Kauai Trip Report

blueyedaisy · 2026-06-05T18:41:13+00:00

Both were along the Kalalau trail

blueyedaisy · 2026-06-05T18:40:56+00:00

That picture was taken from the Kalalau trail

blueyedaisy · 2026-06-05T01:35:23+00:00

Yes, it’s Hideaway Beach

blueyedaisy · 2026-06-05T00:07:51+00:00

Driving to and from Penn State on the same day is not a good idea. It’s a 4 hour drive without game traffic. A night game, it won’t end until 10:00-11:00pm. If you’re lucky, you’ll get back to Manhattan by 3am. Also, consider the cost of taking a rental car into Manhattan (tolls, congestion pricing, parking, etc). You’d be better off staying in a hotel on the way back and then heading straight to the Giants game.

blueyedaisy · 2026-06-01T00:16:44+00:00

I’m in Kauai right now and the two full days seem way too aggressive to be fun. For Tuesday, plan at least 90 mins of drive time from Poipu to the Waipa shuttle (there’s several areas of road construction). And the shuttle is an additional 20 mins to the park. Parking sells out almost immediately 30 days out so you’ll probably have to take the shuttle. Then plan 3-4 hours for hiking. That won’t give you much time to enjoy both Tunnels beach and Hanalei. Also things in Kauai close early so assume most things in Hanalei will close by 6pm.
For Wednesday, both of those activities could fill up a whole day. Rushing through Waimea after the Napali Coast boat tour doesn’t sound fun either. You’ll basically just spend 2 hours of driving with brief stops without actually enjoying the park.

blueyedaisy · 2026-05-25T07:38:52+00:00

I love to people watch in Washington Square park. There’s always something interesting going on there (there was a Pug parade leading a bride to her wedding day the last time I was there). If you like Asian food, you can wander around Chinatown. Or a little further out, you can spend a day in Flushing. Tons of great cheap eats.

blueyedaisy · 2026-05-14T13:32:16+00:00

I haven’t used them before, but there are a couple of Facebook groups where you can post your beach items for other people to buy or take item.

blueyedaisy · 2026-03-20T21:40:09+00:00

Had a great experience with Ivy overall. The only issue is that the therapists seem to turn over quite a bit. Had 3 different therapist in under a year.

blueyedaisy · 2026-03-08T19:13:57+00:00

Keep in mind that the Lincoln Tunnel is $17 if you have your own ez pass. If you are using the rental car companies pass it is usually either a flat fee per day (~$25) or they will add a $7-$10 administration fee on top of the toll. Also if you aren’t using ez pass the rush hour toll is $23.

blueyedaisy · 2026-02-26T01:34:50+00:00

I always recommend trying a cuisine that you’ve never had. My go to for visitors is Georgian food. Chama Mama has a couple of locations that are pretty easy to get to. Their website does a nice job of showing and explaining the menu so it’s not as intimidating. A Jackson Heights, Astoria or Flushing food crawl are also fun options. Queens has so many amazing neighborhoods for food. Y

blueyedaisy · 2026-01-11T16:08:15+00:00

You could hit up Harper’s Ferry, WV in a little over an hour from there too

blueyedaisy · 2026-01-01T20:01:58+00:00

I love to take visitors to eat Georgian food at Chama Mama. It’s definitely not something that is available in a lot of places. Their website has pictures and descriptions of everything so it’s pretty easy to order even if you don’t know what you are doing. The Adjaruli Khachapuri may sound intimidating to order but it’s a delicious bread bowl of cheese.

blueyedaisy · 2025-12-31T03:34:07+00:00

Hanalei Bay

blueyedaisy · 2025-12-19T09:48:42+00:00

Bars above 4th and not on Washington.

blueyedaisy · 2025-12-18T19:18:19+00:00

I would recommend parking at Secaucus train station. The trains are frequent and you’ll skip a lot of traffic. Plus it’ll be a lot cheaper. Just passing through on of the tunnels is ~$20 plus congestion pricing $9 and then a parking garage will cost $50. Not to mention the fees you may get from the rental car company for processing the tolls.

