Lihue & Environs

Downtown Lihue

The gift shop of the Kauai Museum, 4428 Rice St. (tel. 808/245-6931), is your best bet for made-on-Kauai arts and crafts, from Niihau-shell leis to woodwork, lauhala and coconut products, and more. The master of lauhala weaving, Esther Makuaole, weaves regularly in the gallery on Monday and Wednesday from 9am to 1:30pm.

About a mile north of the Lihue Airport, on Highway 56 (Kuhio Hwy.), Kauai Fruit & Flower is a great stop for flowers, including the rare Kauai maile in season, coconut drums the owner makes himself, Hawaiian gourds (ipu), cut flowers for shipping, and Kauai fruit, such as papayas and pineapples. Other products include lauhala gift items, teas, Kauai honey, Kauai salad dressings, jams and jellies, and custom-made gift baskets.

In the Kukui Grove Center, at Kaumualii Highway (Hwy. 50) and Old Nawiliwili Road, is the Kauai Products Store (tel. 808/246-6753). It's a fount of local handicrafts (about 60% Kauai artists) and a respectable showcase for made-on-the-island products, such as soaps, paintings, clothing, coffee, Kukui guava jams, fabrics, and Niihau-shell leis. The Hawaiian quilts are made in the Philippines but designed by Kauai families. You'll find everything from a $10,750 bronze sculpture to bamboo chairs. Beware of the macadamia-nut fudge, found only at Kauai Products Store: It's rich, sweet, and irresistible.

For a great selection in alohawear -- shirts, dresses, pareu -- and lots of souvenirs to take to the folks back home, stop by Hilo Hattie, 3252 Kuhio Hwy. (Hwy. 50) at Ahukini Road (tel. 808/245-3404). Their selection of Hawaii-related gift items is immense: food, books, CDs, mugs, key chains, T-shirts, and more. They even offer free hotel pickup from Poipu and Kapaa. If you are on a budget, go to the Kauai Humane Society Thrift Shop, Lihue Center, 3-3100 Kuhio Hwy. (tel. 808/245-7387), where a great selection of "vintage" aloha shirts starts at $5. All the money raised goes to help the Kauai Humane Society continue their excellent work on the island. If you want wooden or coconut buttons for your vintage aloha shirt, stop by Kapaa Stitchery, 3-3551 Kuhio Hwy. (tel. 808/245-2281), and buy a few buttons; you can have an authentic aloha shirt for a quarter of what you would spend in retail stores. Quilters will be in heaven at the Kapaa Stitchery, where they will find a huge selection of Hawaiian quilts, quilting supplies, needlework designs, and lots of fabric.

Another good souvenir store is Red Dirt Shirt, 3-3229 Kuhio Hwy. (tel. 808/246-0224), with other outlets in Waimea and Kapaa. Here you'll find zillions of the famous "red dirt" T-shirts in a variety of styles and designs (and sizes all the way to XXXXL).

If you are looking for something more artsy, Two Frogs Hugging (tel. 808/246-8777), just down Kuhio Highway from Hilo Hattie and Red Dirt Shirt, is a great place to wander about marveling at their collection of Indonesian arts, crafts, furniture, pottery, and accessories.

If you just need necessities like suntan lotion, film, or a cheap pair of slippers, head for Kmart, 4303 Nawiliwili, Lihue (tel. 808/245-7742). If you need laundry done (and don't want to waste a minute of your vacation doing it), drop it off at Plaza Laundry, in the Hanamaulu Plaza Shopping Center, Kuhio Highway (Hwy. 56) and Hanamaulu Road (tel. 808/246-9057), which offers a full wash, dry, and fold service for just $1.40 a pound.

Kilohana Plantation

Kilohana, the 35-acre Tudor-style estate that sprawls across the landscape in Puhi, on Highway 50 between Lihue and Poipu, is an architectural marvel that houses a sprinkling of galleries and shops. At the Country Store, on the ground level, you'll find island and American crafts of decent quality, koa accessories, pottery, and Hawaii-themed gift items. On the other side of Gaylord's, the Kilohana and Kahn galleries offer a mix of crafts and two-dimensional art, from originals to affordable prints, at all levels of taste.

Photo Opportunity: Hang Ten without Getting Wet -- Here's your opportunity to take a photo of your trip to Kauai that will astound and amaze your friends -- you on a surfboard. Oh, you don't surf; can't even swim? No problem. Drive down to Hawaiian Trading Post, at the intersection of Koloa Road and Kaumualii Highway. On the side of their building (facing the parking lot) is a fake backdrop with a surfboard and a huge wave (fashioned from plaster) that looks amazingly like the real thing. Bring your own camera (and bathing suit) and snap away.