Thursday, February 5, 2009

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.

27 comments:

Mary Anne Drury said...

Well thank you for that lovely, balmy tour !!! Right now we're at 3 degrees .... nothing in front or in back of that 3 ... just plain ol' FREAKIN' COLD 3 degrees .....and I don't even wanna know if there's a wind chill factor that actually makes it feel colder than 3 degrees .....

Anyhow ... cute scarf! Glad it was "chilly" enough for you to wear it !!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tour! -15 Celcius degrees here and 20 cm more snow last night! Wish to be there! What a lovely scarf you had! It would be good here too!!! Have a nice weekend!

Cathi said...

Thank you for the lovely tour!! Last night we had wind chills of -30C -- so 75 sounds hot as can be!! I can't even imagine having a scarf on it that warmth!
Those little shells are so cute!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lisa,
If you are out and about near Omao, stop by!
Aloha,
Melissa

PS Bring your mittens - it was only 58 degrees here this morning...brrr!

Salem Stitcher said...

Thank you for breakfast and a little beach time. It's been a tough week at work and I needed a break!

MichelleB said...

Love your scarf! I love the colors in it. I'll get mine finished one day. Lovely pictures of the island tour. I'm enjoying visiting Kauai again through your pictures.

Unknown said...

LoL I am a little green eyed monster - still snowing here ! No pics today though as it is tooooo cold to enture out we are all as snug as bugs on the sofa !

Your photos are lovely.

Vanessa

ilovebabyquilts said...

Enjoyed it! Warm weather here in Austin too, but still jealous as i've never been to hawaii.

I'll have the bacon and egg breakfast taco, or maybe migas.

Roberta said...

Thank you so much for the tour. I am "homesick" for my home away from home, Kauai. Just read your book "Stash Envy",and loved it. Now I suffer from Kauai Envy. Please post your Koloa town tour soon! Your newest fan, Roberta

Anonymous said...

OK, stop it. You're making me miss Kauai. Almost. Now if you stop somewhere and buy fresh pineapple and shave ice, I'm totally going to cry.

imquilternity said...

I can feel the the sand beneath my feet and the balmy breeze right now, although when I look out my window it's raining here. Sounds like you have a lovely life!

SandyQuilts said...

I love going on tour with you. It's suppose to be 60 here on Sat ... can't wait. Oh I love your scarf.

Anonymous said...

I love your scarf! Thanks for the tour in Kauai.
The weather forcast says we will have 22 degrees C (you'll have to work out what is in F degrees) but I think it going to be hotter than that. A perfert day for a pot luck dinner (to celebrate Ox year of Chinese New Year) at my place call PINEHAVEN. Oh by the way, it's summer here in New Zealand.
Have a wonderful weekend!

ladydi said...

The perfect February getaway. Thank you! Love those beach photos.

Red Geranium Cottage said...

Makes me wanna hop on that airplane. I'll be sure and bring my warm scarf when I do ok? Oh and my suntan lotion. lolol

Denise in PA said...

Thanks so much for the tour. We're actually having a warm spell here today near Philadelphia where it might get into the 40's. Much better than the 13 degrees is was yesterday when I left for work! Love your scarf. Can't wait to see more photos of your island. So glad you're blogging again!!

Vicki said...

Your tour brings back fond memories of my visits to Kauai. I wish I was there right now. Sure beats the cold and mountains of snow we have here at the moment.

Mom IsAmagpie said...

Thanks for bringing us on your tour. I want a burrito too please, can you send it with a cold pack? Thanks.
Your scarf is awesome! I will ignore the part of brain that is equating 70 with a scarf.

susan said...

i'll have you know it got to a toasty 41 today! almost all the snow has melted from the roof and if that huge ice damn would go it would be perfect. but you can bet in another day or two it will be below zero and more snow. i love it

Kellie said...

Aaaah! I so enjoyed that! I'm craving Mexican food and temps in the 70's now, but it's all good!

Libby said...

Love the 'winter gear' only slightly more lightweight than what we have in San Diego *s*

Rhonda said...

Thanks for the virtual vacation tour! We had balmy weather here in California for the last of couple of weeks, but now it's cold again. We had to pull out our jackets and scarves this weekend.

By the way... cute scarf!

Pat said...

Thanks for the nice tour....you were right...we NEED that with the cold winter so many of us have had. *sigh* That scarf is very pretty, by the way!

Mokihana said...

Mahalo nui for the great tour... I'm really enjoying the ride!

The opihi.. oh my gosh.... I would love to have some shells!

Dionne said...

What a lovely tour!! I LOVE your Blog!!
Cheers,
Dionne

Browndirtcottage said...

OK...this was a good start... now I'm really 'fired up' for the next leg of our vacation!!

Anonymous said...

How cute would the opihi shells look on a quilt! Or on a shaggy bag like the one in your previous post! BTW... I'm crazy in love with your shaggy baggy!