Now Choose Life

Choose Life in the after- after the spouse dies, after the marriage ends, after the kids leave

  • Grief
  • Books
  • Food
  • Travel
  • What I Wore
  • links
  • Faith
  • Home
  • Favorite Things

Kauai, Hawaii- What a Great Trip!

August 18, 2019 by Sharon

To be sure to see all the videos in this post, you might have to go out to the blog is you receive this post through email or RSS feed. Like HERE.

Kauai, Hawaii– I even like saying it!! Dr. T had a conference in Hawaii a few weeks ago, so while he worked, I played and played. We had a great time.

I was smitten the minute we landed on the island. The people are friendly and helpful. We stayed at the on Sheraton Poipu Beach. The drive there was even beautiful.

The Sheraton has a full calendar of things to do throughout the day- most are free. I took advantage of a morning yoga class on the beach. Other classes included hula lessons, lei making, surfing lessons, ukelele lessons, and much more! The two things we didn’t have time for were surfing lessons for Dr. T and Ukelele lessons for me. There is always next time!

The first day’s reception didn’t start until the evening so we had the whole day to explore by ourselves. We went up to the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, Waimea Canyon. We had a great day. Our first stop was the quaint town of Hanapepe. I fell in love with this little town. We ended up going back again for their art night street fair that they have every Friday night. Highlights of Hanapepe. 
It is known for its Swinging Bridge: I could just picture my kids when they were little having a blast on this bridge!!

We did come back on Friday night to Hanapepe, and I want to share with you here about their Art Night. There are several art galleries in this little town. Each Friday night, they host a street fair. The galleries are open, and there are all kinds of vendors- food and other crafts. We had a good time walking around. 
I loved this Starry Night painted surfboard in one of the gallery windows. 

There are chickens and roosters all over the island- I mean everywhere. More than Key West for sure!!

 My favorite thing about Hanapepe is that The Westernmost Bookstore, Talk Story, is at the end of the main street!! Oh My Goodness- I loved it! They sell new, used, and collector’s books plus vinyls! What more do you want? Well- of course, they have a cat named Celeste who runs the place!!

Bookstore
My happy place!!

You can follow Celeste on Instagram. 
We loved this little town both times!!
We ate a quick lunch at the Kauai Beer Company, and we were off to find Waimea Canyon. 
The first part of our drive in the canyon was beautiful. 
The higher in elevation we got, the more clouds we saw. When we got up to this
beautiful spot to look off over into the ocean, it was cloudy and raining. We decided then that a helicopter ride would be wonderful!

Dr. T had meetings the next morning so I went out on a hike with some friends. Don’t ever decline a hike, especially on Kauai! What started off as a plain hike, ended up with this view:
My hiking buddies!

That evening we went to a Luau at Smith’s. It is a beautiful place. So much better than a hotel Luau!
I put this picture on Facebook, and a friend of Dr. T’s asked why he had a rooster in his pocket! Roosters are everywhere!

It’s a beautiful place.

Getting the pig out of the imu. 

We also went on a Sunset Dinner Cruise- Holo Holo Charters at Port Allen. This Cruise was wonderful! Our captain said we went on a perfect day. He was able to take us in caves that in the 5 years he’s worked there, he’s only been able to go in about 10 times. We were lucky!!

Since Weamia Canyon was so cloudy, we decided to take a helicopter tour to see the island. It did not disappoint. We learned that a helicopter is really the only way to see a good part of the island. We used Sunshine Helicopters. It was an amazing experience!!

Napali Coast

Inside the volcano crater.

We took so many pictures- it’s hard to decide which ones to show.
We had a late-night flight to return home so we spent the day driving to the North Shore of Kauai. It is quite different from the southern part where we stayed- much lusher and more crowded. 
We had heard not to miss the lighthouse near Hanalei. It is a national park and a bird reserve. It was beautiful.

All the white specks in the trees are birds. 

Make sure you have the sound on for this. These are how the birds that were down in these bushes sounded. I loved it!!
Another thing fun about the North Shore is all of the one-lane bridges that have to be crossed. 
Traffic was backed up at times.
Very cozy, and added to the charm of the island for sure.

