Carole Terwilliger Meyers's Blog, page 56

Misc.: sidetrip itinerary, Lewes, Delaware

Sidetrip Itinerary:
New York City—Cape May—Washington, D.C.



          You can fly into NYC on an open-jaw ticket, stay a few days, then rent a car and drive among a band of yellow taxis on your way out of Manhattan toward the greenery-lined New Jersey Parkway leading to Cape May.  After a refreshing stopover in this seaside village, continue on, taking the 70-minute car-ferry across the Delaware Bay (and maybe seeing a pod of frolicking dolphins, not to mention exotic East Coast seagulls with black heads) to Delaware, landing in picturesque Lewes—the oldest town in the oldest state—and on through this scenic state into slightly less scenic Maryland, and then into D.C.  Or you can visit Cape May as a side trip from either big city.  


●Cape May-Lewes Ferry  (800) 64-FERRY.  Reserve at least 1 day in advance. 

●Lewes, Delaware  The original town name was Zwaanendael, meaning “valley of the swans” in Dutch.  The first town in the first state, it was settled by the Dutch in 1631.  A round-trip ferry package from Cape May includes shuttle service and a walking tour. 

More information about Cape May.

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images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Good Eats: food tours, Kauai, Hawaii

local grinz self-guided foodie tour  One of the best ways to experience the Hawaiian culture is through food.  You can eat your way through through the island, sampling mom-and-pop restaurants, taking part in agricultural tours, and visiting farmers’ markets. Try local favorites such as poi, ahi poke, lau lau, and shave ice.  I took this self-guided tour that hits highlights of the south shore with a native Hawaiian. 


●Kukuiula Market  2827 Poipu Rd., Koloa, (808) 742-1601.  This simple grocery store looks like it has been here forever.  Stock up here on condo cooking supplies, including plenty of Hawaiian favorites--fresh fish, organic produce, Hawaiian Sun canned fruit drinks, and bento boxes and prepared Japanese food such as Spam musubi (a rice roll stuffed with Hawaii’s favorite meat).


 In the back of the store, the tiny Aloha ‘Aina Juice Bar dishes up popular breakfast acai bowls.  The “B.I.A.” includes acai, strawberry, kale, apple juice, coconut flakes, and bee pollen, and is topped with bananas, homemade granola, and honey.  Delish.  All this and Regae music, too, but only a few seats.  Smoothies, fresh juices, and gluten-free items are also available.



●Taro Ko Chips Factory  3940 Hanapepe Rd., Hanapepe,  (808) 335-5588.  The proprietor says it is an all-day job to make a bag of taro or potato chips at his tiny operation inside a coverted home.  The price seems a bit steep at $4.99 per bag, but the chips are so delicious you’ll want to buy several.  My favorite is the potato chips flavored with li hing mui--a delicious plum licorice taste--but I also like the pretty deep-purple sweet potato chips with the same flavoring.  I wish I had bought a whole case and had them shipped home.


●Wong’s Chinese Restaurant & Omoide Bakery  13543 Kaumualii Hwy., Hanapepe, (808) 335-5066; www.wongsomoide.com.  Tu-Sun 8am-9pm.  Come here for what many consider to be Kauai’s best lilikoi (passion fruit) chiffon pie.  I also loved a square cream-puffy item.  A cafeteria-style plate lunch is available in a small and informal bakery cafe, while dinner is served in a large open dining room.  Wong's is also known for its Hot Bitch Sauce--a housemade vinegary hot sauce with a kick—which is on each table and also bottled to go.



● Jo Jo's Anuenue Shave Ice & Treats   9899 Waimea Rd., Waimea.  Daily 11am-5:30pm.  A favorite here is the #4 featuring macadamia nut ice cream topped with guava and passion fruit shave ice.  And it would be hard to go wrong with a pinky-orange lilikoi shave ice, but I could have done without the additional pink strawberry mochi on the bottom because it tasted like bubble gum and was too brittle--I like my mochi soft and chewey.  A long line of colored bottles holding a vast variety of flavors will require you to make some important decisions.  Boba tea is also available. 


