First of all, we'd like to thank all the fodorites who helped up plan our Hawaiian honeymoon in just 40 days!

Kauai: Feb 11-16
- Turtle Cove Condo (Poipu), very nice, right in Whaler's Cove, walked a half block to snorkeling, very peaceful!
- Beach House Restaurant on Valentine's Day, BEST meal of my LIFE!
- Old Koloa, fun for an afternoon
- Weekend craft fair at Poipu, great shopping.
- Drive to Princeville, the only day we had rain! Loved Hanalei Bay and the hiking trail at the end of the road!
- Bali Hai helicopter tour was awesome!

Maui: Feb 16-23
- Paki Maui Condo (Honokauai) - nice place, saw whales every morning from our balcony. Nice beach with grassy area and lawn chaises. Great value ($135/night)! OK neighborhood.
- Kapalua - best beach in the whole world. Beautiful with unbelievable snorkeling.
- Laihina was fun for a day. Great shops and galleries. Cheeseburger in Paradise was great at sunset.
- Fell in love with Kihei area, wished we'd have stayed there a few nights. Great beaches for sunning and boogie boarding.
- Last three nights at the Old Wailuka B&B in Wailuka. Absolutely wonderful Inn with great food and service, but the town was a bit shady at night.
- Top of Haleakala for sunset - beautiful!
- Road to Hana was everything we expected. Well, except for the ugly tourists who let their kids throw gum out the car window, climbed over fences that posted "private property", smokers thowing their butts on the ground amidst all of nature's beauty.

All in all, it was a great trip. Please feel free to send questions!

~Jill and Ben

Thank you for the report. I live for them right now as I'm planning a trip to Maui and Kauai in June. Any places to stay, eat, or see on your wish list for your next trip? Did any of the resorts you saw appeal to you especially or do you much prefer the condo route? Any other restaurants you particulary enjoyed?

Glad you had a great time How did you get the $135 a night rate? Did you have ocean front? What floor where you on, we stay there too but I ended up paying allot more

jillandben: Thanks for your report. It's nice to hear from someone who has stayed at Turtle Cove Suites. Which one of the rooms did you stay in? What was the pool like? Were there other guests there while you were there? If so, was there enough privacy? Too bad about your experiences on the road to Hana. It makes me sad to hear stories like that.

Jillanben. Please elaborate on the sunset at Haleakala. We plan to do the same instead of the sunrise. Did you get there early and hike around? How cold is it at sunset? Did you explore anything special on your way up the volcano? Where did you stop to eat on your way down? Thanks!!

We did just about everything we had on our agenda! To answer everyone's questions ...

On Kauai, we had a dinner at Tomcat's in old Koloa. Great food with a nice atmosphere (if you don't mind their resident kitties begging for scraps beside your table), but the worst waitress ever! We tried not to eat out a lot - the whole point of us choosing a condo rental. Grocery store prices were seemingly comparible to at home. We did see some nice resorts, but are happy that we went the condo route (the Palm Suite). The last two nights were pretty miserable due to our rude upstairs neighbors. They had a "gathering" the first night they arrived (starting at 10pm) and my husband politely asked them if the car that was blocking ours could be moved. They retaliated by blatantly dragging furntiture around later that night and the next night and slamming cabinents starting at midnight for a couple of hours! Other than that, the condo was very nice with a great pool and hot tub and view of the ocean from both our bed an balcony! It's not what I would call posh, but it very upper-end islandy. All four units were full during our stay, but everyone else was great and we all were respective of not looming in on anyone's patio or pool time.

On Maui, we had a nice last night dinner at Marcos in Kihei - food and atmosphere was fabulous! Of course good restaurants are easy to find on Maui. Got a great deal at Paki Maui condos by renting direct from an owner, Jan Hendrix. She was fabulous at providing lots of extras in the room. Would definitely go through her again. The unit was #109 - the second from the south end, an oceanfront unit. Fabulous views - Lanai, Molokai AND whales! Our impromptu day at Haleakala was a little rushed, but aside from admiring the view, there's not a lot to do up there. I am so glad we stopped about 3/4 the way up and hiked a short, easy trail for a close-up view of the crater. Views even better than at the top! I don't remember seeing more than two trails on the way up, but I could be wrong. It was relatively cool at the top, but I was ok in shorts and a sweater, but after dark it was freezing! Much to our surprise, a bunch of delinquient-types were filming a low-budget rap-video at the very top of the crest! We watched the sunset from the lower parking lot and actually brought a sack lunch and a couple of local brews and ate in the car. It must have been a popular idea, as we weren't the only ones. My idea of a good vacation is getting up late, hence the sunset at Haleakala. I've always liked sunsets better, anyway. Or that is my reasoning.

j'n'b,
Why was the dinner at Beach House the BEST? Sunset, service, food quality or all of the above?
BTW, those people may not have been retaliating...some people are just plain rude. We had some people at our hotel that I'd swear they were running a bowling alley!

305 to go!
Kal

Hi Kal - The Beach House has exceptional service, ambience and spectactular food. We arrived before sunset and had drinks at the bar. The view was beautiful and I will remember the meal for the rest of my life. Who knew risottio could be memorable? My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

j'n'b, Thx for the reply.
Appears, once again, a "mixed plate" of revus on The Beach House.

It makes the world go 'round!