Hawaii, Kauai, Coco Palms Hotel

During our 1968 visit we spent one night at the Coco Palms Hotel on Kauai. Elvis Presley filmed the finale of his film "Blue Hawaii" there in 1961, immortalizing its lush coconut groves and picturesque lagoons. When Hurricane Iniki struck in September 1992 with less than eight hours warning, the Coco Palms was shut down indefinitely as repairs proved too costly, and the entire island struggled with recession. The property, located on the southeast shore of Kauai, has been left to decay now for over a decade and a half. Kauai was without electrical power for 40 days, without telephone communication for almost a month in some areas, 80% of the homes were damaged or destroyed

During our first visit to Hawaii, we visited 6 islands, and we have yet to meet even a native who has been on six Hawaiian Islands. We have visited Hawaii at least 5 times — our first visit in 1968; a business trip (really!) in 1977; our ship the TSS Enna G stopped there for a day and night in 1980; to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in 1981 (dinner at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Kamuela, Hawaii); and when Emmy’s German cousin Toni, visited California in 1984, she wanted to visit Hawaii, so off we went. We didn’t need much of an excuse to take a trip anytime, to anyplace.

On five of the islands we rented cars and drove on almost all the roads on each of the outer islands. We visited Lanai with a tour group who crossed from Maui in a small boat. We then visited that island on a tour bus. Not our favorite way to sightsee, but not much choice in 1968. We understand there has been a lot of tourist development on the island since then.

On our way home from Saipan in 1980, we spent a week on Kauai, and visited the Coco Palms Hotel (where we had stayed during our 1968 visit). In a room next to the lobby we saw a group of people eating McDonald’s food from several large bags. Several of them were playing a card game that I recognized as “U-ker,” it’s maybe not spelled like that, but is pronounced something like that, and most likely not played anywhere except Indiana. Sure enough, they were from Logansport, Indiana, and a couple of them knew of Patty (my Sister Mary’s daughter) and Charles Azbell’s lawn mower store. It’s a small world!