Kauai - Day 3

let's try this again...

On Tuesday morning, we left the hotel and headed for west side of the island. We drove to Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon" of Hawaii. It seemed like a forever-long drive but the scenery was just beautiful! It was misty and cold on top of the mountain. We were all dressed for the beach, so we were freezing (except for Jamal, who was wearing a long-sleeved surf shirt)! We ran into some Edward Jones friends at the lookout point and took pictures. Then we got some Hawaiian snacks from a fruit stand before heading back down the mountain (I now love Hawaiian pretzels). We ate lunch at a little outdoor shrimp place and then spent some time wandering around the town of Waimea. After getting a few souvenirs, we stopped at Jo Jo's (supposedly the best shave ice on the island!) for some treats.

the drive up the mountain

the famous red dirt


On the way back to the South Shore, we stopped and spent the rest of the afternoon at Poipu Beach. Some have rated it the best beach in Hawaii, so of course it was a little more crowded than some of the other beaches. It's a good beach for snorkeling, because there's a tiny island (really more of a sandbar) that stops the big waves from making it to shore. Snorkeling is one of my favorite things in the world, so of course I was happy here! And, while walking along the beach, Kia and I stumbled upon...oh, no big deal...a SEAL! We had read that because of the calmer waters, Hawaiian monk seals sometimes like to rest on Poipu Beach. Hawaiian monk seals are endangered and it's estimated that there are less than 1400 of them left. The life guards had put up some rope around our seal friend so people wouldn't bother him (which no one did). The seal just slept as if he were all alone on the beach.

Did I mention that there are chickens all over this island?? Even on the beach!

That night Edward Jones had a luau for us. It was so fun! We were greeted with leis when we walked outside (that quickly became my favorite thing about Hawaii), and we had a great hula show at the end. The kids were invited onstage for a hula lesson, and of course all the little girls loved seeing real hula girls!

Jamal with Logan and Anna, two girls from our region