Occasionally Adventurous: Day Twenty-three: McBryde Garden and Wailua Falls

We were out the door on the early side today, heading all the way to the south shore. We stopped in Kapa'a for breakfast at the Ono Family Restaurant. It's old and quaint, and a local hang out of sorts. I've never seen a more extensive breakfast menu. It has all the traditional breakfast fare, with local standards like fish tacos, ahi omelettes, and coconut syrup. I had plain french toast and Pat had a veggie omelette. Both good, but nothing to rave about. After breakfast we stopped at Hilo Hattie's, which our guidebook says is good for genuine Hawaiian souvenirs. Most of what we saw was made somewhere else, and we ended up with more free shell leis, but nothing else.

At the National Tropical Botanical Garden visitor's center, we signed up for the self guided tour of the McBryde Garden. The other choice was the Allerton Garden, a more formal landscape requiring a guide for a very expensive tour. That one was sold out anyway, so off we went on a shuttle bus into the Lawa'i Valley. The whole ocean end of the valley was at one time owned by Allertons and McBrydes. Allerton was interested in botany, and both gardens are planted with native plants as well as imports from around the world. We spent a hot hour walking the pathways, then took the shuttle back to the visitors center, which also has a nice small garden.

We stopped at Spouting Horn park, which has three large blowholes. Next we drove by all the resorts in the Poipu area, and concluded we like Princeville better than either Poipu or Kapa'a, even though it's a long drive to some of the interesting features of the island. We had a late lunch at Brenneke's Bar, on the ocean across the road from Brenneke Beach Park. It was the only sit down restaurant we found that was open for lunch. Most of the Poipu restaurants are only open for dinner, though there are a couple of taco vans and fruit stalls. And we saw a man with a Starbuck's cup, leaving a shopping center that we didn't drive into, so there are probably more options than we found.

On the way back north, we drove four miles up Highway 583 to Wailua Falls, a powerful double waterfall flowing into the Wailua River. We watched three teenagers swimming in the pool and walking around the falls. I hope they got home safely. The rocks are reportedly slippery, and some deaths have occurred over the years. We made a quick stop at Walmart to get a book for Pat to read on the plane home, and some chocolate covered macadamia nuts. I've been afraid to buy them till close to the end of our trip. I know they're addictive, and fattening.

Back in Princeville, we stopped at Foodland to pick up food for this evening and for breakfast. We're having a mellow evening at home. Hard to believe that in 48 hours we'll be at the Lihue airport turning in our rental car. It will be good to be home, but we'll miss the wonderful weather and lovely scenery of Hawaii.