We had gone to Alaska for FIL’s 60th and St. Thomas for MIL’s 60th. Now it was my Mothers turn. She chose a 10 night cruise to Hawaii. I tacked on the extra 5 nights in Kauai. We did extensive research on the destination and found that a cruise would give us some good highlights on several islands and that Kauai still had some of the true Hawaii culture. We were accompanied by G’s parents, my sister and her two teenagers, and later in Kauai we were joined by Gerry’s sister, H.

We embarked in Vancouver (our second time in this port) and had 4 sea days before arriving on the Big Island followed by Maui, Kauai, and Oahu. We visited volcanoes, black sand beaches, lava caves, coffee plantations, drove on roads that had me doubt whether the tires would stay on the road and not fall off the cliff,  and savored local foods. In Honolulu we visited Waikiki Beach (overrated), we toured Pearl Harbor (poignant), and then boarded our flight to Kauai.

We rented a house using HomeAway in Princeville and hired (2) 4×4 SUV’s. We visited Waimea Canyon, ate Poke (a lot), visited beaches, hiked through the mud for hours, kayaked,  and went to local beach bars that had people playing the ukulele, for real. I had my first Wailua Wheat Passionfruit beer from Kona Brewing. I swooned in my seat. That is how good it is (if you like passionfruit). We BBQ on the lanai, took outdoor showers, and we even had time for golf. The stay in Kauai was outstanding.

Overall an amazing 16 days of sea, sun, and sand. Hawaii is beautiful, but ultimately it’s a long way to go for a beach.