Eric and Dee Dee's Honeymoon: Waimea Canyon

Today was another breakfast a Joe’s on the Green. We had more of those banana macadamia nut pancakes.

We were on the road to Waimea Canyon by 9:00am. The drive should only take about an hour and a half…but it’s a good idea to get started early to beat the crowds of tourists.

Wow, what great views. The canyon is HUGE and is a greener, more lush version of the Grand Canyon. Take your time on the drive up Waimea Canyon Drive. Be sure to stop off at the look outs between mile marker 10 and 16. Bring binoculars to get close up views of possible wildlife that may reveal itself. We ended up seeing 3-4 mountain goats traversing VERY steep cliff faces…and they all ended up walking closer to the look out area. Whatever you choose to do, don’t be like the jerk tourists who pulled up behind us and began throwing pieces of shrub and fruit at them…thinking they would attract them closer.

We tried to drive out Kokee Rd past the Coast Guard station and missile testing range to enjoy the view of the ocean off the cliffs, but the fog rolled in. Don’t be quick to bail of the view is covered in clouds…the clouds can shift within 10 min and the sky will clear up…unfortunately this only happened about half way and for a fleeting 5 min.

We drove home and stopped at Jo Jo’s for a shaved ice in Waimea (). This shack could have been in Berkeley in the 60s. The entire flavor of the place as very 60s. The flavor options and combinations were great.

This evening we drove into Hanapepe for dinner at the Hanapepe Café and Espresso Bar and to check out the weekly artists nights that happen every Friday. Hanapepe is known on the island as the artist community. The café was very good…but had a limited menu with only 3 entrees that started at $28…ouch. The ambience was rustic and hawaiian guitar music was being played by an older woman tucked away in a nook. Overall, OK food, too pricy, but great ambiance. After dinner we tooled around the town and poked our heads into the various artist galleries. I’m sure all the local artists hate Friday art night for most tourists are look-lous and don’t buy. There were not that many people there that night.

Our final stop was at a used book store at the end of the block with a sexy book store manager who gave Dee Dee and I the tour of the store wearing a form fitting light green floral print sun dress. She explained the layout of the store and how it was organized…or not organized. She pointed out the local cultural books, the sex books, gay books, religion books…and S and M books. What a weird combo. Our book temptress learned we were newlyweds and offered us free condoms and lube available at the front desk free of charged.

Dee Dee and I found our way outside and listened to a rag tag band called “West Side Smitty” who played a blues/folk song style of music. Smitty was quite talented…she wrote several clever songs and was fun to watch. Good for her! The supporting band was a different story…most of the band were drunk guys that apparently just walked up to the book store and tried to poke out a tune that in any way matched the beat of what Smitty was picking out…most of the time they were way off and were too focused on keeping their buzz going from the bottle hidden in the paper bag balanced on the front porch. Burp. Eventually one of the artists who’s photography work we saw earlier this evening approached the porch carrying a make shift instrument made of a large white plastic paint container filled up halfway with water. The tub was covered with a slit cut out to hold a piece of wood and a string taught to form a stand up base. Fortunately, he could hit the beat Smitty was laying down so he added music to the piece. Our bookstore maven quickly spotted our make-shift base player and hurried out with a cup of coffee…and a solicitous smile. Dee Dee was AMAZED by the forward nature of the book store manager. However, when one is an artist in a sleepy town, why not put your book mark in the shopkeeper’s bound edition?