Virtuoso Life - March/April 2009 - (Page 69) Our mouths were watering, but naptime was imminent and our window of opportunity was closing. I let go of the impulse to push the outing beyond its expiration. We could come back to Hanalei. Our time this week was our own. LessOn tWO In famILy traveL: Let tHe current take yOu where it may. I mean this in a grand metaphorical sense, of course. But taken literally, it can be quite satisfying, too. the day after the Hanalei excursion, we stuck closer to home. Breakfast was coffee, Pass-O-Guava juice, and pastries on the balcony at the hotel’s stevenson’s Library – lower key (and lower price) than the hotel’s lavish breakfast buffet. In the late morning, we drove ten minutes northwest to the small town of koloa in search of nothing in particular. We drifted among Old koloa town’s bright false-fronted buildings until we saw a brisk business being done at a hole-in-the-wall along the main street. the koloa fish market’s humble setup – a postage-stamp porch with a couple of folding chairs served as its dining room – belied its fantastic fare. the deli case brimmed with the bounty of the sea: seaweed salad, bento boxes, seared ahi, and more. Generous portions of sautéed ahi with caper butter, teriyaki, or wasabi cream sauces; kalua pork; and other island favorites held down the center sections of plate-lunch takeout containers. the smaller compartments were filled with macaroni salad, poke, or fresh slaw. We carried our meals to a park down the block and picnicked beneath the crumbling lava-brick tower of the island’s first sugar refinery. Back at the hotel, a swim beckoned. and not just to us. families of all persuasions flocked to the series of free-form pools: a couple kayaked in the salt lagoon with their toddlers between them; a pair of fortyish parents shouted up to their teenage daughter from one of the hot tubs; an athleticlooking guy we dubbed “superdad” tossed his three slaphappy kids into the water. and in spite of the whirl of activity, there was no need to jockey Freewheeling in Hanalei. Island Time GETTING THERE Hawaiian Where and how to while away a Kauai vacation. Slated for a July 1 reopening, The St. Regis Princeville Resort will be Hawaii’s first St. Regis property. The redesigned 252-room resort has a Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurant, an infinity-edge pool overlooking Hanalei Bay, and a 10,000-square-foot spa. Doubles from $650, including breakfast daily and a manager’s cocktail reception. Na Pali coastline are the stuff of photographic fantasy. Kauai’s original helicopter service, Jack Harter Helicopters, whisks sightseers over the island’s cliffs, into its canyons, and up to the cloud-shrouded Mount Waialeale, where the summit averages 460 inches of rain each year. Space 5, Hanalei; 808/826-2524; hanaleigourmet.com. Jim Moffat, a veteran of San Francisco’s fine-dining scene (42 Degrees, The Slow Club), oversees the inventive fare at Bar Acuda, an upscale tapas restaurant in Hanalei. 5-5161 Kuhio Highway, Hanalei; 808/8267081; restaurantbaracuda.com. No Hawaiian vacation would be complete without a plate lunch. Grab a gourmet meal in a take-out container from the tiny Koloa Fish Market and eat on the porch or wherever your day takes you. 5482 Koloa Road, Koloa; 808/742-6199. Airlines offers direct flights to Oahu from ten cities in the western U.S., and to Maui from Seattle, Portland, and San Diego. Kauai is a 37-minute hop from Honolulu. STAY A short drive from the airport in Lihue, Poipu’s 52-acre beachfront Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa wins families over with 602 rooms, a network of free-form pools (including an adults-only pool and a poolside bar), an Anara Spa with indoor and outdoor treatment rooms, and seven restaurants. Doubles from $500, including spa access, breakfast, and appetizers in Stevenson’s Library. DO Early birds get the view when they hop aboard for a 6:15 AM departure (7:15 in the winter) on Captain Andy’s five-hour catamaran cruise: Scores of dolphins frolic in the boat’s wake, the snorkeling is fantastic, and the views of the EAT For a slice of authentic Kauai, stop by The Hanalei Gourmet, where regulars and tourists mix in the small, come-as-you-are dining room. Fresh-fish sandwiches and fish-and-chips are the crowdpleasers here. 5-5161 Kuhio Highway, MARCH | APRIL 2009 69
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