Juniorbird.com

From the busy, crazy Honolulu — at least, if you ask the locals, it’s a high-stress, high-traffic place — we flew on one of those “little jets made by dirty Canucks”:http://www.crj.bombardier.com/CRJ/en/home_crj.jsp?langId=en&crjId=200, to sunny and slower Kauai. The “garden isle” of Ceti Alpha 5 Hawaii, Kauai has a cute little airport that looks like it’s made of Lincoln Logs and is open to the air. Walking to get our rental car, we discovered that the laid-back Hertz staff had shut down for the day; but we caught a shuttle, got our car, and, despite signage that was either absent or the size of postage stamps, navigated to the hotel.
And what a hotel! While the Aqua Surf Colony was, to be kind, budget-friendly[1], the “Kauai Marriott”:http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lihhi-kauai-marriott-resort-and-beach-club/ is… well, check out the pool:
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/303651459_49o4W-M.jpg!
Our first thought, walking through the hotel’s garden to our room — which itself opens onto another garden — was “they’re pumping great smells into the air here, just like the Vegas casinos do!” Then we realized that there was no fake to it. This is Kauai!
So, naturally, we sat by the beach and drank.[2] Then we went to a fancy restaurant and had a delicious Italian meal — again by the beach — to celebrate our vacation.
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/303653108_J9EQR-M.jpg!
We even got dressed up and had cocktails! And, after dinner, I introduced the AIG to “grappa”:http://www.lifeinitaly.com/wines/grappa.asp.[3]
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/303652585_aG5Gy-M.jpg!
And then a walk along the starlit beach:
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/303654187_bG49X-M.jpg!
And we tried to go hot-tubbing, but the pool was closed. So we stood next to the pool and looked glamorous instead. And maybe a little tipsy.
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/303656839_JFTt9-M.jpg!
And now, after a short cloudburst, it’s a gorgeous, sunny day. Time for some plate lunch.
fn1. That is, the stains on the floor and sheets and walls were all provided for free; but then we needed a vacation enough that we closed our eyes and slept like the dead for 10 hours every night
fn2. For planning purposes, “Duke’s Canoe Club”:http://www.dukeskauai.com/ has a 2-shot limit
fn3. Says the AIG — who can shoot almost anything, and who I’ve seen destroy many a proud frat boy in chug-a-lug, “Jaeger and 151 have *nothing* on grappa!”

Today was a very relaxing day; which was good, because we both needed it. Normally, I plan out my vacations ahead of time — learn what sites I want to see at each stop, plan out the day to make sure I hit my itinerary, and make sure my list is completed each day. But this has been a less-planned trip, and we’re trying to relax. This is what happens when two type As relax. To wit, today’s complete schedule:
# Shower
# Go out and greet the foggy day !http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/302239322_m5te3-M.jpg!
# Turn around and greet the perfect clear sky !http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/302239596_2RN8i-M.jpg!
# Find coffee & tea
# Find pastries, because just beverages are not enough
# Find fruit, because breakfast can’t be all carbs
# Walk to beach
# Shoot (photos of) people !http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/302240084_dJ8Q3-M.jpg!
# Walk along beach
# Price boat tours
# Shoot bodyboarders !http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/302240837_nFyZ6-M.jpg!
# Get shave ice !http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/302243796_8538g-M.jpg!
# Walk through park
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/302247816_4fuXB-M.jpg!
# Discover zoo. Go to zoo. !http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/302248960_yD5XY-M.jpg!
# Briefly yell at self for bringing two camera batteries, neither of which was charged, to the party (photos end here)
# Have delicious lunch — teriyaki chicken for her, bi bim bop for me
# Reserve massages
# Buy beach towels, bag
# Sit on beach
# Get massage
# Find restaurant. Put names on list to get in
# Find Irish bar down the street. Go in, get drinks
# Play complete game of darts
# Play complete game of darts, this time keeping score in head
# Walk back to restaurant. Eat Korean/Japanese BBQ
# Find ice cream place. Eat ice cream
# Walk home
# Cut photos down from 220 to 30, tag, caption
# Blog
# Zzzz?
Tomorrow: try and cut to-done list down to 20.

As promised, I am in fact on vacation. The AIG and I are on a trip to Hawaii; badly needed, since this will make something like two vacations since 2000 for each of us. Perhaps I should’ve brought a book on how to relax?
Some relaxation would be great, since we were actually up ’til about 2am packing and cleaning up the new… well, I’ll get to that new part later. But we were up to all hours, and then up early again for a morning flight, and despite our lovely “Lug travel blankets”:http://www.lugtravel.com/product/NAPSAC/Nap_Sac_Travel_Blanket.html, which gave us (matching!) cozy sleep on the plane, landed exhausted.
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/301481818_kcS4J-M.jpg!
And when we landed we got the always-welcome[1] news that our hotel was overbooked. Remarkably, Hotwire had booked me at the “Aqua Aloha Surf”:http://www.aquaresorts.com/aqua-aloha-surf/, where I had stayed in my “last trip to Honolulu”:http://juniorbird.com/archive/002711.html. I think I liked the hotel then, although I slept through pretty much the whole last vacation so my memories could be skewed.
We decided the solution to this problem was to go and drink on the beach. Observe– before the drinks at Duke’s:
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/301486701_PiRYt-M.jpg!
and after:
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/301487626_PJ7LA-M.jpg!
When we returned from our drinks,[2] the manager at the hotel had found us a room in a sister property, the “Aqua Island Colony.”:http://www.aquaresorts.com/aqua-island-colony/index.htm. I also can’t really say how this room will be, since we spent our whole afternoon sound asleep. While we are next to the garbage chute, and the wind seems to rattle the whole room, the bed has done its job well so far and I anticipate a very still night. Still nights usually bring energetic tomorrows, but tomorrow may well be a beach day. I may need a beach day to start to learn about that “relax” thing.
fn1. _sarcasm — ed._
fn2. And lunch — ed
!http://juniorbird.smugmug.com/photos/301487330_A8jth-M.jpg!