With an early-February deadline for my second R01 submission, it was a race to the finish line as I scrambled to finish a draft of the proposal before our back-to-back trips for the Hawaiian Eye and Squaw Valley Retina meetings. Melody was out of town the week before our trip, which despite childcare assistance from in-laws kept me busy with Westley amidst pulling late nights for grant writing. I was up late packing for our Saturday morning flight when I found out that our connection had been compromised by a flight delay. Luckily, we rescued our trip by driving to SFO and arrived early enough to fill on breakfast tacos before boarding the now direct flight to Lihue. On arrival, we picked up our Ford Fiesta and enjoyed some tasty ahi wraps and karaage steam-bun sandwiches from Kikuchi’s, then drove through the tree tunnel to arrive at the Grand Hyatt for our stellar beach view room. Dinner at the Beach House was overpriced and underwhelming, despite the Pacific sunset. We awoke to French toast and crepes at Living Foods Market before embarking on the Kauai Plantation Railway for crop viewing, chicken chasing, and pig feeding.  After hearty oxtail soup and loco moco from Tip Top, we dipped into Poipu Beach, braving the rocky shallows and a sleeping Hawaiian monk seal, before another sunset dinner at Merriman’s and ice-cream from Lappert’s. On Monday, we munched on malasadas aboard our boat tour to the Fern Grotto as we relaxed to ukulele music and hula dancing along the Wailua River. We ignored the intermittent rain during our plate lunches from Mark’s Place before my ad board, and we met up with the Moshiri’s for dinner at touristy Keoki’s Paradise. On Tuesday, we toured the island’s secluded falls, coasts, and craters by helicopter as Westley entertained us with his ABCs over the intercom before dozing off for the last portion of the flight. Afterwards, we picked up poke and musubis from Ishihara Market en route to Waimea Canyon, where we encountered an unlicensed native Hawaiian story-teller and many chickens. We drove back to snorkel at Salt Pond Beach, share Good Vibes shave ice, and dine at Japanese Grandma’s Cafe to conclude the day. I spent most of Wednesday at the the conference before regrouping with the family for take-out poke and leftover pizza in the hotel room, and Eating House 1849 for dinner. On Thursday, we hiked the Maha’ulepu Heritage Trail to stunning ocean lookouts, then shared chicken n’ waffle and more loco moco at Nom Kauai on the way to Opaekaa Falls. We spent the afternoon lazing around Lydgate Beach Park’s elaborate playground and enclosed lagoon before returning for the hotel luau where Westley refused to join the hula stage performance. I wrapped up my final session Friday with poke and fried chicken from Koloa Fish Market, which we took aboard our flight home. Between the multiple talks, ad boards, and CME events, the Hawaiian Eye conference seemed tailored to commercial vendors and private practioners, but I was glad to bring my family to experience the beautiful Garden Island.