Oh my stars. If you ever come to Kauai, do the Wings Over Kauai flight. I'm too chicken (and frankly too cheap) to go on a helicopter tour. So based on some awesome reviews on Fodor's and Trip Advisor we did a WOK flight. I'm not much for planes or heights so I was skeptical to say the least. I'm happy to report that it was incredible. 
Bruce and his wife Ellen run the business. They're from Virginia and met in grad school. Bruce worked for Stoneville in Greenville, MS on genetically engineered cotton for boll weevil eradication (PhD in Agronomy) and got transferred to Kauai to work on genetically engineered corn. He did that for several years before starting WOK. Since I grew up on a cotton farm, worked for John Deere in my pre-law life, and my bro-in-law worked for Stoneville, Bruce and I really hit it off! (Lori---you have to tell Denver.) Nicest couple. Loved them!
The flight was top notch. We were worried about the weather because guess what? Still overcast and rainy here on the north shore. The flight was great though. I just have to share some of the views.
Unbelievable! Bruce shared some "tricks" on not getting sick, and I did pretty well on the flight. I cannot recommend it enough. And guess what? Bruce let me "help him" with the checklist. I told him that "I have a thing for checklists." He has no idea...
After the flight, we grabbed lunch in Lihue at Tip Top Cafe--another dive I found in my guidebook. And dive it was--I totally forgot to take a picture of it. It was in the bottom of a seedy looking hotel on a side street. They serve breakfast all day, and we ordered what was recommended in the book---banana and macadamia nut pancakes and pineapple pancakes. Uhh---as good as it sounds!
We then decided to stop at some beaches along the north shore after checking out the Kileau Lighthouse. I hoped to spot some humpback whales here. No luck. I haven't seen any marine animals yet, but I'm hopeful. I must have a scent about me. I'm always hoping to spot famous people and unique animals when we travel, and both seem to evade me. I'm hoping to break my streak here.
After a pit stop to the resort, we headed out to find a fish market to buy items for dinner, drove to the edge of the north shore, and did a quick hike to Queen's Bath, a neat water hole in some lava rocks near the ocean where some people are brave enough to swim. 
Then...we crashed. Go, go, go....CRASH. That's how we travel. I have no idea why I vacation this way. Come to think of it, I pretty much live my life this way. I don't know why we can't just take it easy and spread things out, but we don't. We cram as much as possible into the days then eventually just wear out. Oh, well. At least we see a lot.
It wasn't.
Bruce and his wife Ellen run the business. They're from Virginia and met in grad school. Bruce worked for Stoneville in Greenville, MS on genetically engineered cotton for boll weevil eradication (PhD in Agronomy) and got transferred to Kauai to work on genetically engineered corn. He did that for several years before starting WOK. Since I grew up on a cotton farm, worked for John Deere in my pre-law life, and my bro-in-law worked for Stoneville, Bruce and I really hit it off! (Lori---you have to tell Denver.) Nicest couple. Loved them!The flight was top notch. We were worried about the weather because guess what? Still overcast and rainy here on the north shore. The flight was great though. I just have to share some of the views.
Unbelievable! Bruce shared some "tricks" on not getting sick, and I did pretty well on the flight. I cannot recommend it enough. And guess what? Bruce let me "help him" with the checklist. I told him that "I have a thing for checklists." He has no idea...
After the flight, we grabbed lunch in Lihue at Tip Top Cafe--another dive I found in my guidebook. And dive it was--I totally forgot to take a picture of it. It was in the bottom of a seedy looking hotel on a side street. They serve breakfast all day, and we ordered what was recommended in the book---banana and macadamia nut pancakes and pineapple pancakes. Uhh---as good as it sounds!We then decided to stop at some beaches along the north shore after checking out the Kileau Lighthouse. I hoped to spot some humpback whales here. No luck. I haven't seen any marine animals yet, but I'm hopeful. I must have a scent about me. I'm always hoping to spot famous people and unique animals when we travel, and both seem to evade me. I'm hoping to break my streak here.
After a pit stop to the resort, we headed out to find a fish market to buy items for dinner, drove to the edge of the north shore, and did a quick hike to Queen's Bath, a neat water hole in some lava rocks near the ocean where some people are brave enough to swim. 
Then...we crashed. Go, go, go....CRASH. That's how we travel. I have no idea why I vacation this way. Come to think of it, I pretty much live my life this way. I don't know why we can't just take it easy and spread things out, but we don't. We cram as much as possible into the days then eventually just wear out. Oh, well. At least we see a lot.We had a relaxing evening cooking out. We picked up a sushi roll at the fish market for an appetizer, bought some ono (a local fish) to grill, had Hawaiian sweet corn, stir fried green beans drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and eggplant prepared the same way. Doesn't that sound delicious?
It wasn't.
Not by a long shot.
The ono and corn were fantastic. The beans and eggplant--not so much. Neither of us had ever eaten eggplant before. Jonathan said it best when I asked him how it was (I wasn't going to taste it first!), and he stared thoughtfully at me and replied, "It tastes like a weed."
We planned on cooking in another night this week. We think we'll stick to picking up sushi rolls and eating them in instead of experimenting again...
Beautiful Looks like a blast! Take lots of pics
ReplyDeleteHave you caught up with Bonnie yet?
ReplyDeleteMom
WOW! These are amazing pictures! I have a thing for checklists too! LOL
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