Dan woke Mio and I up on Saturday morning, announcing that he wanted to take us to a beach called Heart’s Desire Beach. I’d never heard of the beach before, but it sounded like such a cute name for a beach and it was a beautiful day, so we quickly packed up our beach gear and hopped in the car to embark on this surprise trip that Dan had planned for us.
The beach is in the Tomales Bay/Point Reyes area, and took us about an hour and half to drive there. We stopped by Drakes Bay Oyster Company before going to the beach, so we could pick up a bunch of oysters to grill for lunch. I’d been talking about wanting to go to Hog Island Oyster Farm, but we hadn’t been yet because it requires reservations and we weren’t sure when we’d want to go. This was a great alternative, and not as crowded of a location — we just picked up our oysters and left to go grill them at the beach.
Arriving at Drakes Bay Oyster Shack
Checking out the oysters!
We decided that for our first time shucking our own fresh oysters, it was “go big or go home” and we got a bunch of the large jumbo oysters!
Oysters in hand, we got back in the car and drove over to Heart’s Desire Beach, which was only about ten minutes from the oyster shack.
It really was called “Heart’s Desire Beach.” Such a cute name!
We immediately set up our picnic table and started the grill up, laying out oysters and corn.
Mio is so happy to finally be out of the car!
She got a hold of the lemons…
Love that smile! It just tickles me every time…
The oysters off the grill — time to shuck those suckers!
Shucking was difficult at times, but we got the hang of it!
Glorious fresh oyster, ready for the eating!
So excited to dig in.
Mio was content eating her corn… for a couple months now, she’s been able to eat it on the cob.
Thank you Dan for grilling us a delicious lunch!
After lunch, it was time for us to play on the beach… this was of course the highlight of the day for our little waterbug.
Mio filling her bucket with water. For her, playing in the water is serious business!
Dan showing Mio how to build a sand castle.
Making fun objects in the sand.
Our little family at the beach.
With our sweet little Mio…
Mio’s biggest smile on the beach came from discovering a piece of seaweed… interesting.
A video Dan took of Mio on the beach.
Drying off on the shore.
Stylin’ in her shades.
Mio had so much fun that she fell asleep for almost the entire drive back home. Thanks hubby for planning such a memorable, fun trip for us! 😀
Last Saturday was sunny and hot, so we took Mio to Alameda Beach so that she could have a fun beach day! We invited our friends Tarrin and Jason along, since they live in Alameda, and they suggested the delicious idea of having brunch at Off the Grid which is now in Alameda on Saturdays. Off the Grid is a gathering of food trucks and tents selling all kinds of yummy street foods, and we’d actually never been to the weekly ones in San Francisco nor Berkeley, so this was our first time!
Excited to eat delicious street food!
Mio staying cool with her shades.
I decided to try the Hiyaaa! truck.
My bulgogi on a roll from Hiyaaa. There was kimchee inside, too!
Dan got the Peruvian burger and potatoes from Sanguchon
Digging in!
Tarrin and Jason also got some delicious andouille poutine from Fins on the Hoof for us to share, and we picked up a lemon lavender cupcake from a cupcake truck and a chocolate cream puff from Pacific Puffs for dessert, and headed over to the beach together.
We’ve taken Mio to the beach before when we went to Santa Cruz last Labor Day weekend, but she was young and not very mobile so she couldn’t really get the full experience, and it’d been cold so we didn’t put her int he water at the time. So this was Mio’s first true full experience of the beach, where she could walk around and play in the sand and water!
Trying to coax Mio into the water…
Mio is stunned by how vast the ocean is!
We changed her into her bathing suit and got her in the water!
Mio’s first time in ocean water! She was loving it, and kept trying to move into the deeper water.
“Jump! Jump!”
She kept lifting her legs up so they were flat against the water… lol.
As you can see from the video below, she’s quite the waterbug! She was really loving the water, and later the sand… definitely a beach babe! 😉
Mio finally had enough of the water, and started walking towards the shore…
First time playing in the sand… and eating, it too! ::sigh::
Walking about, exploring the sandy shore… she was really interested in the other kids.
A contemplative Mio, deep in thought as she looks out at the ocean. As Jason put it, “very Hemingway.”
There are no words to describe how much her expression here tickles me!
She soon fell asleep in Mama’s arms and took a little nap on the beach.
After all the fun in the sun, it was eventually time to go home…
Mio riding on Tarrin’s shoulders as we head back to the car.
Auntie Tarrin is so good with Mio… Mio really loves her!
Thanks Tarrin and Jason for making our beach outing so much more fun and memorable! We loved that we could spend the day with you. 🙂
Dan leaves for a business trip this evening to Orlando, Florida, and won’t be back until Thursday evening. I’m a little nervous because this will be the longest I’ll have ever been alone with the Mio, but my mother-in-law will come take care of her on the days I’m at work as usual, and I’ll just have to fly solo with Mio in the evenings when I get off of work, despite my usual exhausted state on such workdays.
We made the best of this long holiday weekend before Dan leaves, though — here is Part I of our eventful Labor Day weekend!
