Kauai on the brain
An AP headline this weekend blared, “Hawaii was only state without some snow Friday.” 49 of 50 states with snow. As I sit here writing this Monday afternoon, I am snowed in, again, with another 8 or 9 inches to fall by tonight. This on top snow from earlier this month that has yet to melt. What next? Locusts? Frogs? Michael Moore?
Hanalei Bay, Kauai. Even a point-n-shoot camera can't screw up a view like this.
Forgive me if my mind wanders back to January 15th, exactly one month ago today, a day that will live in famy (the opposite of infamy). For that was the day my wife and two youngest boys successfully took surfing lessons at heavenly Hanalei Bay on the island paradise known as Kauai.
As many of you know, it has long been Mr. Surf Ohio’s dream to learn to surf. Thanks to the good folks at Hawaiian Surfing Adventures at Hanalei (www.hawaiiansurfingadventures.com), that dream became a reality while we were on a much-needed two week respite on Kauai, Hawaii’s Garden Isle. A special “mahalo” to our instructor, Tanner, who patiently and skillfully supervised the four of us for over four hours in the towering surf (OK, it seemed towering to us haoles, anyway), and to his gracious colleagues for their support – school owner Mitchell, his son, Mitch Boy, Bridgette, Shawn, and Robert. Shakas, bruddah’s!
The happy (and exhausted) Kaplan clan with our surfing instructor, Tanner, after a four hour-plus session at Hanalei Bay. We found comfort in learning that our able instructor has been surfing for twenty years - given that he's 22 years old!
As a newly self-appointed ambassador for Kauai, it is my sworn duty to tell it to you straight – do not go there.
The island of Kauai is scary (beautiful), rugged (awe-inspiring), remote (laidback), somewhat primitive (somewhat, as in yes, we are told there is a Starbucks) and the weather fickle (Kauai boasts the wettest spot on earth. [Of course, it’s a tropical mountaintop rainforest accessible only by helicopter. But why go there, when you can be in the shade of a waving palm tree while sipping chilled drinks from a hollow coconut and watching whales cavort in the sun offshore?]).
And if you DO land on Kauai, don’t stay any length of time, as we did last month. Trust me – get off the plane, look around the airport, buy a postcard and a plastic lei, and get right back on for the trip back to the mainland. There is danger at every turn. Because if you stay, you get infected with the “aloha spirit,” as we did, and you will return home in an incurable, hypnotic state. You will be compelled to quit your job, sell the house and furniture, pack a toothbrush and your Surf Ohio shirts, and buy a one-way ticket back to the island.
Of course, speaking of Surf Ohio shirts, our island stay was not all play and no work. We labored mightily on Kealia Beach (hey, my feet got really hot on that sand!) during the photo-shoot for our new shortsleeve “SO” Euro-oval tees. It’s new to our line in time for Spring (should Spring ever get here). The new design is inspired by our popular black-and-white oval eurostickers.
At only $15 each, a free “SO” sticker comes with each one, whether you already have one on your surfmobile or not. Check it out and order yours by clicking on “Shop.”
Don't let the big smile fool you. This photo session had me working like an Alabama hod carrier in August. Really. They even made me take off my sunglasses and put my Mai Tai down.
As we reluctantly packed up before returning from our unforgettable surfing safari, our seven-year-old, Mitch, summed it up. “I’m going to say that we live in Kauai for two weeks of the year, and we’re just visiting Ohio for the rest of it.”
So it is written. So it shall be.
Until the house sells.
If I told you this was not taken at sunrise off the coast of Kapaa, Kauai, would you believe me?