When I found out I was heading to Hawaii for eight days, I already had a jaded opinion of it. I had heard from several of my friends that because I’d already been to Tahiti, Hawaii would seem too touristy. Man, was I wrong; maybe it was where I stayed or the fantastic activities, but I enjoyed every day I spent in Kauai. After a very long flight from the east coast, I arrived around 4:00 PM Hawaii time. The sun was not shining and it was beginning to rain. When the pilot came over the speaker welcoming us to the island he mentioned the unusual weather. After retrieving my luggage I went outside to call for a taxi. My driver, straight from the mainland, came to Hawaii as a movie stand-in and never left. But he knew a lot about the area and was able to take a few detours to avoid the Thursday afternoon rush hour traffic. He suggested several sights for me to see while I was in Kauai and offered to take me to a few if I had time. As we drove from the airport to the hotel he pointed out many attractions, from types of flowers and trees to movie set sites, great restaurants, surfer hangouts; there was never a dull moment.
We made one stop when we were about two miles from the hotel at Spouting Horn Park. Spouting Horn is a natural wonder where the ocean water rushes under a lava shelf and bursts through a small opening at the surface. Depending on the size of the wave and the time of day, the spray differs in height. It was an interesting thing to see, great photo stop especially at sun set, but I was ready to leave after about five minutes. Finally, after nearly a 45-minute taxi ride, I arrived at my hotel, the Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa. When I first walked into the lobby, the first thing I saw was a breathtaking view right out to the ocean. After getting checked in, putting my bags in my room and freshening up, I headed out to see the hotel property. There were several shops, restaurants and galleries to see, as well as the spa and fitness center. It’s a very spread out property, so it took awhile to take the grand tour—but it was worth it.
