden. Some say you can still smell Jonny Depp's scent on the gentle breezes..... Anywho, as is expected in Hawaii, it would pour rain for 20 minutes, soaking everything, and then the sun would come back out and the humidity would return. The weather is always warm, so it is really refreshing. Words cannot really describe the wild botany, so just check the pictures!

Next we crossed the street and went to the Spouting Horn. It was at low tide, so it was not as impressive as usual. But it is a lava tube in a cliff that when the waves come crashing in, water shoots through the hole up into the air. There is a pretty gnarly sound that accompanies it, and legend has it that there is a killer man eating lizard that lives in the hole. True story. Don't go in the hole.

We we starving at this point and went to a cool little spot called Dude Dogs. We crushed some bomby hot dogs and chili, a match made in heaven because people that eat it a lot die from heart attacks. There was a wall of dog pictures, which totally reminded us that dogs > cats every time all the time. It made us miss our little Buff, Della, and Roxy back on the mainland. Anyways, we then rolled west to the Kalaheo Farmer's Market, which was basically a bunch of people selling home grown fruit from the back of minivans and station wagons, the real deal. We nabbed some papaya, guava, and mango from a cute old lady, who kept saying "Shoo-ah" (sure) and "Gooood grrr" (good girl) at Brittni's requests, for happy hour time (woot).

After that, we wanted to see one of the islands highlights, the Waimea Canyon, described as the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. This was 2500 feet up, going mainly on a windy road at 25 mph. The entrance road was closed so we had to hoof it up a steep road to the look out point. This is definitely a highlight of Kauai, truly amazing. It's like the Grand Canyon, with the different layers of rock, but also with the tropical greenery of Hawaii. Truly a sight to be seen, Mother Nature at her finest.

The next few hours were rather uneventful, we grabbed some refreshments at the Kalaheo Cafe, and came back to room for a little rest. Then we went out for dinner and drinks at the Tomkat's Grille in Poipu. I got a Hawaiian pork quesadilla and Britt got an Ahi bowl, washed down with some outrageously strong Mai Thais. Then a local reggae artist started to perform. He was awesome! I honestly thought it was a recording. But hardcore reggae fans singing along to the silly words made Britt and I laugh so hard! "SHAWTYTOWN!!! PEPEPE PEDEPEPE!!!" Any music predicated upon the fanbase under the influence of THC belongs somewhere around the juggalo-scenester realm. After the long day, we came back and went to bed. Peace out!

Aloha!

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