The morning started with breakfast, a bit of packing / repacking, dropping of the rental car, and checking in for our slightly longer flight to Lihue, Kauai. Although the distances aren’t great between the islands, you lose approximately 1/2 a day unless you fly out really early in the morning or really late at night going through the airport rituals. That’s probably the greatest downside to island hopping. The benefit, however, is building a richer tapestry of appreciation for the islands.
Like Maui, we arrived a little before noon, grabbed our luggage, and picked up out rental car at National. Since we could “pick any car” with national, Emerson sold us on a cherry red Ford Mustang convertible — not awful for a mere $34 per day!
Coming from the airport, we stopped by Fish Express for a proper, no frills Hawaiian lunch plate like the locals eat. We then went to a local park and had a bit of a picnic, where we got to experience Kauai’s now (in)famous wild chickens up close and personal. According to perhaps an urban legend, it seems that these chickens really blossomed following the landfall of Hurricane Iniki in 1992 — though wild chickens are found on every island, Kauai does seem to have an outsized share of them.
Our car and Kauai’s wild chickens…
After checking into our Marriott Beach Resort hotel (decent room, underwhelming “oceanview”), we ran a few additional errands for beach and food supplies and then spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging by the pool.
For dinner, we went to Duke’s an enjoyed good food and drinks in a really nice beachside setting.
Libby and her “Lava Flow”