Family Outing #1

There are very cool activities on Kauai that are family friendly, as well as accessible. My wife and I researched through websites and books for months before the trip. We wanted to do some things that my son would enjoy as much as we did. My 2 year old son is obsessed with trains and as luck has it, there is an old sugar plantation on Kauai that offers train rides around the property.

 The Kauai Plantaion Railway was just the afternoon activity that we could all have fun doing. The pristine park like setting of the Kauai Plantation is a great place to let your little one run around and burn off some energy. They have great accessible walking paths that go through gardens, the old plantation main house, and shops, and the Koloa Rum Company (stop off there for a tasting). The main attraction there though is the train, which I thought I wouldn't be able to do. I was wrong, they have this hand lift and a space in the first passenger car that let me sit right behind my son as he beamed his huge smile. It does cost $20.00 per person but it was totally worth it.

Amazing delights of Paradise

As you might have gathered from some of my past blogs, when I am on vacation I like to try the local restaurants. My trip to Kauai was no different. We went all over the island trying some old favorites, and some new places recommended by fellow travelers and locals. I find that if you want the really good places try what the locals like, and also look for the hole in the walls that have no parking spaces. This can mean that there are some good things to be found.....or that it has really bad service.

Bad food or mediocre service wasn't something that I had to worry about on this trip. Whether it was the delicious fish taco that I had at Tropical Taco in Hanalei, or the fancy meal I had at Keoki's Paradise. The food was always fresh and tasty, and the atmosphere was family friendly and ready to assist us in any way. We never got any trouble for being the couple with the wheelchair and the toddler. In fact we opted to get a sitter one night and go to Kieko's Paradise only to see that they welcomed guests with kids (although at the prices I am not sure I would ever take a toddler there).

Let me give a run down of my favorite places for dine in or take out from this and my last trip.

South Island:

Bubba's Burgers is a local institution that serves some very good burgers. The Kapaa one we ate at had a no frills seating area, and a counter that overlooked the street so we could watch the tourist and locals shop and go about the day. Lets just say a good burger and people watching made this a nice place to go, especially is you have a pick eater.

Poipu Tropical Burgers is a family style restaurant that serves breakfast lunch and dinner. This is the type of place that my wife, son, and I could find something we truly wanted to eat. We went there for brunch, and dinner. They have great pancakes, good eggs, and nice crispy bacon. I also had the fish and chips there and can say for a place that has a little of everything on their menu it they were pretty good. The service is what makes this place nice. They had a place ready for us by the window, and the crayons and graham crackers were at the ready for my hungry toddler. It can be difficult to find parking at the Poipu Shopping Center where it is located so make sure you add some extra time.

And since I am on the topic of the Poipu Shopping Center, we ate at two other places there (Pukadog, and Papalani Gelato)

Pukadog specializes in hot dogs with exotic toppings such as mango, pineapples, and other types of relish (traditional toppings are there as well). You basically get to customize your own Polish or Veggie dog. It wasn't my favorite place but my son liked the veggie dog with mango salsa (it is very sweet with just a hint of salty from the hot dog.

Panalini Gelato was a nice treat. If you have never had gelato Hawaii is a good place to try it. It is a creamy Italian ice cream with some unique flavors. They did a respectable job and the staff was very friendly. I guess I just preferred the shave ice at Pono Hale Family Restaurant.

Keoki's Paradise is a more upscale restaurant great for taking that special someone on a nice date. If you get there before 5 you can have an opportunity to take advantage of half portions and chef specials. I had a petite fillet Mignon and lobster with a nice salad and yummy ice cream pie to split with my wife. Cap that with a few good drinks and it made the splurge for the babysitter that much more worth it.

North Island:

Tropical Taco I will not lie to you. This is the reason we traveled to the north shore of Kauai. They have the best fish tacos I have ever had. Fresh caught, fresh cooked, simple ingredients make this something I crave even when I am off island. My son isn't a big fish eater so he had a fantastic bean burrito which was the size of his head and which he made short work of. It is also nice to walk around Hanalei afterwards because you just never know what you will find there. Cap off the experience with shave ice and you can hit the beach satisfied.

West side:

This is where we ate the most and is the mid point between Hanalei/Princeville in the north, and Poipu/Koloa/Port Allen in the south.

Brick Oven Pizza has two locations (Kapaa, and Kalehio). We ate at the one in Kapaa which was clean friendly, and didn't balk at the wheelchair and toddler as we came through the door. They greeted my son with a dough ball to play with and had no problems with our pizza choice (mushroom and Portuguese sausage). It was delicious, really some of the best I have had. If you are looking for a place were you can catch a game (several big screen TVs showing different sports), get a good drink, and be family friendly. You would be hard pressed to get a better place.

