The new day rises with the sounds of the roosters of Kauai! These little feathered fiends are everywhere like the pigeons we’d find back in our big cities but somehow they remind me of being down on the farm! So after our night of Hell at the Plantation Hale we woke up and DD and I decided that the best thing we could do was to look for another hotel because we just weren’t happy there and every day on our vacation was precious. Both DD and I work all year on very different schedules, her days-off start on Monday and mine on Friday or Saturday, so we never really have days off together!
So DD and I really, really really look forward to the few weeks in January when our day jobs enter the “slow season” and we can both take our vacations together. So with that in our minds we realized that when we spent all year planning our Hawaiian Vacation there was no chance we would waste one moment! Yesterday, staying in a dirty hotel room, ruined our day!
So we woke up and basically decided like good troopers that we had to pack and find other accommodations. Since we had literally spent a night in the dirty ole’ dog house we were somewhat amused as we left the hotel in search of proper accomodation and saw this little fluffer strolling on the sidewalk…his face seemed to say to me “You can do better!” Sheeesh…we had booked our hotel rooms for the entire two week three island vacation online and had checked other hotels on Kauai and either they were all booked or they were too expensive.
It was sunny in the morning and we went to the front desk and told them we hated our room; that it was really disgusting, and that we could not stay another day at the Plantation Hale. We hopped into the Silver Dodge Nitro, our Bad-Boy, and drove along the Coconut Grove to the closest Hotel…we had no intention of circling the Island of Kauai to find a good, inexpensive hotel since there were a few right in the area.
Se started by visiting the Courtyard by Marriott Kauai. WOW! This was about 10 steps above the Hale! Of course it wasn’t the same sort of accomodation; the Courtyard Hotel was a classic hotel with a lovely high lobby with great flowers and plants and deep rich lush decor and furniture compared to the more rustic and vintage old-style run-downess of the Best Western we had ran screaming from.
We asked to visit a room and were escorted to a choice of rooms on the third floor; one overlooking the parking lot facing inland and one facing the water and mainly overlooking the pool of the Courtyard. The rooms were brand new with thick clean royal blue carpets and dark cherry wood furniture. The rooms were small with small balconies but still they looked very clean and even the price was higher by about $80 per night we still looked at each other and felt much better here than in the roach motel we stayed in last night!
We then went to the Resort Quest Islander on The Beach at the other end of the Coconut Grove and asked to visit a few rooms to see the difference. Now this is what I’m talking about! We had looked at this place online and had read good reviews of the hotel on TripAdvisor.com but it appeared booked solid and over our budget so we never looked further. But speaking with the front desk we learned we could have a better rate because there were a few rooms available with walk-in rates.
The room we finally took was one of the suites! A large lanai overlooking the pool and pool-bar, a full kitchen and fridge with all pots and pans, a reserved parking spot and one of the best decorated hotel rooms we’ve been in! The room was about $100 more than the Plantation Hell but it was so lovely and perfect that we had to stay…after all this was our one holiday of the year and we deserved the best!
So after a fairly exhausting day we are now in the new hotel room and DD is making supper, a delicious stir-fry of fresh seafood and fresh fruits and it smells great! I made a fruity rum drink that I called a Kauai Kaboom full of fresh Pineapple, Cocounut Milk, Papaya Juice, Ice and dark rum and we sat outside in the sun on the Lanai feeling like royalty overlooking the people splashing in the hot tub and sitting at the thatched roof of the poolside bar! Ahhhhh! Finally some good time Hawaiian relaxation!
Yepper! As we sit here sipping our rum delights we look back on the day where we moved out of the Plantation Hale due to irreconcilable differences and it feels good even though we sort of wasted a whole day by being uncomfortable in the last place and then spending the morning looking at hotels and packing and moving. This morning it just wasn’t working out with the dirty fingerprints and the crusty crumpets on the carpet so we had breakfast and then DD and I were just like to opposite poles and last night she had said shew wanted to go home…so if it is that bad then I guess she finds it somewhat of a problem.
I admit now, after checking in to this room that it is much much nicer but it also close to a hundred dollars per night more isn’t it? But hey it is a suite with nice tiled floors and all new furnishings and a stereo system with dual airconditioners and two awesome TVs and wireless Internet connection so it is definitely a step up!
Anyway…as the rhum finds it’s way into the sunshine of our minds, we look back on the nice sunny day we had driving South on Kauai to Poipu which is a short drive, about 12 miles from Kapaa…we went to Poipu Beach for some free snorkelling…there was a big crowd on the sand bar near the rocks and crashing waves and we thought it must be some sort of guided beach tour but as we approached and heard the voices singing and saw the foreheads being dipped into the Pacific we realized it was a baptism ceremony going on!
There were also hundreds of sunbathers, surfers, snorkellers and so we went for some snorkelling in the rather strong currents…we didn’t expect to see any fish since there was such big waves and so many people but we were surprised to see a lot of fish…nothing like off of the Keys in Florida but still it was nice to see them. I tried my underwater waterproof camera housing for my new Canon G7. I had wanted to do some underwater filming on this trip since our Florida trip I only had bought those disposable underwater cameras and wasn’t too impressed with the quality. I bought the G7 with the underwater camera case that is waterproof down to 100 feet and it was great! As I walked on the beach everyone was like saying “Oh hey! What kind of camera is that!” They were all impressed but since it was my new camera I was a bit unfamiliar and as I went into the water and started splashing with the fish after about 10 pictures the disc told me it was full…ARGH!
I had to fiddle with the camera for ten minutes under water breathing through the snorkel until I had deleted enough pictures to carry on! It must be from those videos I filmed on the air plane as we landed in Kauai that take up so much space!
Sitting on the lanai now…laughing about the fun at Poipu Beach I decide that I am going to transfer the pictures to my laptop now! We are listening to a local Hawaii Radio Station that is playing fun music that is right out of the best hits of the 80’s and 90’s…it’s great to hear the music coming from behind us through the screen door as we watch the palm trees swaying and people carrying their evening drinks as they settle near the flaming lanterns around the pool! Room 208 at the Resort Quest Islander on The Beach is our Paradise! This night is turning out to be spectacular! We’ve gone from Hell back to Heaven in a few hours!
After chatting on the Lanai for a while we watched the sun set and went to bed hearing a gentle breeze in the palm trees and the occasional Kauai rooster singing the joys of living on the Island of Kauai! There is such a difference when you fall asleep in a clean room with nice new furniture and we drift off into dreams of Pineapple Fields and Sandy Beaches and Bright Yellow Fishies knowing that the Kona Coffee in the morning on the Lanai will be simply amazing! DAMI