May 5, Chillin’ in Kaua'i

Today we chilled. A laidback day with no planned excursions. We had one personal errand to do, which was to get manicures and pedicures in a mall near “downtown” Lihue.

We began the morning with a breakfast of homemade grits and scrambled eggs; we have not had any good grits and scrambled eggs since leaving Atlanta, so my wife making this breakfast was a special treat. After breakfast, we primarily relaxed and watched Perry Mason: another one of her favorite things to do that we had not been able to do since leaving Atlanta. As we were watching Perry Mason, I was also packing the souvenirs we purchased yesterday, into the “souvenir luggage” we had purchased specifically in Honolulu (the day we docked.) The souvenir luggage was now stuffed, and I guessed it to be overweight. Uh oh and yikes! Any luggage exceeding 50 pounds is going to cost us a weight penalty of $35/bag. We were blessed for the flight from Honolulu to Lihue, that the Hawaiian Airlines counter attendant favored us and waived the fees on the two overweight pieces of luggage. My thought was that we should not count on such favors for our return trip. So, I assessed that we would need to buy yet a fourth piece of luggage tomorrow, to spread out the weight amongst four bags for the return trip to Honolulu and then to Atlanta.

After Perry Mason, we got ourselves together and left to find the mall for the nail salon. After a slight detour at the central Lihue post office – behind the Civic Center and across the street from the County Administration Building – to mail some postcards, we made our way to the mall, in the Nawiliwili District of town. We wandered through the mall and found our way to the nail salon; there was only one other customer in there at the time, so I assume they were glad to have us. It was a relaxing time, and the aestheticians did great work for both of us. We paid for the services and then left to go to a Mexican restaurant in the mall, the Mariachi. Hey, just because we are in Hawai’i doesn’t mean we are going to skip Cinco de Mayo! Apparently, a lot of residents and visitors thought the same, because the place was busy. We got outside seating, before realizing how windy the day was. Still, you couldn’t beat the view.

(Finding the nail salon [left] in the mall [center and right])

(Two live macaws at the shop of their owner; the entrance to Mariachi's; preparing to chow down.)

(Our view while enjoying Cinco de Mayo, from Mariachi's Mexican restaurant balcony)

As we sat there waiting to order, we thought about our Cinco de Mayo celebration last year, when we went to a great Mexican restaurant in Gettysburg, PA, as a part of our long RV-tour. I would say that we may be starting a pattern here – celebrating Cinco de Mayo somewhere on the road outside of Atlanta – except that based on our thoughts about a 2024 trip, we are most likely to be in Atlanta in early May (God willing). After lunch, we slowly made our way back to the rental.

“Slowly” is an apt descriptor about traveling anywhere on this island. It has one series of highways that hug the shoreline, and other limited access roads that branch into the island's interior in various places. There are some places in the more rural, less inhabited spots where you can drive as fast as 50mph. However, for most of the places we have driven the speed limits have toggled between 25mph and 35mph, with some spots as low as 15mph, particularly near schools. (They don’t mark the road with “School Zone” signs, but you quickly pick up the pattern. Where there’s a 15mph limit, you are highly likely to see a school nearby.) Mind you, we have not had any objections to the slower speeds. They seem to mirror the more relaxed, “hang loose” spirit that seems to us to pervade the culture. “What’s the rush? Don’t be in such a hurry. Slow down and enjoy life.” That’s what both of us sense to be the ethos embedded in just about everything here. And given the beautiful views of the shore and the interior regions everywhere you look and go, who could blame them (Kaua’ians)? Two things Patrise and I will both miss about Kaua’i are the views of the ocean and the constant sound of the waves. I suppose if we lived here, these would quickly be taken for granted or become just a part of everyday life. Background fodder. However, we don’t live here, and we are going to sorely miss them.

(If you have to be stuck in an afternoon traffic jam, this is not a bad way to past the time.)

(If you have to be stuck in an afternoon traffic jam, this is not a bad way to past the time.)

We returned to our unit in time for our massage appointments. We had found a masseuse who would come to our location. Patrise went first, while I partially napped. Then, she napped, while I had my massage. After the massages, we mostly napped or chilled for the rest of the day and evening. We watched a Harry Potter movie (The Order of the Phoenix) that went late into the night (12:15am). After that, we retired for the evening and looked forward to tomorrow, May 6, our last full day on Kaua’i and the last full day of vacation.

Like I said, this day was all about the chill.