Resort vacations hold a certain allure with quick access to restaurants and poolside drinks and two towel refreshes a day, but if you’re traveling with more than two people or for an extended period of time, a vacation rental just might be the way to go. In major cities, a well situated apartment can give you a good home base for seeing the sites; at the beach, it can you give the peace and quiet, and privacy you just won’t get at a hotel. And, you can cook for yourself.
On the one hand, some would say, “It’s vacation – why would you want to cook?” Well, if say, you’re entertaining the idea of a trip to the north shore of Kauai, a vacation rental with a kitchen gives you the flexibility to really enjoy farmers markets and eat local on your own. Depending on your budget, it can help save a few bucks as well.
Vacation is usually a chance to get away from it all and let someone else do the cooking. But on Kaua’i, the Garden Isle, that’s only half true for me. If I've only got a week, I want to soak up the sunshine, slurp down some saimin and savor the sweetness of pineapple, papaya and mango.
None of that requires a kitchen, but once you’ve been to one of the farmers markets on the island, you’ll want one. For our last two escapes to sunshine, we’ve stayed in a little vacation cottage steps away from the beach with a little deck and a hammock slung between two palms. And a kitchen.
Two days after being back from SF, I’m finally hungry again. When you’re trying to pack food experiences into a compressed amount of time, you’re never hungry for 3 meals, let alone afternoon snacks. But I persevered. California delivered a gorgeous week of sunshine, practically a heatwave for early October. Ahhh, vitamin D. And not only that, this past weekend happened to coincide with Fleet Week, the America’s Cup, a post-season Giants game, and a Niners game. But let's start with an appetizer, shall we? The Ferry Building ended up being a home away from home of sorts, since it was so close to the hotel.
