Kauai to Oahu transition

OK, I have to brain dump this stuff while it's still fresh in my mind!

Easter Sunday was our transition day from Kauai to Oahu. The Grand Hyatt was awesome enough to give us a 2 p.m. check-out. That was perfect, considering that our flight left around 4:30. I have to say, the hotel impressed me in most every way, and while not as intimate as some hotels, really took care of us.

We started with, wait for it, breakfast. I really came to love their breakfast potatoes, which they had every other day (three of the five), and finally figured out on the last day that the ideal toaster speed was "4" for wheat bread. We had to get right out of bed to go because they were closing it early for an Easter brunch.

Once we got cleaned up, and we took our sweet time with that, we headed down to the pool for just a little while, hanging out in the shade. I had a little leftover Wi-Fi from the day before, so I brought the laptop down and uploaded some photos to Facebook. I also started navigating the troubled waters of our marriage license, because the captain apparently didn't stamp it or something. At first the clerk at the court said he wasn't even qualified to do the wedding. It's apparently all worked out, but I'll be happier when I get the certified copy in the mail.

After getting travel clothes on, we headed down to stroll the grounds one last time. I think my time at Disney last year has allowed me to enjoy these "manufactured" little realities more. I know Kauai is a beautiful place that has amazing examples of what nature can offer, but I felt really OK with the well-manicured grounds and pools with an ocean view.

We stopped and talked to the bird that was caged half the day near the entrance to our building, Lilikoi. I don't know my exotic birds, but this one was a lot of fun and said some basic words.

Once we packed up and had the valet bring the car around, we headed out for lunch at the Italian joint next door to Tomkat's. It's so weird to have island culture and people mixed with Italian food, but it wasn't bad. Diana got bruschetta and I got the four-cheese cream sauce penne special. It wasn't the best ever or anything, but still pretty good. The fresh grated cheese on top is what really worked for me. Our server was very cool.

While there, we witnessed a family come in and be shooed out of the outdoor area we were sitting in because they were closing it to clean it before the dinner rush. They got pissed and left, and were real assholes about it. It's also pretty stupid because, like most places in Hawaii, everything is practically outdoors in the first place. As I mentioned previously, I don't know how people can both welcome the tourists that feed their economy and yet put up with their bullshit.

Our return to the airport was met with significant drama. In an effort to save time and be prepared, Diana took her ID out to get ready to deal with the TSA. Just as we were about to check-in, she realized it had fell out of her pocket. She started to freak out, as did I, but I tried to contain it. She had it when we dropped off the car, and after two shuttle bus rides, found it in the seat of the bus. Good thing crappy Alamo was only running one bus. Crisis averted, but it was a tense 20 minutes or so.

Go Air finally gave us an uneventful flight, and we got to Oahu in 20 minutes. The rental car was off-site (price I paid for a $30 rental, including taxes), so that was a pain. And navigating Oahu isn't as straight forward either, as they have actual freeways and such. The iPhone mapping app crashed mid-route and we missed our exit. The UI is not very intuitive for an iPhone app, and Diana had a hard time getting us back on track. I got frustrated and pissy and immediately felt bad about it.

But we only missed the hotel by one exit, and we were pleasantly surprised by the room. A JW Marriott is apparently the higher end variety. I got $150 in Marriott cards from my Citi credit card rewards program (only took $15,000 in use over the last few years to get there!), so naturally I wanted to finish our vacation right with an ocean view. We got up to the room just minutes before sunset, and it was amazing.

The dining options at the hotel were not quite as robust, unfortunately, but we had some decent sandwiches. We spent a romantic evening in after that.

Overall, I have the opinion now that island hopping around Hawaii is a bad idea unless you can go five days or so between hops. I understand you still have the start and end trips if your airline doesn't fly direct to the non-Ohau islands, but out transition from the Big Island to Kauai was a total disaster. Plus, moving all your shit isn't fun. I don't think I'd want to do that again.