First class to Kauai, iPhone retrieval, waterfalls and blowholes, Merriman's - February 12-13, 2011

February 13, 2011 was my parents' 40th wedding anniversary and I wanted to do something to celebrate.  A Caribbean cruise was considered, but my parents had just gone on one last November, so I suggested Kauai.  They had never been there, so Kauai it was!  I snagged a last-minute timeshare week at the same place I stayed at two Thanksgivings ago with Babe, at the Marriott's Waiohai Beach Club.  I got my dad a first class plane ticket with United frequent flyer miles, and hoped to get my and my mom's ticket upgraded via "UDU".  I had fallen in the ranks to "Premier Executive" status, but elites usually have no problem upgrading leisure routes like Hawaii.  That fact still didn't stop me from counting open first class seats and how many people were seated in the exit rows (an indication of elite status), making sure that indeed there were more seats in first than people in exit rows.  We ended up being upgraded on our outgoing flights at 100 hours, which is the "1K" window...I think since I bought the tickets when I was 1K, the window still stuck, otherwise I'd be upgraded at 72 hours.

Joining us on the trip was my cousin Sheri (a frequent "regular" on this blog!) and her parents Tony and May.  They were also staying with us at the Waiohai.  My brother Ed and his wife Angela were also able to work out a vacation to Hawaii (two nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, then six nights at the Pono Kai) with the Kauai portion overlapping most of our week there, yay!  My brother Allen, his pregnant wife Lisa, and their daughter Alison weren't able to join us due to busy work schedules plus the airlines have rules and restrictions on air travel while in the last month of pregnancy.

Our flight departed Saturday at 6am from San Jose International Airport, headed for Los Angeles, where we transferred planes to head to Lihue, Kauai.  The first plane was a CRJ-700 jet, with a tiny 6-seat first class cabin.  I assigned my dad my favorite seat 2A just in case we didn't get upgraded.  My mom and I ended up upgraded to 1B and 1C, bulkhead seats which I don't really prefer because I like under-seat storage, but I'll take the seat anyway!  Nothing special was served in first class, just a bag of pretzels.  I don't think coach got any snacks.  Then we landed in LAX and transferred to a 757 for our flight to Lihue.  It was the first time my parents have flown domestic first class, so they were looking forward to it.  Sheri and her parents were in coach (seated in the exit row!) not too far behind us.

Mom and Dad enjoying first class..."I can't go back to coach!"

The hot breakfast choice was eggs with sausage, country potatoes, croissant, yogurt and fruit plate.   Replace eggs/sausage/potatoes with cereal for the cold breakfast option.  We all got the hot breakfast.  I washed mine down with a bloody mary.  The flight was non-eventful for us, but was somewhat exciting for Sheri...on United flights to Hawaii, they play a game called "Halfway to Hawaii", where passengers guess the exact time to the second when the plane passes the halfway point of the route.  The captain provided useful information such as distance, head/tail wind, and air speed.   I didn't play this time (as I always lose), but Sheri submitted entries for all three of them, and her mom's entry won!  The prize was a Hawaiian music CD.  Yay for Sheri!

The flight was pretty smooth, and we landed in Lihue early.  Ed and Angela were also landing around the same time, though coming from an inter-island flight.  I thought I'd give Ed a call to see if we would intercept each other at baggage claim.  That's when I found that I lost my iPhone and iPod on the plane.  I had placed them on the side of my seat when electronics had to be turned off for landing.  When the plane landed, everyone was in such a rush to get off, I had forgotten to put my electronic items into my bag...very unlike me!  I had already passed the "point of no return" at the security checkpoint, so Sheri accompanied me to the ticket counter to ask for help.  One of the ticket agents radioed someone and responded back that lost items would be returned to baggage claim.  So we went to baggage claim and I waited in front of the un-manned baggage assistance window while Sheri rejoined the rest of the family to wait for luggage.  At least five minutes passed until someone came by.  The gentleman radioed to the "clean-up crew", asking if they had gotten to my plane yet.  It was the next plane to be cleaned.  I told him what seat I was in and description of my items.  Then he asked, "Can I get your cell phone number to reach you when we locate the items?"  Uhh...my cell phone was one of the lost items!  I flagged down Sheri to give him her cell number.  He suggested I go get the rental car while the clean-up crew was working.  Fortunately during this debacle, our luggage hadn't come out yet, so it was all happening in parallel. :)