On Saturday, we decided to take a day trip down to Santa Cruz, for Mio’s first time at the beach! We picked up some delicious gourmet sandwiches at The Junket to eat for lunch at the beach, and headed down in the early afternoon. We hit a lot of traffic on the way (to be expected, because of the long weekend) so it took a while to get to Santa Cruz, but we promptly set up spot on the beach as soon as we got there.
Mio's first time at the beach!
She already loves the beach!
The cutest babe on the beach!
(Random coincidence: I realized afterwards that the romper Mio wore that day, which is a hand-me-down from my cousin Yuko’s daughters, is the exact same one that Sakura was wearing exactly a year ago when we visited their family on Labor Day weekend. Except that Mio is 5 months old here, and Sakura was 10 months old at the time. Oh, Mio… you are growing way too fast.)
Anyway, back to Santa Cruz: after about an hour, it started getting pretty cloudy. Not quite the perfect day at the beach that we had been anticipating. 🙁
We got Mio all bundled up, as it started to get chilly.
Our little spot on the beach.
Mio getting grumpy... time to leave!
So the trip to the beach started out nice, but it definitely could have been more enjoyable towards the end — hopefully next time, there’ll be more sun and warmer weather! We’re glad that we got to go to the beach before the summer’s over. Since the Bay Area typically experiences Indian summers, I have hope that we still have some warm weeks left before we enter the rainy season….
We also stopped by Buy Buy Baby in San Jose on our way back home, and picked up something we’ve been researching and eyeing for Mio for a while now. But we’ll save the big reveal for another day. 🙂
On Day 7, our first full day in Kaua’i, we woke up at dark o’clock to drive over to Eleele, where we boarded a catamaran for a seven-hour tour that would take us up the Na Pali Coast and to see Niihau Island. Neither of us is a morning person, but we fought our sleepiness and embarked on the boat, banking on the promise that we would see some of the most stunning views of the island of Kaua’i.
Here comes the sun!
Leaving the dock.
We came across a small raft, that happened to be dolphin watching!
Spinner dolphin flipping about.
Dolphins swimming right in front of our boat!
They were super cute! I don't think I've ever seen dolphins so up close!
We sped up and soon approached the Na Pali Coast...
We were greeted by an amazing view.
The beautiful Na Pali Coast
This is what paradise looks like....
Towering mountains over a lush valley.
Steep mountains... this area of the Na Pali Coast is only accessible by boat or helicopter.
The Honopu Arch, where they filmed the movie Six Days Seven Nights
More majestic views of the Na Pali Coast
Na Pali Coast against a clear blue sky.
Dan and I at the Na Pali Coast
An amazing rock formation called The Keyhole.
Closeup of the natural bridge...
The hubby and I by the Keyhole!
Niihau Island in the distance
Approaching Niihau Island, a privately owned island known as the "Forbidden Isle" because it is off-limits to the general public.
The catamaran parked itself near Niihau Island, where passengers got the opportunity to go snorkeling for an hour before lunch. Here are some nice underwater shots that Dan took while snorkeling!
Fish in blue waters.
Uni! A sea urchin.
So many fish!
Closeup of a fish.
Underwater coral.
Trenches by Niihau Island.
Underwater life.
Here’s some video footage that Dan took with my camera while snorkeling…
The crew was super nice. Thank you Holo Holo Charters!
After snorkeling and lunch, it was time to head back to Kaua’i. The crew purposely gave us a very bumpy and exhilarating ride back! You can see more photos from the Na Pali Coast and Niihau Island in this photo album. If you are ever in Kaua’i and are considering a catamaran trip to see the Na Pali Coast, we really recommend Holo Holo Charters! They had top notch service and were really knowledgeable and skilled, and very personable, too! 🙂
When we got back to land, it was still the early afternoon, so we had plenty more things to do and places to see…
Dan before leaving Port Allen.
Jo Jo’s Shave Ice was strongly recommended as the best shaved ice in Kaua’i, so we stopped by while we were in Waimea.
Jo Jo's Shave Ice in Waimea
strawberry + guava + melon
Jo Jo's storefront
Dan enjoying his macnut shave ice!
Jo Jo’s Shave Ice was really good and was very refreshing, especially on a hot day! I personally still liked Waiola from Oahu better, but Jo Jo’s was definitely the best shaved ice we had in Kaua’i. (And we got shaved ice pretty much every day while we were on Kaua’i… haha* It was so hot there!)
A river running through the Kaua'i landscape.
An epic photo of Dan.
After making our way through winding dirt roads for over half an hour, we finally reached our destination in Waimea: The Waimea Canyon!
Arriving at Waimea Canyon Lookout
Stunning Waimea Canyon.
On top of the world.
The canyon stretching before our eyes.
A gorgeous view.
People at the Waimea Canyon lookout
Dan and I at Waimea Canyon
The pictures just don't do it justice!
Clouds over the canyon.
Hubby with the canyon in the background.
Dan was fascinated by the red dirt that could be found all over the island.
We picked up some fresh fruits at this roadside vendor right before they closed up shop.
