A Little Hawaiian Vacation, Anyone?

Ready for a field trip? I think you poor cold mid-westerners deserve a little Hawaiian sunshine. Today, we'll start on a multi-blog entry vacay to Kauai. We'll start off in sleepy old downtown Kapaa and make our way to the South Shore where sunny Poipu is our destination.

It's a chilly 71 degrees fahrenheit this morning, so we better don our heavy winter gear!

There! It's hard to take a picture of yourself in the mirror, but there I am, complete with head, after only six tries. (My left arm looks just like my right, so you're not missing much there.) Do I look warm enough? My knitted Noro scarf finally gets to go on an outing today. I'll probably be able to stand this on my neck only for another couple of hours, so we better get going.

Downtown Kapaa is light on traffic today. February is not a big time of year for tourism, especially this year, in this economy. It's sad for businesses around here that depend on tourism, but looking on the bright side, it's nice to have the island to ourselves. Here's looking sort of northeast:

And here's looking sort of southwest. We only have one highway that partially encircles the whole island, and you're looking at it.

We'll stop for breakfast in Kapaa town. We love this little hole-in-the-wall Mexican cafe, "Shakka Taco." They have fantastic breakfasts--chorizo, machaca, huevos rancheros...yum! I get some huevos con chorizo, and Clayton gets his usual breakfast Ranchero Burrito with papas fritas. Their fresh salsa is amazing! Tomatoes, onions, cilantro, fresh jalapenos...my mouth waters just contemplating it. What are you going to have?

This little cafe, like most in Hawaii, is open to the elements all around for lots of tradewind action. This is the dining room (below), but we like to sit outside on the patio. There's a bakery next door and it smells heavenly out there.

No heaters, no air conditioning. Energy costs are very expensive on Kauai, so if you can depend on breezes instead of electricity, it's mo' bettah.

After a lovely breakfast, we'll take a walk on the beach. It's nice to have your town built along a beach. As you can see, crowds are not a problem.

My husband is wearing his heavy winter gear, which consists of pants, socks, and shoes. He gets colder than I do (isn't that always the case, ladies?). By now, it's warmed up to 75 degrees F, so he's managed to lose his jacket. The shoes will be next.

Hmmmm...looks like he's finding something in the sand there while I take pictures.

What could it be?

Awww, sweet little opihi shells! They look like little volcanoes from the top. These make nice jewelry.

On my next post, we're off to Koloa town.