Virtuoso Life - March/April 2009 - (Page 67) The lush life: The Na Pali Coast’s cliffs and (below) a ginger plant. We spent the first couple of days doing nothing much. We lounged, read, and watched intermittent downpours roll in off the ocean, then dissipate. We awakened to the chatter of mynahs, lingered over breakfast, navigated the resort’s massive, meandering pool, wandered the 52-acre grounds, ordered room service, and otherwise failed to leave the property save for a short jaunt to a restaurant in a nearby shopping center. By our third day on the island, I was anxious to get out and explore. “What should we do?” I asked the guys. “What’s wrong with what we’re doing now?” Ben said from his lounge chair on the balcony. “Bada bada bada,” Oliver suggested. “Say ‘beach,’ buddy,” I countered, forming the word slowly and clearly. “Beach.” For all its laid-backness, Kauai’s options are vast: We could drive up to the edge of Waimea Canyon and peer into its jungly abyss, a 3,567-foot-deep chasm carved by the runoff of millions of years of tropical downpour. We could get prehistoric at Allerton Garden, which looks just like it did in Jurassic Park; hike all or part of the precipitous Kalalau Trail; laze on any of a handful of family-friendly beaches, from Lydgate to Ke’e. If Oliver were a little older, we could hop a helicopter – a great way to see why most of this rain-forested isle is inaccessible. Or we could charter a catamaran for an early-morning voyage along the Na Pali Coast and watch hundreds of dolphins frolicking off the boat’s bow. But the Pacific’s rhythmic shhhuk, shhhuk, shhhuk outside was eroding my ambition. So were the warm breeze and the genuine affection nearly everyone we met gave our son – from the tattooed twentysomething server at the upscale Roy’s in Poipu to the hotel valets. Kauai’s easy pace was soaking in. Perhaps it was best to embrace the fact that the vistas from Waimea’s lip and the majesty of Kauai’s myriad waterfalls would be lost on a 1-year-old. Lesson one in traveling with children: Lower your expectations. That doesn’t mean lowering your standards – just accept that you’ll do less. Case in point, our first excursion to Hanalei. We rallied for the hour-and-a-half trip that afternoon and were duly rewarded. The drive itself was relaxing. It’s virtually impossible to get lost on Kauai. The main drag nearly encircles the island, petering out at the rugged and impassable Na Pali Coast. Oliver regaled us from his car seat with baby talk, and outside, Kauai’s verdant vistas rolled by. MARCH | APRIL 2009 67
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