● Puka Dog   2360 Kiahuna Plantation Dr., in Poipu Shopping Village, Koloa, (808) 742-6044.  Daily 10am-8pm.  The small menu here is spelled out atmospherically on a surf board.  I like the Polish but a veggie and several other dogs are options.  Slather the housebaked sweet-bread bun with sweet ilikoi mustard and fresh mango relish and you are in for a big tropical treat.  Wash it down with a big, icy-cold fresh-squeezed lemonade.



Tasting Kauai tours   (808) 635-0257.  Reservations required. These food tours are organized and led by Marta Lane, author of “Tasting Kauai.”  
●Farmers Market Tours  Wednesdays at 3-4pm; at Kapaa Farmers Market; www.tastingkauai.com/event/farmers-ma....
●A Taste of Kilohana  Saturdays, 2 times/month; $140. 
●A Culinary Romp Through Paradise  Fridays, 1 time/month; $140.

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Travel articles to inspire and help you plan some spectacular local and foreign getaways.  

images and videos ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Good Eats: Keoki's Paradise, Koloa, Kauai, Hawaii

Keoki's Paradise  2360 Kiahuna Plantation Dr., in Poipu Shopping Village, across from Kiahuna Plantation, in Koloa, (808) 742-7534.  L-D daily.  Reservations advised.


Everyone loves eating in this open-air, multi-level restaurant landscaped with cascading waterfalls, koi-filled lagoons, and lush greenery.  A koa bar with a palapa roof rounds out the tropical decor, along with antique Hawaiian posters and vintage surfboards lining the koa-wood-panelled walls.


 Menu highlights are fresh island fish, Koloa pork ribs glazed in plum sauce, and a full bone cut of prime rib.  Kids can share with their parents or choose from a keiki menu offering pastas and burgers.

My favorite drinks are a delicious frozen Poipu Pino served in a pineapple and a tasty Bumbai Mai Tai made with smooth local Koloa rum.  Lighter meals, including hamburgers and tacos, are served in the bar, and live local entertainment is featured on Thursday and Friday nights.



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images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Sights to See: National Tropical Botanical Gardens, Kauai, Hawaii

National Tropical Botanical Gardens   (808) 742-2623.   Described as a “Noah’s Ark” for plants, this non-profit organization preserves more than a thousand categories of endangered plants from Hawaii and other Pacific islands.  These three gardens are on Kauai.


Allerton Garden  4425 Lawai Rd., Poipu, (808) 742-2623.  Daily.  $40, 6-12 $15.  Reservations required.  Located just across the road from Spouting Horn, this once privately-owned garden boasts bougainvilleas planted in the late 1800s by Queen Emma--wife of King Kamehameha IV--as well as more than 600 species of palms and 1,200 species of flowering plants and ferns.  Of interest to many school-age kids, parts of Jurassic Park were filmed here and you can take your family’s picture amid the massive, snake-like roots of the Moreton Bay Fig trees seen in the movie.  The 2½-hour tour begins with a ride on an open-air tram that follows the rail-bed of an old sugar cane train and takes you to the heart of the garden.  Then you’ll enjoy a leisurely walk, viewing tropical plants from all over the world as well as the world’s largest collection of native Hawaiian plants.  Special pains are taken by the docent guides to interest kids.  The visitor center and gift shop is inside a restored 1920s clapboard sugar plantation cottage. 

         ●McBryde Garden  $20, 6-12 $10.  Self-guided tour.  A tram shuttles visitors along a cliff-side road to the garden, which holds the world’s largest collection of native Hawaiian flora.  A Canoe Garden highlights 27 lifesaving plants brought here by ancient Polynesians in canoes.  A Monkeypod tree at heart of garden, and you’ll also see exquisite strangler figs and snake cacti in this colorful garden. 


