When we set out with our #Gates50States plan, we knew this one was going to be big. Getting three kids to Hawaii is an ordeal in a number of ways. Originally, we’d planned on saving this for second-to-last and finishing on Alaska, but due to some extended family reasons, we decided to bump this up to 2024, with Lincoln half-way through high school, and Lydia & Henry in middle school. The kids were a little excited.
From Henry’s journal…
I’m excited to be able to see the ocean from our house. I am also excited to learn to surf. It will be interesting to see the sea life when we go snorkeling. I am also excited to get off these annoying planes, and do some fun stuff. We have spent 20+ hours traveling. 🏄♂️
Jenn and I had a bit of history here having visited O’ahu in 2017…
… and Maui and the Big Island in 2023…
While there were aspects of those trips we enjoyed, we had not yet gotten on the Hawaii-lovers bandwagon. In fact, there were enough negatives to leave a somewhat lousy taste in our mouths from both trips, though we’ll not get into those details on this blog. However, we’d committed to the #gates50states plan, and we needed to expose our kids to Hawaii. Soooooo, we decided to choose a different island, this time settling on Kaua’i, and choose a different way to visit the state.
Preparation started over a year ago with my playing Hawaiian luau songs from Apple Music in the car on short trips. Little doses of what we’d hear at the luau Jenn was to schedule for us served as a signpost. The kids absolutely did not appreciate it at first, but the mellow vibes and smooth sounds started growing on them, and they complained less over time. (Calls from Lydia for more Taylor Swift notwithstanding.)
Most fun in the area of Hawaiian music preparation, though, was frequent singing along to Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride! We listed to this… a lot.
Our last day of school coincided with our first day of vacation. Our trip started on Friday afternoon on a flight to Seattle where we’d overnight before hopping on another flight to Lihue. The kids learned right from the start how much travel it takes to visit Hawaii.
Jenn identified a great rental home on the south coast, just west of Poipu, where we could snorkel off the back yard and easily drive to the Kaua’i Surf School.
Lincoln and Lydia set a goal several months ago: learn to surf. We were impressed when they asked if they could sign up for more than one day. They wanted to learn the basics, then put what they’d learned to good use. (Henry participated the first day, but was less interested to continue into the second day or beyond.)
On the evening of Memorial Day, we ventured down to Po’ipū Beach to see if any honus were resting on the beach. We saw one that Jenn and Lincoln observed on their morning walk to his surfing lesson… she was apparently pretty tired.
We also got to see a monk seal resting!
We hit up many of the local sweet stops and eateries, including…
Every blog and every travel website says the Nā Pali coast on the northwest portion of the island is the most beautiful place on Kaua’i, if not the entirety of the Hawaiian islands. Because Jenn won’t get on a helicopter, we booked a spot with Holo Holo Charters to see the coast from the water by catamaran. For bonus, they also took us to Lehua Crater just off the north coast of Ni’ihau (where we remained compliant with the law and did not set foot on the island). Captain Cole, along with his crew of Zoie, John, & Lucy took good care to show us a good, safe time at these genuinely amazing natural locations.
We arrived back to our house to see a couple had accessed the beach behind our place (no big deal) through our backyard (a very big deal). These had to be locals, as there’s no way tourists would know about the access from our property, and they left their garbage on the beach. This is angering. The Gates family makes great effort not only to clean up after ourselves wherever we go, but also clean up the places we visit to the extent we can. Hawaii, stop telling us tourists are polluting your environment; get a grip on your locals.
The kids (and some of the grown-ups) loved our ability to hop in the pool after a salty and/or sweaty day.
And the pool wasn’t just a nice perk, or something we considered a frivolous thing. On our previous two date trips to the islands, we spent hours on the road by the end of our stays. Between construction and congestion, time spent in our car was way more than we wanted for our family on this trip. Having a number of things to do right where we stayed gave us fun entertainment without having to hop in the car for a long ride.
Then more honu. Our honu experience didn’t stop Memorial evening on Po’ipū beach. We walked back a couple of mornings later to find four, though they were a bit spread out for my iPhone camera.