Mom and I went to rent the minivan; shuttle buses picked up from the back of the rental car shack.  Rental cars can be very expensive...I had checked all the official rental car websites and applied all the discounts I knew of, but I ended up finding the best price through Hawaii Car Rentals.  It still booked through official car rental sites, but at their special discount rates.  We got a nice minivan from Budget that had automatic side door openers (too bad no automatic trunk open/close) with less than 3000 miles on it.  I drove it up to the curb at baggage claim; Sheri comes up to the van holding up my iPhone and iPod, proclaiming that I was so lucky!  I had high hopes that I'd get my stuff back because we were in Hawaii where everyone's relatively nice, and it'd be easy to find as things don't drop through those bucket seats.  It would've been sad to have lost them, but I'm glad it all worked out, hooray!!!  We loaded up the van, then met Ed and Angela at Costco for some lunch and to stock up on food.  Then we were off to the timeshare.  The exchange paperwork claimed it was "oceanview" so I was stoked, but view was "not guaranteed".  We did end up getting an oceanview villa, though you had to be on the balcony/lanai to see the ocean. :P

I didn't take pictures of the inside of the villa, but here are some photos stolen from the Marriott web site (and it does really look like that):

The villa was 2 bedroom; the parents got the bedrooms while Sheri and I slept on the sofabed in the living room, which left much to be desired.  Putting the mattress on the ground helped some.  Mom cooked dinner and we just stayed in for the rest of the night.

On Sunday, we went out sightseeing to a couple of waterfalls.  The first was Wailua Falls, always an impressive sight, and we were able to get some nice rainbow shots.  It looked almost a twin to Yellowstone's Lower Falls.

Uncle Tony and Aunt May

Yellowstone Lower Falls, taken last July

compared with Wailua Falls

The second waterfall was Opaeka'a Falls, with its twin falls.  The flow was kind of weak, so it wasn't as impressive.  We also walked across the road to look at the Wailua River.

We grabbed some lunch at the Korean BBQ restaurant in Kapa'a.  The food was rather salty that day, but prices were cheap.  We met up with Ed and Angela at their timeshare, the Pono Kai.  It was ideally situated in Kapa'a along the eastern coastline, with lots of shops and restaurants within walking distance.  Here are some pictures stolen from the Pono Kai website.  I especially liked the herb garden and the koi pond.  There was a gargantuan one which I pretty much hand-fed since his open mouth was at least 3 inches wide.

Then we all drove back to Poipu to view the Spouting Horn blowhole.  The ocean wasn't very choppy, so it took a long time to wait for a good wave to activate the blowhole.

We returned to the villa to rest and freshen up before the anniversary dinner at Merriman's tonight.  It was tough trying to find a restaurant to celebrate.  Yelp reviews were mixed for many eateries.  It was either dine at a local place, with reasonable prices but not an atmosphere for a celebration, or go to a nicer place, knowing that the prices would be $$$, but better atmosphere.  I chose the latter, and selected Merriman's, as I had a great experience eating at their original restaurant on the Big Island and it's known for farm-to-table cuisine, so the food is all local.  Roy's was nearby, but as we have many Roy's in California, I didn't want to eat there.  The restaurant presented my parents with a couple of leafy leis for the occasion.  (no free dessert :( ) 

Of course, the requisite food photos. :)

shared "pupu" taster: crab cake, ahi poke, lobster mac 'n cheese, tomato papaya salad

my scallop entree, over "creamless" creamed spinach and asparagus

shared "chocolate purse" a la mode

This Merriman's was a lot different than the one on the Big Island, as there was hardly any red meat offered and no chicken; the entire menu was mostly seafood.  The Big Island is known for cattle, so there were more meat choices there.  At this restaurant, the ahi poke is to die for, silky smooth with good flavor.  The lobster mac and cheese was also superb.  I could have eaten a bowlful as my entree.  A bunch of us had their signature Mai Tai, using local Koloa rum.  I think mine was heavily poured as I did a little number with the drink umbrella.  (what happens in Kauai stays in Kauai)   My scallop entree was a bit salty, and the scallops a little overcooked for my taste, but I think Gordon Ramsey may have let it through the pass.  Angela really enjoyed her shrimp risotto.  The other fish entrees were a bit overcooked, but was still soft.  Dessert was very rich...it was basically chocolate mush encased in puff pastry, a sweet ending to the anniversary dinner.  Happy 40th anniversary Mom and Dad!

Tomorrow, we head to Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific"...