For dinner, we stopped at the Shrimp Station in Waimea. If you know how much I love shrimp, you can imagine how psyched I was to go here….
Kaua'i's Shrimp Station!
I got shrimp tacos!
Dan got the Thai shrimp. Super good!
We wanted to try more, so we even got some coconut shrimp to go...
We then drove back to our hotel in Kapaa to kick back and relax for the rest of the evening.
Dan cut open this mystery fruit that he picked up at the roadside vendor. To this day, we’re still uncertain of what it’s called, but we were curious so we decided to try it out. To be honest, it was not very good…
Looks unappetizing... and did not taste very good, either.
Me enjoying some of our leftovers on our hotel balcony.
The hubby eating... the coconut shrimp was delicious1
The view of the beach from our balcony.
After waking up super early in the morning, we were totally pooped by the end of the day! We got to see so many amazing sights though, both along the Na Pali Coast and at Waimea Canyon — these are definite must-sees if you are ever in Kaua’i. 🙂
After spending our last full day in Oahu, we woke up early the next morning to get ready to drive down to Honolulu Airport to fly over to the neighboring island of Kaua’i. We were sad to leave Oahu, but were excited to see what was in store for us over at Kaua’i.
Our last morning at the Turtle Bay Resort.
The ocean by the hotel.
Saying goodbye to this beautiful view from our hotel room.
Dan bidding the Turtle Bay parrot goodbye.
We stopped by the Paalaa Kai Bakery in Waialua (North Shore) to get some breakfast before we drove down to Honolulu Airport.
Paalaa Kai Bakery in Waialua
Lots of baked goodies at Paalaa Kai Bakery
Azuki croissant for breakfast... so yum!
Waiting for our flight at Honolulu Airport.
The flight went very smoothly, and we arrived at Lihue Airport in Kaua’i in about an hour. 🙂
The Kaua'i shoreline from the plane.
When we first arrived, there was a slight drizzle, but the skies quickly cleared up.
We stayed at the Aston Islander on the Beach in Kapaa while we were in Kaua’i. The hotel was close to the airport and right on the beach, which was really nice. 🙂
Aston Islander on the Beach in Kapaa
The balcony of our hotel room, overlooking the beach.
After checking in and getting all of our luggage settled in, we were hungry for lunch and made a beeline for Hamura’s Saimin Stand, which was recommended to us by a few of our friends. (Thank you Rumi, Bryan, and Dan’s coworker Jay!)
The famous Hamura's Saimin Stand. I'm ready to eat!!!
The place was crowded and the wait quite long, but we stuck through it.
Saimin is a type of noodle soup that is unique to Hawaii, and is sort of a fusion of Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino traditional noodles. It’s made out of soft wheat egg noodles… I’d say that in Japanese noodles, it most closely resembles ramen, but the broth has a much more subtle and light flavor.
Dan got the Special Saimin.
I got the Shrimp Special Saimin. It was very good!
We also ordered skewers of chicken and beef, which Hamura's is also known for.
A lot of people recommend the lilikoi chiffon pie, but we were too full at the time and decided against getting it. But if you ever get a chance to go there, apparently the pie is pretty darn good so give it a try! 😉
After driving around Lihue, we were starting to melt (it was a really hot day), so we stopped at Shaka Shave Ice (a random shaved ice place we found along the road) and got some shaved ice.
Me with my shaved ice. (lychee+watermelon+guava). It was definitely not as good as some of the places we went to in Oahu, but it was so hot that I was grateful for anything cold.
Oh, a funny side story: Some of our friends had strongly urged us to rent a convertible while we were in Kaua’i, insisting that the experience would be so much better if we were able to drive around the island with the top of the car down. Despite my persistent prodding to do so, Dan said it was too expensive and so we reserved an economy car instead when we booked our rentals a few months before the trip. But when we we got to the vehicle rental, the economy compact cars had been overbooked, so they upgraded us to a convertible with no extra charge! I got my convertible after all. 🙂
Dan with our "sweet ride." (JK... we quickly found that the Sebring was not as comfortable and convenient as we thought... It was still nice to drive around with the top down, though!)
For the rest of the afternoon, we returned to our hotel and spent a couple hours relaxing on the private beach at the hotel.
The private beach at Aston Islander on the Beach.
Dan walking into the water.
There was no one else on the beach!
Beautiful mountains in the distance.
Dan, who jumped at every chance to go snorkeling during the trip, busted out his snorkel gear and went exploring...
...while I kicked back and caught up on the gossip from the mainland.
We eventually migrated over to the hotel pool, which was also pretty nice.
Relaxing after a dip in the pool.
Poolside bar.
After freshening up, we headed out to have dinner. We were pretty exhausted by this time, so we decided to go somewhere close and chose to eat in the local town of Kapaa. Being the carbnivore and pasta lover that I am, I selected Kauai Pasta as the dining place of our choice.
Dinner was very satisfying and was the perfect way to end the long day of traveling and familiarizing ourselves with Kaua’i. We only had three days left in Kaua’i, so we were determined to make the best of it! 😀
