Wonderful TR & pictures, as usual, iamq! Too bad about the chickens. Here's hoping they'll catch whoever is doing deed.
Now that I've raced about to see the island, I feel I could return & just hang out a bit myself!
Mahalo!

Howdy for Texas Billy Boy....i can run, but i can't hide. I simply have to check in on those Kauai "haters" occasionally. And much to my delightful surprise, I see you have made your pilgrimage. I'm thoroughly enjoying living vicariously through you. My gang is actually going to give the Big Island another chance in March.....but my big, fat heart is loyal to the Big K!!! Question...are the albatrose birds still hanging around the P'Ville? Our last visit was during the monsoon (when the road washed out) I will say the "sleepy" little isle was not so sleepy on our visit. How's the rest of the clan..sistalou? Kal?...Kal's niece...pray for a healthy report if you have one. I digress....glad your home safely, and surely there's a shaved ice on this trip at some point?:) Did you catch Auntie's radio show? I be checking in on for the rest of your report...Your previous "princess"...aka Visormom :)OH..and an actually question: Where did you nite nite in Honolulu...any recommendations?

OSB,
Good idea about returning. Our first time on Kauai, we blew through Hanalei and didn't stop or detour to the bay, the pier or the beach. The next time we spent an afternoon at the beach and had dinner in town, the last two times we stayed there and hardly left at all!

Sharks normally hunt at night, right??

Glad to hear about them chickens. Maybe someone is selling them as jerky?

Alooooohaaaaa Visormom!!!

How appropriate that you would chime in during Hurricane Flossie no less!!!

smooches, lou

WHAT??!! Chickens are missing??? :o
Mauka Bob sent the neighbor in P'ville a dart gun... uh oh... maybe he's been hiding in the bush??

BBQ... excellent pix & reporting, as usual. I needed Kauai today... this summer has been an absolute whirlwind, and this trip was the perfect getaway for me today. Mahalo buddy!

Aloha to all my fine friends I see frequenting this thread... miss y'all! Haven't been round much.

Hugs, rainbows and aloha! :*

Mels, I guess my little toe was safe, eh?

Aloha VM! Auntiemaria was talking about the Albatrosses the other night, so it sounds like they are still hanging around.

Yeah we listened to KKCR all the time on Kaua'i. My favorite show...other than auntie's show of course was a show called the Lilikoi Lounge. The host was a total crack up. Auntiemaria plays the best songs!

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in the Ali'i Tower. Nice room with a nice view. The Hilton's beach is away from the chaos a little further down the beach. It is a big and busy place. It was fine for one night, but it is not the sort of place we normally stay at.

makai! I was hoping this report would flush you out! Nice to "see" you. I thought of you as we walked past the benches on the cliff at Princeville. If memory serves, this where you and you mom and aunt would have your evening cocktails, right? smooch!

Little toe?

...more food...

We ate at Polynesia Cafe in Hanalei. We liked this the last time, so we went again. We really like the fish dishes. They do Ono several ways and it was delicious. Beleive it or not the fish here was much better than at the Dolphin for half the price. It's a great place for a casual meal. Service can be slooooooowwwwwwwww though. A

Saffron is a new place in Princeville at the Pali Ke Kua complex.It is where Sabella's used to be. It is an interesting menu with Spanish, Greek and Italian sections. We ordered small plates and apps from each section. Standouts were the paella and the Spanish potato fritata. An added special treat was having Keli'i Kaneli'i singing in the bar that evening. If you're on the north shore, try to catch him. Amazing voice and a gentle smile. He perfroms at the Tahiti Nui as well. B+

Bar acuda: They serve up small plates. We liked it a lot. We ordered five dishes for the two of us. All were good, but I liked the braised short rib sauce over polenta the best. It's a bit snooty and pretentious for the north shore, but that's okay. A

Postcards is one of our favorites. Their fish preparations are unique and flavorful, if a bit over the top in flavor combinations. We had locally caught Pacific swordfish with a cherry/macadamia nut crust/sauce on top served in a taragon/lilkoi reduction. I could have done without the reduction, but it was an interesting combo. Service has been a weak link here in the past, but this time service was friendly and the meal was well executed. Sit on the deck outside on the side of the building, but put on bug spray. A

Next up...our quickie in Honolulu.

After 11 horrible days on Kaua'i we left to spend one exciting evening with the wild and crazy Honolulu fodorites MelissaHI, lcuy, mari808, kuranosuke and Sarah. We would do dinner and then go to a Bon dance at a Buddhist temple!

