Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Kauai 2014 {Day 7 Rum Tasting, Glass Beach and Poipu}

Day 7 might have been my favorite, definitely busiest day of the trip!  We started early and drove about 45 minutes from condo to the southern side of the island to Koloa Rum Co.  We went last year and of course had to go again this time, because they host free rum tastings!
Located at the Kilohana Plantation in Lihue, this adorable rum store has the only distillery on Kauai, and all their sugar is sourced locally.
everything on the plantation is lush and blooming {like most of the island!}
Sonja was dancing on the front porch waiting for Grandma to show up, kids are NOT allowed in the rum tasting for obvious reasons, so Grandma offered to take the girls while we enjoyed our samples.
It's cool we don't mind waiting for fun.
Gathered these plumerias at the condo and then put them all in my sister's hair, they're my favorite flower and they practically bloom and fall off daily so you find hundreds scattered like confetti everywhere! {although, its NOT a native plant}
Once the doors opened we headed in to make our Mai Tai shots.
It's important to layer a Mai Tai properly to get the correct flavor and effect {that dark rum floating layer should not be stirred}
Their award winning rum isn't something to miss, while all of their rum is good, we like the dark rum and their new coconut rum.  They use a 7 day distillation process, they don't have any aged rums right now, since they are still a new company, but its a great product, especially considering how quickly they can produce it!
While we were all drinking our ounce of rum, Aunt Gretchen and Grandma took the girls on a train ride around the plantation to see the animals and get a tour.

While out they stopped to let everyone see, pet and feed the animals. {tickets for the train are $20 each and it's a 40 minute trip}
After Rum we decided to grab some lunch at Kaleheo Coffee Co.  and while I wasn't impressed with their coffee {maybe because I got a latte instead of drip}, I did love all the local inspired artwork and lunch option.
aren't these painting pretty?!
also isn't this sandwich huge?!
Look how impressed I am with this sandwich!
After lunch I convinced Husband to go to the Glass Beach with me.
It's a beach made of discarded glass that has been washed down to that beautiful sea glass texture.  or as Husband calls it, "trash."  
and while I don't think it's cool that people threw so much trash into the water that there is an entire small beach of it, but I do think it speaks of the aweseomness and force of water, for it to take something wasted and recycle it into something beautiful. 
because it was a beach in the industrial district I didn't let the girls swim in the water, but we did hang out for a few minutes to gather some beautiful glass and find some treasures.
you can see how small this glass is, mixed in with the expected sand,
and besides the glass there were small pieces of coral and organisms.
I wanted to bring this {above} one home and put it on a necklace, but to be kind to the beach and future visitors I left it.  How awesome is it?!
I LOVED the white glass on the right.
and this little shell!!
here are a few of Sonja's favorites finds.
Husband supervising Vera while I document all the pretty.
after the glass beach we drove over to Spouting Horn in Poipu
I tried to get a photo of the fam. in front of the spout while it was spouting but the girls weren't having any of it and this was the best I could do. {we totally walked around the fence to get a better look, because the woman next to us at the fence outlook was so annoying and yelling at the people below, and plus we wanted a better look.}
Husband walked even further down to get a proper video, and look it really does spout!
hanging out waiting for Daddy.
Sonja found some chicken bones while waiting, and once we were done waiting we headed to Poipu beach for some fun with the rest of the group.
Fun in the sand with uncle wayne
this girl couldn't have had more fun at the beach if we tried, she LOVED the water and the sand!
and thanks to my mom for capturing this moment!
W+G
Sam + Macey
and we caught the best view of the sunset from this beach, although my sister tried to get a time lapse of it, a woman kept walking in front of her.
another Mother Daughter moment {thanks for the photo Gretch.}
and if the sunset wasn't good enough, on the drive home we caught a moon rise over the ocean.
Full moon in view from the west side of the island over the ocean, so of course I made Husband pull over to grab a quick photo.

Next post is about camping in Kauai, which was a blast and the kids loved it! So, you'll want to check back soon for that!



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