We started today with a trip to the Princeville Botanical Gardens for their “Chocolate and Walking Tour”, which included several fruit tastings (mango, lychee, langsat, papaya, apple banana, and more), some of the honey they produce on site, and six chocolates from around the world (including one made from the cacao trees on site, though the final production is done by Wild Kauai Chocolate in Kapaa).

Our guide Zoe was very knowledgable about the plants on property, as well as leading us through the chocolate tasting. She even convinced me to try the apple banana – I ate the whole (small) piece and enjoyed it, though I still don’t see bananas of any kind being part of my regular diet.

The weather was great – warm, dry, not too windy, and sunny with plenty of shade available.

I would have bought a jar of honey if we weren’t doing carry-on; we did buy a sampler of six dark chocolate bars from Vietnam. I’d take the tour again; I enjoyed it more than the one we did a couple of years ago at Lydgate Farms, and that’s high praise indeed.

After the tour, we drove to Kilauea for lunch, which was ahi wraps from Kilauea Fish Market (one of our favorite places to eat on Kauai). Then we came back to the resort and relaxed for the rest of the day.

We’re back on Kauai, spending a few days at our usual place, the Westin Princeville Villas on the north end of the island. The only non-stop flight from San Jose to Kauai arrives at 10am and check-in time at the Villas is 4pm, so we knew we’d have to find something to do for about six hours. I looked at the Kauai Attraction Map and found an interesting prospect – the Lawai International Center, about 20 minutes from the airport. They’re only open two Sundays a month, but today was one of them, so I booked a tour for 2pm to allow plenty of time for flight delays and other mischief.

We landed early; it took a little longer than it should have to pick up my car (I didn’t notice the Gold Member board and stood in line unnecessarily…did I mention that we had to get up very early for our flight?), but we still had plenty of time to stop at a scenic overlook, Kauai Island Brewing Company, Kauai Chocolate Company, and Kauai Coffee on our way to the Center.

The Lawai International Center preserves 88 shrines which early Japanese immigrants to Kauai created as a minature replica of a 100-mile pilgrimage site in Shikoku, Japan. The site fell into disrepair after the pineapple canneries closed in the 1960s; volunteers started to restore the site and the shrines beginning in 1990. Our tour began with a short talk by the leader of those volunteers, Lynn Muramoto, followed by a visit to the Hall of Compassion (a 21st Century replica of a 13th Century structure, built entirely without nails) and a chance to walk the hillside trail past all 88 shrines.

I was moved by my visit to the Center; the sincerity of the volunteers and their love for all who visit was strongly evident. I hope we’re able to time our next trip to Kauai so we can visit again.

After we left the Center, we drove up to Princeville, checked in, had dinner, and went to the grocery store. I guess we’re back in the mundane world again!