We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in the Ali'i Tower, which is not the type of place we normally like, but it was fine. It is a very large and busy tourist resort, but it is a very nice place. I liked being on this end of Waikiki as it was a bit removed from the cheek to cheek body crush on the beach further down around the Royal Hawaiian and the Moana Surfrider.

I love Waikiki and even though it is chaotic and crowded, it will always be special to me. My first three trips to Hawaii as a teenager were here and I have fond memories of doing things like getting juiced up on maitais and dancing the hustle at the Foxy Lady at the Hawaiian Regent Hotel and shopping for monkey pod bowls, X rated postcards and puka shell necklaces at the International Market Place. Good times.

We walked around for a couple of hours, had lunch at Duke's, then headed back to our hotel for a rest and fresh, a dip in the pool and a snooze.

MeliisaHI motored in to pick us up looking fine in her bright red, shiny Mini Cooper! Nice car! MeliisaHI is a gracious host and along with the other Honolulu fodorites, showed us a great time.

MelissaHI wrote about the gory details of the evening's events in her blog. I'll include the links here so you can read all about it. We had a great time.
Dinner at Sorabol
http://blogs.myadvertiser.com/index....;tb=1&pb=1

Bon dance time
http://blogs.myadvertiser.com/index....;tb=1&pb=1

We left the next day to go home feeling both sad and happy.

A few thoughts about this trip:

Never again will I go to Kaua'i.......for less than two weeks! I could have easily stayed another week. I was just getting to know the gals at the Village Snack Shop.

Connecting with fodorites while traveling is a true joy. I feel very lucky to be part of this community. I am making friends with well-traveled people all over the world. How cool is that!?!

That's it for now. Questions? Comments? Fire away!

Bill

OMG! The Hawaiian Regent....that's where I was a banquet waitress! The guy that I was talking to at the bon dance used to wait tables with me.

I'm so glad you had a good time; you really need to spend more time on Oahu so you can take in the other cool stuff, like Iolani Palace, Byodo In Temple, the north shore....so much to enjoy!

Next time....more malasadas and andagi. The world is your buffet!

Mels,

Next trip: July 2009

Bill's 50th birthday trip. All are invited! One week on Oahu followed by three weeks in hell! Yippee!

By then you will be 50 and 4 months! There will not be cause for a celebration, unless you are celebrating it all year!!!!!!

Now, here's a better idea.....how about we all go in March, 2008, and we can celebrate your XLIX and someone else's double nickels???????????

Great trip report, btw...thanks for making it so much fun to read.

((r))((r))((r))i'2

What? You've never milked a birthday for all it was worth?

Can't go in March...I have to work.

The real icee will be retired by then and you can take time off anytime...why can't you come in July? Don't say it's too hot, please don't say that! Hmmmmmm......?

Glad we're making ya smile!

Well someone better get there before 2009 to make sure they got the spelling right on that beautiful brick, but who? hmmmmmmmm........

Another fanfabulicous report from hell and back!!!
Mahalo, mahalo, mahalo!!!!

thanks bill for another fine report and photos of your trip to hell and back!!! also glad to hear of your quickie oahu visit and meeting other fodorites

it's good to see all the old chaotic k-9 banter again...been jonesing for some kauai rapport here for a while...doesn't seem like i've missed much for the past nine months since my workplace has blocks on message boards like fodor's.

i'm headed back to the same hell hole next month so your report was very timely. mahalo!!!

Looks like you had a blast as usual. Thanks for sharing your photos!

Cajun Storm, I noticed you changed your photos over to flickr. I have to do that soon too. Why did you choose flickr? When's your next trip to the islands?

bluefan, still copying me, eh? We're going to Fiji next June, when are you going? :-d

does seem like i've been trekking right behind you these last few years :?...which isn't bad at all 8-)

fiji (wow...i'm envious :&)...it'll be south island new zealand, which is somewhat close, instead for me in nov

btw, i also read your very fun roma trip report a while back and never got around to complimenting you on that

Well darling iamq, you certainly are the belle of the ball on your trip report!

So wonderful that k'9s and their fodorite ohana came out to play. You certainly know how to throw a trip report!

Aloha one and all, what a lovely reunions of haters of the hellhole, may it endur the changes of time!

Malama Pono one and all!
Sistahgyppiesledge