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shannon_aKimberly and I first came to Kauai in October 2001. We took up residence in a condo in the Waikomo Streams Villa and then spent two weeks lazing around and roving the Poipu area, because of course we didn't have a car. The Sheraton Beach was one of the closest beaches to our condo, but we could walk along that beach, then out to some walkways that alternated between sand and rock. We passed by the husks of a set of condos ripped apart by Hurricane Iniki in 1992 and eventually came alongside Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club before arriving at the Poipu Beach, one of the biggest and prettiest beaches in the area. I have no idea how many times we did that walk, but it was certainly part of our experience for our once-in-a-lifetime vacation.
In 2005, we stayed at the Waikomo Streams again, and I'm sure we did that walk a few times, but we spent a lot of the time going further afield with my dad, Mary, and Melody as part of a Very Appel Christmas.
And since then we've always had a car (or rather my dad and Mary did) so secret pathways connecting beaches were no longer part of our experience.
So today's our last full day in Kauai this time around, and our last full day ever of vacationing in Kauai. I'm still sick, though certainly not as bad as yesterday or Friday. But my throat hurts some and swallowing hurts some and my head is fuzzy some. But I did want to get out and bid farewell to the island at least a bit.
So my dad and I went down to Poipu and we reversed the walk, bookending my experience in Kauai as a tourist.
And it's barely recognizable. Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club now has nice walkways, and the ripped apart husks are long time and they have walkways too. So you walk on stone or boardwalk all the way out to where the land curves out marking the end of Poipu. Then you briefly step out into the sand, walk around the point, and you're at the Sheraton Beach. ("I never realized they were so close," my dad says. "Because when you drive you have to go out, then along, then in." But Kimberly and I of course have different experiences than other people.) Alas, I miss those wet, dangerous stone walkways, the succulents all around them, and the path we took 'lo these two decades ago, now gone entirely. But it was good to see how it had all changed.
Over at the corner of Sheraton Beach, a huge number of kids (and a few adults) were all surfing, in pretty close to the beach. My dad and I watched them for a while, with the waves occasionally lapping over our feet, and it was the highlight of the day. A lot of these kids were impressively skilled, riding the relatively shallow waves almost all the way into the beach. There was one little girl riding a surfboard about twice her size, and although I worried for her on occasion as she got knocked around by that huge board, she was great when she got atop it and surfed.
Afterward, my dad and I walked back to Poipu and saw a sea turtle up on the sand. He looked like he was a regular visitor because stones had been laid to form a large perimeter around him. We then waded out into the keiki side of the beach, about waist high, and I communed with the ocean for a bit, before preparing to return to dryer lands.
In 2005, we stayed at the Waikomo Streams again, and I'm sure we did that walk a few times, but we spent a lot of the time going further afield with my dad, Mary, and Melody as part of a Very Appel Christmas.
And since then we've always had a car (or rather my dad and Mary did) so secret pathways connecting beaches were no longer part of our experience.
So today's our last full day in Kauai this time around, and our last full day ever of vacationing in Kauai. I'm still sick, though certainly not as bad as yesterday or Friday. But my throat hurts some and swallowing hurts some and my head is fuzzy some. But I did want to get out and bid farewell to the island at least a bit.
So my dad and I went down to Poipu and we reversed the walk, bookending my experience in Kauai as a tourist.
And it's barely recognizable. Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club now has nice walkways, and the ripped apart husks are long time and they have walkways too. So you walk on stone or boardwalk all the way out to where the land curves out marking the end of Poipu. Then you briefly step out into the sand, walk around the point, and you're at the Sheraton Beach. ("I never realized they were so close," my dad says. "Because when you drive you have to go out, then along, then in." But Kimberly and I of course have different experiences than other people.) Alas, I miss those wet, dangerous stone walkways, the succulents all around them, and the path we took 'lo these two decades ago, now gone entirely. But it was good to see how it had all changed.
Over at the corner of Sheraton Beach, a huge number of kids (and a few adults) were all surfing, in pretty close to the beach. My dad and I watched them for a while, with the waves occasionally lapping over our feet, and it was the highlight of the day. A lot of these kids were impressively skilled, riding the relatively shallow waves almost all the way into the beach. There was one little girl riding a surfboard about twice her size, and although I worried for her on occasion as she got knocked around by that huge board, she was great when she got atop it and surfed.
Afterward, my dad and I walked back to Poipu and saw a sea turtle up on the sand. He looked like he was a regular visitor because stones had been laid to form a large perimeter around him. We then waded out into the keiki side of the beach, about waist high, and I communed with the ocean for a bit, before preparing to return to dryer lands.