Why is it that all vacations are over before you’re fully able to savor them? Suffice it to say, we were all sad to leave paradise today.
On our very last morning in Kauai, we woke up with the sun (and the loud-ass crowing roosters) to pack up our belongings.
I swear, there’s free-range poultry running around all over this island! I wonder if people grab and butcher these scrawny buggers at home.
The refrigerator in our vacation home was still broken so our breakfast was cobbled together from shelf-stable food we had remaining in the pantry. I nuked some purple sweet potatoes, cracked open a few cans of sardines, and sliced some avocados. As a finishing touch, I drizzled fresh lemon juice and a light dusting of Pele’s Fire Hawaiian seasoning salt over everything.
We had a few hours to kill before lunch, so we ventured to our favorite store on the island… Costco! Seriously, we roamed the aisles of this warehouse on three separate occasions during our weeklong stay. If you’re staying in a place that has a kitchen – do yourself a favor and stock up on eggs, meat, and veggies right after your plane lands.
At lunchtime, we decided to eat at 22 North, a farm-to-table restaurant tucked away in Lihue’s old Kilohana Plantation.
We ordered a few appetizers to share, including roasted spiced macadamia nuts…
…sweet and spicy meatballs…
…and a Manoa lettuce salad with bacon, mac nuts, and blue cheese.
For our entrees, hubby and I split the smoked fish salad…
…and a bun-less grass fed beef burger topped with feta, corn, and cherry tomatoes.
Yep, there was cheese on both AND tons of grilled potatoes on the salad.
I kinda wish I’d known about this hidden oasis earlier in our stay because I was pleasantly surprised with the peaceful garden setting, high quality ingredients, and reasonable prices ($10-15 for entrees).
Let’s hope this place is still around the next time we return to Kauai.
After lunch, we rolled into Lihue airport and trudged onto the plane with heavy hearts. In anticipation of our flight home, I’d packed a grass fed Paleo Kit, grass fed Just Jerky, Noniland Hawaiian coconut crisps, coconut flakes, dark chocolate, and raw almonds in my carry-on backpack. We ate it all, plus some salami we pilfered from the kids’ purchased in-flight snack packs.
I’m really digging the Noniland coconut crisps…
..they’re crunchy, salty, spicy, and tangy. Too bad they cost beaucoup dinero – $7.50/bag! I gotta figure out how to make these snacks at home.
Sixteen hours after we woke up in Kauai, we were finally back home. As much as we enjoyed our week relaxing on the Garden Island, it’s nice to come back to our humble abode.
Plus, I’ve still got a week and a half of vacation so I’ll remain blissed out for the next few days!
