Even though many stores were closed and craft fairs weren’t being held, I still tried my best to find some hidden gems on Kauai. There were some people and places I loved, but for many different reasons I couldn’t include them in the Kauai kit. Many items, however, make great gifts for yourself or other Hawaii fanatics.

At the top of my list was Popo’s Cookies, their slogan is “You’ve tried da rest, now try da best!” They are located in Hanapepe. Our crew was divided over their favorite flavor. My oldest and I liked the white chocolate cranberry (and I’m not a white chocolate fan) and the Chocolate Krispie was preferred by the rest of the household. Erin Cornett is the owner and baker of these delightful morsels.

Every couple of weeks I treated myself to a beautiful tropical flower bouquet from Tropical Flowers Express  who usually can be found at the Farmer’s Markets, Wednesday night at The Shops @ Kukui’ula and Saturdays at the Kaua’i Community College. In researching this article, I also found out that they can ship to the mainland. Who needs roses when you can have beautiful red anthuriums?

One afternoon we were able to slip out and do a quick tasting at the Koloa Rum Company. We are fortunate that we can get many of the varieties back home, but it was great to be able to try some of the specialty rums (spice, chocolate, and coconut). We brought home the specialty 12 year, which we save for those moments when we are missing the islands and want that ‘spiritual’ connection. Koloa Rum carries one of my favorite ready-made non-alcoholic maitai mixes, Kukui brand. Right now alcohol products cannot be shipped out of Hawaii direct to customer, but there is a pending bill in the state legislature to change that.

In addition to Popo’s Cookies in Hanapepe, there are so many cute stores and galleries. In addition to Banana Patch Studios and Aloha Spice, which we included in our Kauai Kit, you can find jewelry from A Shell of a Life, buy books from the westernmost bookstore Talk Story, or beautiful pieces at the Island Art Gallery.

The Coconut Marketplace was another great stop. I wish I could have had a bottle of the barbeque sauce from Chicken in a Barrel. Pineapples Boutique had some gorgeous prints and I bought swim covers for many of my female family members. My mom brought home beautiful stained glass from Hawaiian Artisans. My sand chicken featured in the video was from the Janath Collection.

You’ll never go wrong bringing home coffee from Kauai, whether it is from the small-batch Kauai Roastery or the more commercial, Kauai Coffee. The Kauai Roastery was in our holiday 2019 kit and remains an ohana favorite.