Vacation without the boys

We came across this wonderful  hidden beach

"Hawaii is not a state of mind, but a state of grace." ~ Paul Theroux













Brian and I recently took a trip to Hawaii sans dogs (or cat for that matter). We spent a glorious week on the island of Kauai - the Garden Isle and the Island of Beauty.  We have been to the Big Island and to Maui but this was our first visit to Kauai.  Kauai was spectacular.

We rented a little condo right at the edge of Lawai Beach, where the surfers jump off the lava rocks onto their boards to do their dances on the waves.  It was quite the show every day as we sat in our yard or on the patio, watching the ocean.

View form our backyard

Surfers push off the lava rocks

They put on a show every day

Lawai Beach is a favorite spot for surfers and snorkelers and sea turtles make their home here.  It is a great spot to watch the sunsets from the Beach House Restaurant.

Sunset view from the Beach House

We ate dinner at the Beach House one night and it was delicious.  I had the biggest Mai-Tai I've ever seen.  We ordered a watermelon salad served with caramelized red onions, Gorgonzola cheese, toasted macadamia nuts and drizzled with a raspberry vinaigrette.  I ate Macadamia-crusted Mahi-Mahi (lots of Macadamia nut recipes in Hawaii!) and Brian enjoyed an excellent Angus Filet Minion steak.  For dessert, we shared a yummy banana-puff pastry dessert.

Puff pastry with bananas, caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream
(Oh my!)

Coconut Shrimp from the Shrimp Station

Because we had the condo, I would prepare eggs for breakfast and sandwiches to go when we headed out for day trip the beach or park.  A couple of times we stopped and picked up some coconut or garlic shrimp to go from the local restaurants.  Everything tasted so fresh and delicious.

Garlic Shrimp from the local Food Truck in Koloa

We also had a lovely dinner of fresh fish and roasted vegetables at the Tidepools restaurant in Poipu Beach.  The restaurant overlooked a lagoon filled with Koi fish.  I was naughty and tossed a piece of bread in the water and the fish went into a frenzy.  Bad Lizzie.  But Brian got a bunch of really cool shots of the fish with the iphone!  Check it out:

Colorful Koi in the lagoon 

We took an amazing sunset sail along the Na Pali coast.  They served us spinach lasagna and beer and wine but we didn't care what we ate.  The coast was so incredibly stunning, it was mesmerizing.  Check out some of these photos:

Jurassic Park Location

Have you seen this in movies?

Water fall inside the cave

Romantic cave

Gorgeous coastline

The sunset part of the sail!

I could post hundreds and hundreds of photos from this trip.  It's hard not to be camera-crazy!

We sure missed our boys while we were gone.  I would awaken in the middle of the night and imagine them lying on the floor next to the bed.  It's strange how they seem to be with us even when they are 2500 miles away!  

When we got home, we took them for a swim in the bay and all at once, everything was back to normal for all of us.

Henry back in the bay

Even Walty goes in!