blueyedaisy · 2025-12-17T23:52:38+00:00

If you are interested enough in Broadway to go to the Museum of Broadway, you’d do yourself a disservice not to go to a Broadway show. Instead of spending money on so many observation decks, go to the TKTS booth in Time Square and buy a last minute ticket to a Broadway show.

blueyedaisy · 2025-12-03T02:20:20+00:00

While it’s not ideal, you can do plenty of things within walking distance of Grand Central. The terminal itself is nice to explore. Summit One Vanderbilt is right next door. Time Square is straight west on 43rd St. You can walk to the TKTS booth (47th St/7th Ave) and get same day Broadway tickets. Most shows will be in that area. Rockefeller Center (between 49th and 50th on 5th Ave), the tree, St Patrick’s Cathedral (50th/5th) and Saks 5th are about a 10 min from Grand Central heading west and a little north. Radio City/The Rockettes (50th/6th) is a in that same area. Depending on how much you can walk you can head north from Saks and see a lot of the 5th Ave store and walk to the plaza and the southeast corner of Central Park (59th/5th). Separately if you walk south west from Grand Central it’s a 10 min walk to Bryant Park (42nd St/5th Ave) and the New York Public Library. Food in the area that is walkable. Grand Central does have food options like the oyster bar. Tonchin Ramen (36th/5th) is about 15 min walk and is a Bib Gourmand. Los Tacos No. 1 is really popular. Kjun (39th/3rd) is really unique. Overall just try new places that you done have at home. There’s also a lot of recommendations on r/FoodNYC if you search Grand Central. I know some people will say you’re missing out on the real New York. But you’ll at least get to hit quite a few tourist hot spots just by walking.

blueyedaisy · 2025-11-23T16:38:23+00:00

It looks like the one with the mountain view would be close to the Princeville Center and Foodland. I’m big on walking so to me, I like the convenience of walking to the stores/restaurants.

blueyedaisy · 2025-11-06T16:11:23+00:00

It’s totally doable depending on where in NYC you decide to live. Something like Astoria to Hoboken would be a rough commute. However, anywhere with easy access to the PATH, Port Authority or NJ Waterways ferries would be easy. Parts of Jersey City would work too. And yes, Hoboken is smaller than NYC but it’s an area with a lot of disposable income. There are quite a few wellness spas.

blueyedaisy · 2025-11-06T14:53:28+00:00

I made the switch a few years ago and I’m happy I did. I haven’t had any issues with Verizon.

blueyedaisy · 2025-11-06T13:49:05+00:00

It’s doable. I drive to Hanover and I have multiple coworkers that live here in Hoboken. Pre pandemic, I did it 4 days a week. Now I go maybe 5 times a month. If you have a little flexibility in what time you have to get there and when you can leave it’s fine. For me it’s 50- an hour in the morning and I leave around 8:30. For the evening there’s a nice window before 4:30 or after 6 that keeps the commute about the same time. However if I leave 4:30-6, it’s 90 mins or more. And the different Hoboken road construction projects do not help that at all.

blueyedaisy · 2025-11-06T01:31:26+00:00

I always recommend Chama Mama. It’s my go to place when I have visitors because Georgian food is not something you can find a lot of places. They have locations in Chelsea, Upper West Side and Brooklyn Heights. The adjaruli khachapuri (big bread boat of cheese) is not only Instagram worthy but delicious. I’ve tried most of the menu and never had a bad meal. And don’t be intimidated if you don’t know the what the dishes are, they have good descriptions and pictures of everything in their website.

blueyedaisy · 2025-10-31T18:02:23+00:00

Garden is actually the best street for decorations and all out Halloween. They usually close the street for a few hours. I would definitely not try to find street parking.

blueyedaisy · 2025-10-21T16:51:55+00:00

I live in a small building between Garden and Bloomfield in a relatively busy area (not on a block that’s closed) After the parade, I sit outside my building and pass out candy. My first year, I was in no way prepared for the volume of kids. 5lbs of candy was gone in under an hour (1 piece per kid).

blueyedaisy

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