State Park #3: Wailu River State Park - Kauai's Fern Grotto

My parents first took me to Hawaii and I fell for the tropical, natural beauty of the state...like every other tourist. I particularly fell for the island of Kauai.  Not many restaurants or stores, the waterfalls, parks, and beaches stood out as the main attraction.  The people didn't seem hurried.  They wanted to tell you their story.  On the Fern Grotto boat, a guide told us about the Wailua River, the only navigable river in Hawaii, and how we would pass the wettest place on earth.  Another guide told his personal story.  He explained with pride that he stared in the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii with Elvis.  We needed to watch the movie because he blows the conch shell near the hotel entrance.  Some stories draw you back to a place.  Someday I would return.

A little over a decade, we returned.  More people this time because we expanded our family.  We eagerly returned to the Wailua River State Park for another open-air boat ride by the Smith family.  This park has the only navigable river in Hawaii and contains two waterfalls (Opaeka'a Falls and Wailua Falls)  After the nature hike and songs played at the grotto, we boarded the boat back to the marina.  Dancers taught us the hula while moving on the river.  Then a guide took the microphone and explained that he stared in the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii with Elvis.  We needed to watch the movie because he blows the conch shell.  I watched the movie after returning home.

I'm not the only one impressed with the friendly local people.  Author Patricia Schultz lists "Kauai" in Hawaii as a must see site in her book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die.  She notices the people, "Kauai's people are known as the friendliest in the fiftieth state, and tend to live a rural and unrushed old-time Hawaiian lifestyle, in which natural beauty and not overly plush Maui-style resort life is the focus."  

Dance can tell you stories too.  In ancient Hawaii, hula was used to keep history.  Watch the hand gestures.  The missionaries suppressed the hula, but King David Kalakaua restored hula.  The biggest hula festival and competition is the Merrie Monarch Festival held in Hilo, Hawaii.  If you want to get see hula and learn more about the Hawaiian culture without the long flight, consider taking the family to the following festivals:

1) Heritage of Aloha; Heritage Park in Santa Fe Springs, CA; May
Hawaiian and Polynesian music and dance with free admission

2) 3 Days of Aloha in the Pacific Northwest; Vancouver, WA; July
Hula competition and workshops on language, chant, and outrigger canoe paddling

3) Hawaiian Hula Days; Itasca, IL; Oct.
Held by the Hula Association of the Midwest; registration and workshop fees