The pace at which the volunteers race to keep them protected from curious beach goers is impressive. Having witnessed the lack of respect for wildlife and nature on display at many of our national parks and wildlife refuges from a particular segment of the public, these volunteers are both necessary and doing a great job.
And then… through great fortune, we spotted a honu in our little bay at a time when all of us were available to observe!
She only stuck around for a couple of hours of rest, but we enjoyed every minute of her visit with us.
While the four of us and Grandma Laura hiked the Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail, Lincoln went with Auntie Haley, Uncle Eli, and Grandpa Dave to hike the Awa’awapuhi Trail. Recall Lincoln’s hiking experience with Auntie Haley. He had a bunch of fun on this one, too.
From Henry’s journal…
Wednesday May 29 we mainly just hung around the house so I went fishing in the tide pools, I caught a long fish, I was only using a kids fishing net. We also swam in the pool. It was a pretty calm and relaxing day.
With surfing experienced and our catamaran/Nā Pali adventure in our memory bank, only a luau was left on our MUST DO IN HAWAII list. We chose the fourth generation family-owned Smith Family Garden Luau. It was everything we were looking for and exactly what we wanted the kids to experience: Polynesian culture, fun music, amazingly good food, and a quintessential fun and shared family evening.
When booking our reservation, Jenn informed them we were celebrating her mom’s birthday… and she kept it a surprise until the announcement from the MC. (The surprise value was greatest for Grandpa Dave… he got all the benefit of the fun with none of the responsibility. 😂) It was great! The Smith family celebrates by “volunteering” the birthday folks to participate in a hula dance. Lydia was especially cool when she joined in so her Grandma Laura wouldn’t have to be a stranger on the stage.
Our final day wasn’t exactly how we wanted to end the week, but it was very instructional for the kids: day tripping in Hawaii stinks real bad. The traffic is atrocious, parking is slim, and if you want to hit more than one place, good luck timing it/them right. We drove north to see the coast and landscape, and perhaps grab a bite to eat, but with roads narrowed down to one lane, outrageous parking fees, and timed entries, we cut our losses and returned to our house for pool, sun, and ocean time.
Not before, though, visiting Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. It was like a mini-(really mini)-Galápagos with albatross, red-footed boobies, frigates, tropicbirds, etc. Very pretty.
Reflecting on our week, I think we accomplished more than our original goal. The kids got an eyeful of what Hawaii has to offer. We talked openly with them about how we intended to emphasize and prioritize experiences, not things. They’ll lose interest in, or grow out of, or simply lose whatever we purchase for them (though the couple of souvenirs we did find are pretty cool, like this). But nobody can take from them memories like…
- getting blasted with salt water for over an hour as we bounced across the swells from Lehua Crater to Nā Pali,
- the visual experience and wonderful flavors of a luau,
- catching and releasing little fish from tide pools twenty yards from our patio,
- the feeling of standing up on a surf board and riding a wave for the first time… and a second… and a third… and getting the hang of it,
- watching a honu navigate to and rest on the beach… steps from their bedrooms,
- seeing five… five monk seals, the most endangered of marine mammals, in the wild doing their thing,
- and even the displeasure of spending lots of congested-traffic time in the car to drive to the other side of the island… it’s all part of the #gates50states education.
In addition to all of this, Jenn and I found some degree of motivation to return to Hawaii. At the outset, we were pretty done with Hawaii… but Nā Pali… just wow… we could come back and experience that in a couple of different ways. It was near or at the top of the most stunning landscape I’ve ever seen, and I can envision a time in my life where the ordeal of traveling here just to take it in more fully will be worth every cent and minute.
We’d also like to paddle board the rivers here. Kaua’i has the state’s only rivers, and while the scenery from the roads is beautiful, we’d like to see the state from the inland water.
So we’ve not completely given up on Hawaii. Well done, Kaua’i. Mission accomplished.
Now on to Utah!
(Kaua’i rooster says, “Goodbye!”)
#Gates50States 
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