Occasionally Adventurous: Day Twenty-four: Around Hanalei

We've been staying less than ten miles from the beautiful and quirky little town of Hanalei, named for the perfect little bay it sits upon. We had a mellow start to the day, getting around to breakfast just before ten. We drove to the end of the road on the northwest corner of the island. The road ends at Ke'e Beach, just at the spot where the Na Pali coastline begins to head southwest. Ke'e has a lifeguard, showers and picnic facilities. It's all white sand, and wildly popular. The parking lot was overflowing, and cars were parked up to a mile away along the road. Pedestrians had nowhere to walk but the road, ducking between cars when someone wanted to drive down the road.

We made mental notes of beaches that were less crowded and closer to Hanalei, then found a parking spot in town and walked around the two major shopping centers, which are directly across the road from one another. We walked the half mile down to the public beach and watched people playing for awhile. Back in Hanalei, we had lunch at the Kalypso Bar, on the main road. We got lucky and got an outdoor table next to a small strip of garden. The coconut shrimp was outstanding, and the mai tais weren't bad.

After lunch, we decided to just head back to our condo. Neither of us felt like being on the beach. I read a book and Pat napped. Late afternoon we walked the grounds of Sealodge, our condo complex for the first time. And the last, since we have to leave tomorrow.

We drove back to Hanalei for dinner at The Dolphin, which has a pleasant spot on the Hanalei River at the east end of town. More fish for me, but Pat went for chicken. Back in Princeville, we stopped for ice cream at Lappert's, the Kauai dairy with fabulous ice cream. I had Kauai Pie: kona coffee ice cream with coconut, macadamia nuts, swirls of chocolate fudge, and crispy vanilla cake bits. Wow. It's a good thing Lappert's was a rather late discovery. We've been there three times since we got to Kauai. Many more visits and we'd be buying new clothes...

We have to move on by eleven tomorrow morning, but our flight isn't till ten p.m. I'll be back by Sunday to wrap this vacation record.