Mema Thai Chinese Cuisine, first I will say that this wasn't bad food. I think that they keep the spiciness down because this place does a ton of tourist business (take out mostly). I live in an area that has really great Asian food so when I say this is pretty good food it means something. Just make sure that you ask for a little extra spice, and try the pineapple fried rice YUM!!

Ono Family Restaurant. Big portions of good fresh food make this family style place a must if you are in the area. The topper is they have a shave ice booth just outside that has the BEST shave ice on the island (i mean it there was a vote).

Eggberts  This is a standard for us as a breakfast and lunch restaurant. It is located in the Coconut Market Place and is what I look for in a restaurant. Cheap and Cheerful. It is kid friendly has tons of choices on the menu and you do not have to be dress up. Just don't go in there and ask for a fruit plate. This is a classic breakfast joint and they want you to enjoy yourself with their excellent fair. Try the banana pancakes with coconut syrup. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

I will add more places on to this post so if you are going to Kauai check in every now and again for my reviews.

Beaches

Kite Surfer at Anini Beach

I know that there are a lot of you who think a beach is a beach. I am here to tell you that isn't the case at all. I live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and what passes for beaches here are rocky, brown, and slimy. Still very pretty but very unlike what you will find in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and Hawaii.

Even in Hawaii you find subsets of beaches. There was Anini beach with a packet grass field leading to sand that was slightly rough and filled with remains of coral, Tunnels beach which had softer beige sand and good snorkeling, and Lydgate which, outside of its lava rock created pool, is to rough to swim, and finally Poipu Beach which has the reddish sand I think about when I dream of Kauai.

Poipu is a very popular beach becasue it is sunny almost all the time. It has a very mild current and surf because of the reef located just off shore. It also has, what made it my sons favorite beach, a playground. This is a family friendly beach, you are not going to see many beach bunnies wearing dental floss.That would be Waikiki. We traveled through the tree tunnel many times on our trip. Picked up a sandwich and made a picnic of it. My wife would play in the surf and when he wanted to slide I would be there with him.

Now I will tell you that Poipu beach was great but it wasn't my  favorite. I loved Anini beach. It was easy parking and getting all of our stuff to the sand was easy (see above mention of grass field), there was lots of shade for my very sensitive skinned wife, and lots of stuff for me to photograph ( I love to take pictures, and will post many here). It was also level which was nice for setting up a pop up tent for changing into the swim suits. It wasn't overcrowded, which is nice sometimes you want to be away from people
 Also even though I am not interested you can get a permit to camp right there (I saw many an REI tent in the field).

Poipu beach at sunset

The lesson you should take away from this is, travel a ton and see how many beach types you can find. Then let me know about them. By the way don't tell anyone about Anini beach (its our secret).

I LOVE Kauai!!!

Anini Beach on the North Shore

It has taken me a bit of time to gather my thoughts on what I want to say about such a great vacation. It started off a bit rocky (and rainy when we finally got there) but once we arrived at the house we rented it all just fell into place. This rental is very much the kind of house I wish I could own (the floor plan was great, and I would kill for the kitchen and porch), the floor plan was open and airy, the screen porch is where we spent most of the time while we were there, and my son loved running down the hallway as only a 2 year old can (feet slapping on the tile floors...GO!!). I will not lie, this place ruined me for hotels when I am in Hawaii. Yes it was not on the beach, but we were 10 minutes from a beach and we didn't have tourists puking by the front door. Kapaa is very central so we could explore both the north and southern part of the island (not the eastern though as my boy decided to have a tantrum). The amenities of being in a house far outweigh the small inconvenience of having to drive to the beach (which we would have had to do anyway as the western beaches are not very conducive to kids).

Now as I have stated in previous posts it wasn't totally perfect. The doors into the master bathroom were tight, and the guest bathroom my chair couldn't get through at all. Once in the bathroom I had to get creative with the transfers to get in the shower. All that being said if the owner of the house would let me stay there again I would do it in a minute.

Tree Tunnel headed to Poipu

Also something you do not get with a hotel, access to an owner. These folks were great hosts. They were there for the delivery of our crib/high chair, and when the TV didn't work they showed up with a new set so that my son didn't have to watch Thomas the Tank Engine on a portable dvd player. They were great! Highly recommend using the site VRBO also -- this is where we found this listing, and it was such a terrific experience that we will definitely do it again.