Sit for a while in the Mermaid Room of south Kauai's Allerton Garden, and your heart will thank you. The tranquil, outdoor setting's carefully crafted, pulsing water feature typically has a calming effect on visitors.
"If you listen to the fountain long enough, your heart rate will slow down to mimic the pulse, which is just slightly slower than the average heart rate," said Tessa McSwain, the marketing manager for the National Tropical Botanical Gardens (NTBG), which manages Allerton.
"It's gravity-fed," she said of the impressive water feature. "And the way the ripples in the fountain move the water creates a really steady pulse."
The Mermaid Room of Allerton Garden.
During a recent Kauai visit, I found myself wanting to linger awhile longer on my guided tour of the Mermaid Room, named for the pair of Italian stone mermaid statues standing at either end of the long fountain. The Mermaid Room is just one of several meticulously maintained sections of Allerton Garden, with each of the several rooms typically framed by a careful division of fragrant flowers, tropical plants and often-soaring trees.
According to McSwain, however, the attraction's beautiful visuals are only part of the intended impact. Sounds like those from the rhythmically pulsing water fountain were designed and installed very much on purpose.
"It's all created with nature and then accented with things like sculptures and water features and waterfalls," she said. "So it's a real sensory experience in the garden. It's not just beautiful to look at, but it's also beautiful to listen to and to smell."
Named for Robert Allerton, the only son of an affluent Chicago banking and real estate mogul, the garden sits at the ocean end of Lawai Valley on Kauai's southern coast. Allerton purchased the site in 1938 from the McBryde family, who owned a great deal of agricultural land on Kauai's south shore at the time and grew sugar cane in the upper sections of Lawai Valley. Allerton went on to design and plant the garden with his partner, Jon Gregg, an architectural designer with a similar passion for plants. Gregg also designed and oversaw construction on a home not far from Lawai Beach, where the two men later lived.
Guided daytime tours, lasting about 2.5 hours, are the most popular option for visiting Allerton. The tours take guests through all the outdoor garden rooms, and stories are shared about the stunning setting.
But the NTBG also offers visitors a sunset tour each day, featuring access to the interior of the Allerton house and a sit-down dinner on its ocean-facing lanai.
"It's a great meal in a really beautiful setting," McSwain said. "And the tour offers people a chance to get to know the Allertons on a more personal level by giving them an opportunity to go through their home and look through some of their collections."
A sculpture by Patrick Dougherty at McBryde Garden.
For Paula Simpson Takamori, owner of Travel to Paradise on Oahu, time in the fully furnished home with a well-informed guide was an absolute highlight.
"I loved the story of who the guy was," Takamori said of Allerton. "Plus it is just a beautiful old Hawaiiana-style home, and the history of it all is just incredible."
One of the home's many well-known visitors over the years stood out for Takamori.
"The fact that Jackie Kennedy came to curl up in a love seat there for a month after JFK was assassinated is just one of those images that has always stayed with me," she said, noting that the Bouviers and Allertons were close friends. "And you think about the kids [JFK Jr. and Caroline] being able to run up and down that area and have that beach to themselves. It's just such a beautiful spot."
Allerton Garden has also compiled an impressive film and TV resume over the years, providing a backdrop for movies such as "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," "Six Days, Seven Nights" and "Honeymoon in Vegas."
But the garden likely played its largest role in the original "Jurassic Park" film, with a couple of the destination's massive Moreton Bay fig trees providing a memorable location.
"That was a really pivotal moment in the story when they found the dinosaur eggs between the roots of these giant trees," McSwain said with a laugh. "Those trees are still in our Allerton Garden tour, [and] we get lots of visitors asking questions about that scene and wanting to know how they can see those trees."
And while Allerton seems to attract a great deal of the limelight, the NTBG's south Kauai garden attractions don't stop there.
A hibiscus blossom at McBryde Garden.
The facility's McBryde Garden, which occupies the northern portion of Lawai Valley, is also an enjoyable stop for visitors, especially those intrigued by what the Aloha State might have looked like before the first people arrived. McBryde is, in fact, home to the largest collection of native Hawaiian plants in the world.
"We have a lot of plants here now that aren't part of what was once the true Hawaii," Takamori explained. "And the garden is a great way of educating people about what is originally from here and what isn't."
Takamori also added that while Allerton is often a good fit for her older clients, McBryde is a great place for families with kids who may be interested in a picnic.
"McBryde tours are self-guided, and it's a place to go at your own pace, relax and immerse yourself in nature for the afternoon or for the day," McSwain said.
Walking through McBryde's native plant gardens was certainly a high point of my visit, and combined with the "canoe plant" trail, home to species brought to Hawaii more than 1,000 years ago by the first Polynesian explorers, the experience offers travelers a glimpse of what the first Westerners to arrive in Hawaii might have seen in 1778.
Along with the daytime guided tours of Allerton, the special sunset tour and the self-guided McBryde options, NTBG also features a combined product, a guided look at both Allerton and McBryde complete with a bonus for true plant enthusiasts.
"We take that tour to our horticultural center for a walk through the nursery, which is where we grow some of the really rare and endangered plants," McSwain said.
Tour prices start at $30 for adults and $15 for ages 6 to 12 at the NTBG's south Kauai facility.
Visit www.ntbg.org.