Limahuli Garden and Preserve  5-8291 Kuhio Hwy., Haena, on North Shore, (808) 826-1053.  Tu-Sat 9:30-4; age 19+ $20.  Guided 2½-hr. tour at 10; age 19+ $40; reservations required; tour is recommended for children age 10+.  Situated on one of the earliest sites of human habitation in the Hawaiian islands, this valley is now carefully nurtured and preserved.  The 985-acre jungle-like preserve is largely inaccessible, but a 17-acre garden is open to explore along a ¾-mile loop trail.


The garden features original indiginous native Hawaiian plants--many of which are on the endangered list and on the verge of extinction—as well as flowers and fruits introduced during Hawaii’s plantation era, and also a canoe garden with beautiful and rare plants brought to the islands from Polynesia.  Lovely lava stone agricultural terraces are believed to be well over 700 years old.  Five native species of freshwater fish and also several species of freshwater shrimp are found here.

More things to do in Kauai.

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Travel articles to inspire and help you plan some spectacular local and foreign getaways.  

images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Great Sleeps: Aqua Kauai Beach Resort, Kauai, Hawaii

Aqua Kauai Beach Resort  4331 Kauai Beach Dr., Lihue, (888) 805-3843-7976, (808) 245-1955.  5 stories; 350 rooms.  4 mineral-water pools; 2 hot tubs; health spa.  3 restaurants.


Set on 25 lush acres on Kauai’s longest beach, this full-service oceanfront resort features plantation-style architecture.


A spectacular pool complex is landscaped with lagoons, lava grottoes and waterfalls, and native foliage.  Children especially enjoy their special sand-bottom pool, lava-tube waterslide, and sand-topped lounge area.  The ocean here has strong undercurrents and is not good for swimming, but you can walk along the beach.  The soothing sound of running water can be heard all around the resort, and colorful koi populate manmade streams.  Complimentary tennis, golf, and an exercise center are available off property nearby.  Special activities and excursions are scheduled daily for guests, and a free airport shuttle is available.  Currently a live indoor dinner theater performance of “South Pacific” is being presented every Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m.  A free hula show with complimentary mai tais is held each Tuesday from 5 to 6 p.m., and a torch-lighting ceremony occurs nightly.  All rooms are basically the same except for their view, and each has a private lanai.  Prices normally start at $169 but can be as little as $129 in low season. 


Naupaka Terrace Restaurant serves a daily breakfast buffet as well as lunch and dinner.  Shutters Cafe serves daily meals and additionally becomes a lounge in the evenings, when they serve up a delicious mai tai. 

It is interesting to know that the property generates all of its own electricity and solar energy and runs its own sewage plant.

More things to do in Kauai.

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Travel articles to inspire and help you plan some spectacular local and foreign getaways.  

images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Things to Do: Kilohana Plantation, Kauai, Hawaii

Kilohana Plantation  3-2087 Kaumualii Hwy., Lihue, (808) 245-5608.  This former plantation is now a pleasant complex with shops, a few amusements, and a restaurant. 


    ●A quick visit involves exploring the shops in the restored 1935 Tudor mansion that was once the island’s most expensive home.  You can extend your visit with a stroll the grounds.


    ●Kauai Plantation Railway  (808) 245-7245.  Fee.  Make your visit even more fun with a ride on the narrow-gauge train here for a 2.5-mile ride through the 104-acre grounds. 


You’ll see farm animals, exotic fruit trees, and gardens planted on the former cane fields.  A farmer’s market sells fresh produce grown on property, and a gift shop purveys souvenirs.  A horse-drawn carriage ride is another way to tour. 


    ●Gaylord’s  (808) 245-9593.  L M-Sat, D daily, SunBr; $$$.  Reservations recommended.  Do plan in time for a meal at this sheltered open-air restaurant in the back of the main house.


 It has a relaxed atmosphere, the menu features island fish and local produce, and dinner is served by torchlight. 
    Or at least stop in at the bar for a superb mai tai.  Bartender Laurie Shibao uses fresh fruit juices in her creations, and one of the ingredients that sets her mai tai apart and makes it the island’s tastiest is the fresh sugarcane juices she secures via an antique machine.  Plus, she uses Koloa Rum from the factory right next door. 

