Hanapepe on Friday Night

Four blocks of wooden-front buildings painted in colors that would get you reported to an HOA on the mainland — red, turquoise, mustard, lavender. Hanapepe calls itself "Kauai's Biggest Little Town" and the self-deprecation is accurate.

Friday is Art Night. Galleries open their doors, wine appears on folding tables, the whole town becomes a walking exhibition. Banana Patch Studio sells hand-painted tiles and pottery that manage to be tropical without being corny. Talk Story Bookstore is the westernmost bookstore in the US — dusty, curated, run by someone who reads everything she sells.

The Hanapepe Swinging Bridge bounces when you walk it, which is either fun or terrifying depending on who you are. The view from the middle is the river valley — red and green walls, brown water moving slow below. Not postcard-pretty. Real-pretty.

Eat before Art Walk starts at six. Japanese Grandma's Cafe does plate lunches in portions that suggest the owner considers small servings a personal insult.