The “aloha spirit” keeps Susie and Darrell Freeman coming back to Kaua’i. In four visits, including a month spent in the Po’ipu area last fall, the couple felt the spirit “everywhere from the post office to the grocery store to
The “aloha spirit” keeps Susie and Darrell Freeman coming back to Kaua’i.
In four visits, including a month spent in the Po’ipu area last fall, the couple felt the spirit “everywhere from the post office to the grocery store to the local churches and the restaurants,” Susie Freeman said.
“It was a good feeling,” she added, especially in contrast to the “frantic pace” of life around their Silicon Valley home in crowded California. When there, she said, she’s “able to resist the stressful me-firstness of our frenzied freeways by just visualizing one of my favorite drives through the Tree Tunnel near Koloa.”
But life in Los Gatos is good, if faster-paced than Koloa, she said.
Los Gatos is a community of about 30,000 near the Santa Cruz mountains, south of San Jose. The Freemans have lived there for the 36 years they’ve been married, have two married daughters and five grandchildren.
Darrell is a stock trader (even though the market opens at 4:30 a.m. in Hawai’i, he can keep up his computer when visiting here), while Susie has taught photography, calligraphy and eighth-graders. She also has been a technical illustrator and a gemologist.
Her next career, she said, is writing, especially for middle school readers.
She penned the following about life as a visitor on Kaua’i:
“We first visited Kaua’i in June of 1997 to celebrate our 33rd anniversary. Previously we had visited Maui and Oahu, but right away we knew Kaua’i was different. We somehow felt at home as we have in few other places in the world. In fact, we returned for another stay at Thanksgiving of the same year, and then at Thanksgiving again in 1999.
“This past October, we rented a house in Po’ipu for a month and had friends and family coming and going throughout our stay. It was a wonderful four weeks, and we began to feel even more a part of the community around Koloa as we attended church (Koloa Union) and got to know more of the people who live and work there. I must admit that I was extremely pleased to be mistaken for a Local on several occasion.
“I really can’t emphasize enough how much we appreciated the kindnesses of so many people we came in contact with during this past stay. The people at the Koloa Post Office were unfailingly courteous and helpful. And we never got groceries without friendly conversations with the people who worked there, as well as other customers — in great contrast to experiences in California.
“The fellowship at Koloa Union Church has been a joy on each of our visits, and when I found myself at Wilcox Memorial Hospital’s ER for a bladder infection, everyone there was outstanding.
“We made a wonderful new friend in Pam Caldwell at JoJo’s in Waimea, and the man who kept the pool dazzling at our rental house. Garden Island Rentals made sure our stay was ideal. Portraits of Hawai’i did an amazing job photographing our entire family of 11.
“We listened to the local Hawaiian music radio station in the car every time we went somewhere and enjoyed waving and honking at the faithful political campaign folks by the sides of the road. By the time we left, we knew we’d thoroughly absorbed the aloha spirit and would never be quite the same again.
“Our reasons for our first visit to Kaua’i, and each one since, was not only its reputation as the most beautiful and the friendliest of the Islands, but also as being less crowded and overdeveloped than the others. Somehow it seems easier to get into the local community mode than where the coastline is solid hotels and tourism (even though we are tourists).
“From the start, we have felt welcomed and accepted, and very truthfully, we would probably move to Kaua’i tomorrow if it wouldn’t make our five little grandchildren so far away from us. We are, however, seriously thinking about wintering there.
“Some of our favorite things to do on Kaua’i are:
– “Friday nights at the gallery open houses in Hanapepe, especially if the street musicians are around, and definitely eating coconut pie at the Green Garden restaurant
– “Driving up to the top of Waimea Canyon to see the Na Pali cliffs and all the other views — and of course, stopping at JoJo’s for shave ice afterward.
– “Visiting the museum on Rice Street in Lihu’e, and enjoying especially people such as the lady who was seated on the floor weaving palm leaf hats one time and hearing about old Kaua’i firsthand.
– “Checking out what’s new at Border’s Books & Music — can’t ever seem to leave there emptyhanded.
– “Having a special dinner at Roy’s in Poipu Village Shopping Center.
– “Walking through the various public and botanical gardens (we miss Ola Pua) and learning everything we can about them.
– “Driving up to the North Shore and going to the end of the road, always stopping for the postcard view of Hanalei Valley.
– “Looking for sea turtles swimming by the rocks just in front of our rental house.
– “Playing golf (Darrell) and floating on an air mattress in the pool, watching the clouds (me).
– “Watching the moonlight make the surf silver when the conditions are just right — a phenomenon we’ve never seen anywhere else.”
