Happy 50th Birthday to Laurie

Today is Laurie's day.  Before breakfast, we went for a nice 3-mile jog along the coastline.  Gorgeous.

After another great breakfast at the hotel, we headed for a snorkel spot on the south shore about a 5 minute drive away.  There were quite a few people at this well known snorkel location and for good reason.  The coral reef was nice here and the sea life plentiful.  I saw several fish I don't remember ever seeing before.  A beautiful spotted box fish with yellow on top and blue on its sides.  Looked like this only better under water:

I also saw a zebra moray eel but it refused to come out of its protective hole in the coral.  I have seen several types of eels before.  They are always a bit weird to see.  This one looked like this:

After our snorkeling adventure, we went back to the hotel for a quick lunch before our LONG massage session at the Anara Spa here at the Grand Hyatt.  Here are a few photos from early afternoon:

After the massage, we sampled a fine chardonnay before heading to dinner at The Beach House restaurant, one of the finest restaurants on Kauai (according to all the guide books I read).

The restaurant was spectacular.  As the sun was setting, we relaxed at the bar while our table was being prepared (Yes, it was a special birthday table preparation.)  This is the view from inside the restaurant!   There were literally dozens and dozens of people outside on the lawn watching the sublime sunset.  A more magical sunset setting is hard to imagine.  There was a palpable buzz in the room as everyone took in the quintessential Hawaiian sunset.  EVERYONE was taking pictures to document the special moment.

And here is our special table complete with a fine bottle of one of Laurie's favorite wines, a Kistler chardonnay.

Laurie was a little verklempt (one of the best words EVER) and that was what I was going for!

Here is the happy couple:

All in all, it was a great day...