There are reasons I had never been to Hawaii before.
“It’s overrated”- Various friends
“It’s so busy, hot, and humid, not worth it.” – More random friends & family
“It’s so close, we can go there anytime. Let’s go to Europe instead.” – My mother, about 5 or 10 times.
This past year, I was gifted an Alaska Airlines voucher by my aunt for me to visit my dad while he was sailing in Alaska, good for 1 year. Unfortunately, my dads trip was cut short, and 11 months later, I still hadn’t used my voucher. Suddenly feeling the pressure to book a flight, I logged onto AlaskaAirlines.com and studied where I could fly. Alaska (obviously), Mexico, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, and Hawaii. They happened to be running a special for Hawaii that day, so it seemed like the best use of my $400.00 voucher. I called my mom, who is as spontaneous as I am, and asked her if she wanted to go to Kauai in 3 weeks. She responded, “Book it.” – so I did.
Not knowing what to expect, I packed shorts and t-shirts, my camera, and a snorkel set., and flew up to Oakland to meet my mom for our flight.
The second the island of Kauai appeared out my seat window, I knew I made the right decision. Stepping off the plane, it didn’t feel nearly as hot or humid as everyone said it would be. There was not a cloud in the sky, and I couldn’t wait to see the rest of the island.
We stayed at the Marriott Kauai Beach Resort, which upgraded us to an ocean view upon our arrival. I half expected “ocean view” to mean “you can kind of see the ocean if you look really hard from the bathroom window.” But no, they meant a true ocean view:
Exhausted from our flight, we took the tourist route and ate at Duke’s the first night, which was on our resort’s property. It was one of the best meals we had our entire trip, especially the Hula Pie. Yum…
Over the next 8 days, we discovered some amazing places. Among my favorite experiences: Queen’s Bath, Shipwrecked Beach, Ziplining, the Napali Coast, and more…that I will continue to write about here on my blog. In the meantime, here are some highlights:
In conclusion, Hawaii (or more specifically, Kauai) is NOT overrated. It’s not just because I had low standards before arriving. It’s because it really is stop-in-the-street-to-take-1-thousand-photos-of-flowers-and-waterfalls GORGEOUS. It’s a place to relax, explore, and have a million tiny adventures.