    ●Koloa Rum Company Store & Tasting Room  (808) 246-8900.  Daily.  You’ll find this local rum in the island’s best mai tais.  Free rum tastings occur every half-hour, and an assortment of other Kaua’i-made products are available for purchase. 

    ●Clayworks  (808) 246-2529.  At this working artist’s studio and gallery you can make and glaze your own souvenir pot.

    ●Luau Kalamaku  (877) 622-1780.  Tu & F nights.  Before the feast held in the former carriage house,  you’ll have a chance to visit the shops, ride the train, and participate in some traditional Hawaiian crafts and games.  Hula dancers and Samoan fire dancers are part of the show. 

Recipe for Kauai Fruit Salad.

More things to do in Kauai.

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Travel articles to inspire and help you plan some spectacular local and foreign getaways.  

images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Sights to See: Kauai, Hawaii

          Kaua’i is the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands and well-known for dramatic, lush scenery featuring jagged green mountains and deep  valleys.  It has 90 miles of shoreline and 50 miles of uncrowded white sand beaches, plenty of waterfalls and rainbows, and rainforests populated with rare native species.  And because it is the only Hawaiian island with no mongoose, it has a large variety of birds and plenty of small white egrets.  Surprisingly, it also has the largest coffee plantation in the U.S., which grows five varieties of beans and more than a million coffee trees.


           Though approximately 500 inches of rain each year make this the wettest spot on earth, the weather is generally perfect.  I’ve heard locals say, “When it’s sunny, it’s 82 degrees.  When it rains, it’s 82 degrees.” and “If you don’t like the weather, drive 10 miles and wait 10 minutes.”

          This island has been the setting for many Hollywood movies, including Speilberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park and Elvis’s Blue Hawaii.  As you sightsee, you’ll probably recognize some of the settings.  The Kaua’i Movie Book is also helpful. 


          An island building code promises that no new structure can be higher than a coconut palm, or 4 stories.  There isn’t much nightlife—things pretty much close up by 9 p.m.-- and you’ll be glad of it if you get woken up at dawn by one of the island’s many “free range” roosters.  (Because of jet lag, I usually woke up before them and in fact rarely heard one.)  Due to their ancestors’ cages being overturned by Hurricane Iniki in 1992, wild chickens also run loose--to the delight of children who love to chase them and feed them.  However, these plentiful poultry do sometimes ruffle the feathers of locals with their pesky ways, and they have divided opinions on how to handle the situation.

          Kaua’i is a place to wind down.  Another local told me, “No one is in a hurry here.  It is considered rude to honk.”  So don’t!



          And did I mention--Hawaiian Airlines is the only U.S. airline still serving free meals . . . and with complimentary wine!

          Join me now as I begin reliving my recent visit to this spectacular island in upcoming blog posts.  

More things to do in Kauai.

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Travel articles to inspire and help you plan some spectacular local and foreign getaways.  

images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers
 

Sights to See: Wild Wicklow Tours, Dublin, Ireland

Wild Wicklow Tours  + 353 1 2801899.  E25-28.  This family-run company is known for its excellent guides, most especially Denis O’Reilly, who becomes your local Irish friend for the day and entertains non-stop with interesting and often funny stories.



The tour of County Wicklow--known as “The Garden of Ireland”--begins with a trip down the coast and a stop at Dun Laoghaire Harbour in Sandycove, where our guide lives, to view the thick-walled former British army tower that James Joyce lived in here in 1904.  We also observed a “polar bear” bathers club doing their daily swim in the chilly waters.  These spots are located near The Forty Foot beach on Dublin Bay.


Then it was on through Killiney and Dalkey--home to celebrity rock singer Bono—and then a stop at Avoca Handweavers to relax over tea and a delicious baked item in a cafe overlooking a garden holding


what is claimed to be the world’s largest cypress tree (standing beneath its branches feels like being under a natural umbrella).  I wish we’d had more time to browse this extraordinary shop’s selection of woolens, crafts, and more.