 
I never travel anywhere with Dr. T that I don’t think about my kids! Of course, I want to go back and take them and their spouse/boyfriend with us!! This trip made me think of our trip to Maui that my parents treated us to when my kids were little. One highlight was seeing these signs. 
My kids and nephews call my mother, Nene. They all about died in 1996 when they saw this sign in Maui telling them not to feed the Nenes. It has been a family memory/story ever since. 
It’s funny to remember that I took that picture of my mother and kids with a regular camera. Probably just a disposable waterproof camera. I didn’t know until I got them developed how they would turn out. There were no retakes to get the perfect shot, plus, these kids were never still- and we are missing a boy. There is no telling where my other nephew is in this shot.
When I saw this sign, I had to take a picture of it and send it to all the kids, my sister, and my mother. They got a big kick out of it, and our group text was full of memories of this trip!!
I ate delicious fish for almost every meal. These are some good place we ate:
One night we ate Italian. The fish here was fresh and delicious. La Spezia
Koloa Old Town is a fun area. We ate at Garden Island Grille one night and listened to live music.
Dukes has a fantastic salad bar and a great view!!
Mariachis had great seafood chimichangas!! 
Here are some outfits I took. I had a few people ask about some of them.
This jumper is at a great price here.

This dress was perfect for the luau. It can be found here.
This is a great shot because it includes a chicken. It is fun to see
them running through parking lots and all around!!

The back on this is open and a little too revealing for the 55-year-old, but I made do!! It can be found here. 
I bought all of my outfits online, and I feel fortunate that they all fit. 

I can’t express the beauty of this island, but the people are just as beautiful as their lovely home. Everyone we met was warm and friendly and made our trip so special!! I’m ready to go back!!

As always, thanks for reading. If you like what I post, please share using one of the buttons at the top of this post for Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. 

Filed Under: travel

Comments

  1. Andy says

    August 19, 2019 at 3:07 pm

    What a beautiful trip! I'm so jealous. I hope to visit Hawaii someday. I've always dreamed of going there!

    Reply
  2. Tina Tuszynski says

    August 19, 2019 at 3:46 pm

    I need to get back to Hawaii soon – such a gorgeous trip and island. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
  3. Lisa says

    August 19, 2019 at 7:35 pm

    What a lovely trip! I stayed at that Sheraton about 30 years ago, and it was beautiful! Love all of your suggestions.
    xo, Lisa

    Reply
  4. Now Choose Life says

    August 19, 2019 at 9:18 pm

    This was a great island to visit!!! Thanks for reading!

    Reply
  5. Now Choose Life says

    August 19, 2019 at 9:18 pm

    Thanks for stopping by my blog!!

    Reply
  6. Now Choose Life says

    August 19, 2019 at 9:20 pm

    I can't imagine the island 30 years ago. Even though there were a lot of people, we never felt crowded. I'm sure the past was even better!! Thanks for reading!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

After her husband’s sudden and unexpected death, Sharon McCuistian found herself a widow at the age of 48. With two grown children in college, Sharon had to find a way to live in her new reality. She turned to the things she loved to help in her grief: faith, family, and friends. Her love of words and writing became the cathartic venue by which she began to process her loss. It is through her grief journey that Now Choose Life was born. Read More

Follow Me On

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

Things Piquing My Interest #91

Things Piquing My Interest #91 is the March edition. March is flying by just as the months before it! I guess there is no slowing down life at this point. I just need to learn to live in the moment. My pastor recently spoke on putting down our devices. You can listen to it here. […]

February Monthly Goals Check-In

It can’t possibly be time for our February monthly goals check-in! I’m truly shocked at how quickly February went by. It just seems like I’m strapped to a rocket flying through the year, and I don’t know how to slow it down. I think that it why for me it’s so important to do regular […]

Things Piquing My Interest #90

Things Piquing My Interest #90- how can it be possible? Life has been hectic lately, but I love it when something happens that slows me down and makes me stand and stare in wonder! That is exactly what happened last week when is saw this two bucks sparing with each other right outside my house! […]

I’m A Gandy! (Granny)

Yes! You read that correctly. Earlier this year, I became a Gandy. At least, that’s what I hope that my sweet little granddaughter and every grandchild after will call me! I’ve had several months to think of what I wanted to be called, but honestly, I’ve been thinking of it a lot longer than that. […]

January Monthly Goals Check-In

Monthly goals check-ins are very important. I’ve set a goal that I will check in with you on how things are going at the end of every month!! This check-in is something I’m doing for myself so I thought I would add it for you. I hope you find it beneficial! We are 1/12 of […]

Recent Posts

  • Things Piquing My Interest #91
  • February Monthly Goals Check-In
  • Things Piquing My Interest #90
  • I’m A Gandy! (Granny)
  • January Monthly Goals Check-In

Follow Me On

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Home
  • About
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023