Life's a Stitch

Hawaii is expensive. A single scoop ice cream cone at the famous Lapperts was priced at over $6 in Princeville! Veggies in the grocery store average $3.50/lb. Here are some tips:

1. We rented condos listed directly through owners and usually find deals on a car rentals through Hotwire or Priceline. Both condos came with beach chairs, ice chests and boogie boards, one had snorkel equipment for all.

2. Look for free activities – we booked a free escorted historical tour of Waimea town, staffed by volunteers, however it was cancelled due to illness. The Saturday we were in Poipu was coincidentally National Smithsonian Day, so we had free admission to the Grove Farm Sugar Pantation Museum. It was a preserved living history museum, donated by the family to be enjoyed by the public in perpetuity. A special treat was being able to see two original paintings by one of my favourite artists, Charles Bartlett. 

4. Want a good look at exotic vegetation? The 10 acre garden is free at the Visitor Center for the McBryde and Allerton Gardens, located near the Spouting Horn on the South Shore. Tours of the formal gardens are avaiable for  a charge, but they were closed due to flash flood warnings the day we were there. You could always stop in at one of the larger nurseries. It's also a good place to buy practical gifts to take home.

5. Make sure your vacation rental has a well equipped kitchen. You can't cook for a group of four or more with only two saucepans, one frypan and one lid. We lucked out on the first one we rented – stocked with everything, complete with meat thermometer.

6. Limit meals out. We had wonderful dinners on our decks listening to the ocean and sandwich picnics for lunch. Check the local grocery store ads before you go. For the basics, stop at Costco located outside the airport at Kauai and Maui. We also found coconuts and limes offered for free in people's front yards. Mahalo to them. Bring small amounts of spices from home. 

7. Our splurge was zip lining, but it was priced lower than the those at home and there was a discount for booking in advance.

8. Check for coupons near the front desk at hotels and resort. One of the places we stayed stocked a supply of grocery store membership cards so we could take advantage of sale prices without the paperwork.

9. Costco in Paradise, this one is worth mentioning again. Costco is known for stocking products that appeal to the locals. In Palm Springs there is Carne Asada. In Kauai, if you're in the market, so to speak, there's whole pig ready for the pit:

There are also concert quality ukuleles for $99, fresh poke (marinated raw fish), boogie boards, surf boards, and stacks and stacks of macadamia products. Also the best place to buy gas.

Don't know if we'll have the opportunity to go back to Kauai, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.