Then we were off to Sally Gap in west Wicklow, where we saw scenic heather, bog lands, and--if it isn’t a rainy, foggy day—a lake that looks like an overturned pint of Guinness.  This area is where Excalibur, Braveheart, and P.S. I Love You were filmed, and where Meryl Streep danced in Dancing at Lughnasa.


After enjoying all the scenic back roads, we passed the village where actor Daniel Day Lewis lives and stopped nearby in Laragh, another small village, for lunch at Jakes Bar, a traditional Irish pub.


The tour concludes in Glendalough with a visit to a rustic 6th-century monastic settlement, where we walked to a scenic lake


and toasted our day with a complimentary tasting of Jameson Whiskey.  What a wild, fun adventure!

Meals and tips are not included.

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images and videos ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Things to do: Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard; Solvang, California

Buttonwood Farm Winery & Vineyard  1500 Alamo Pintado Rd., (805) 688-3032.  Tasting daily 11-5.  Set on the outskirts of town in the splendid Santa Ynez Valley, this farm produces more than grapes.  Formerly devoted to horses, then to growing organic vegetables, it has settled now into vineyards plus olives, pomegranates, peonies, herbs, summer vegetables, and peaches.  To fully enjoy a visit, bring a picnic to eat under the shady buttonwood trees the property is named for (actually California sycamore trees).  Begin with a tasting, select a wine to go with the picnic, and then pick up some fresh fruit at the adjacent farm stand.

Wine tasting occurs in a pleasant open room decorated with paintings by one of the owners (some of the art also appears on the labels).  One of the oldest wineries in this area famous for being where the movie “Sideways” was shot, Button’s vineyards were planted in 1983 and first harvested in 1991.  According to winemaker Karen Steinwachs, Merlot has not recovered since release of the movie which celebrates its 10th anniversary is this year.  “ ‘Sideways’ was good for Pinot Noir people, not so good for Merlot people,” she says.  “We don’t grow Pinot Noir grapes here.”  Wines we tasted including a fresh, aromatic 2013 Zingy Sauvignon Blanc blend and a smooth and peppery 2010 Cabernet Franc (100%).  “We’re known for Blanc and Franc,” quips Steinwachs.  We also sampled a 2012 Pinot Noir made with grapes from Hibbits Ranch in nearby Lompoc, but no Merlot.  

After leaving this informative tasting room, we visited the farm stand and picked up a lug of beautiful ripe peaches to take with us.

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images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers

Great Sleeps: Peterson Village Inn; and Good Eats: Cafe Provence; Solvang, California

Peterson Village Inn  1576 Mission Dr., (800) 321-8985.  Centrally located, this Old World-style hotel greets guests with refreshing fruited water and Danish pastries in the lobby.

High four-poster beds—they are almost as high as the one celebrated Danish author Hans Christian Andersen wrote about in his Princess and Pea story—with a three-sheeted white blanket topped with a blue- and-white-striped coverlet await, and a balcony is among the options.  Interesting vintage European accent art and sweet floral wallpaper with little blue and pink flowers add to the coziness.  Even the closet is wallpapered. 

          I continue to be surprised by the good restaurants found in hotels.  Cafe Provence, which features European and Mediterranean cuisine and an award-winning chef, was empty when we entered, and I immediately had second thoughts.  

Our delightful server and my spectacular starter course of house-cured salmon with pickled cucumbers and crostini—a nod to Danish cuisine--put me at ease.  

For my main course I enjoyed perfectly prepared fresh wild-caught salmon with scalloped potatoes that could have benefited from a tad longer cooking.  Oh well, it’s always unusual for everything to be perfect.
  My husband also chose well--a crispy Danish pork schnitzel topped with tasty creamy mushroom sauce.

At a time when I often find myself bored with dessert selections, I was blown away by “oeufs a la Neige.”  Translated as “eggs in the snow” and often called “floating island” it is a wonderful concoction of meringue atop crème anglaise.  OMG, it is so good!  Midway through, more diners did come in and join us, but it was a light night apparently because the local Pacific Conservatory Theatre stage company was on a short hiatus. 

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images ©2014 Carole Terwilliger Meyers