West Coast Maui

Thanks, Georgina for that Hana tip. It's nice to know the south road is open. I don't know when we'll get up enough energy to give that a try. The drive took a really, really long time.


Friday - After talking about how tired we all were and how we were going to do nothing today. Ha! We piled into the car and headed toward Lahaina and Ka'anapali. Our first stop the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Even though it's got some years on it, the Hyatt Regency Ka'anapali remains one of my favorite. I love strolling through their lobby.



This good looking guy, Roger, greeted visitors when they entered.


We checked out the koi in the pond next to the Weeping Banyon Bar and the Penguin Place. It must have been siesta time for we only saw one penguin snuggling up to an electrical box. We veered to the right and headed down to the waterfall bar at the pool.

When I see this I cannot help but recall this as the place where Hannah and Jeremy swam in Honeymoon Husband. Swan Court is where Hannah had her "romantic" dinner.


The Hyatt Regency's waterfalls are beautiful.


Almost as scenic as mother nature's.


We admired the restful Flamingo Sanctuary . . .

. . . and this is where I got the idea for Jeremy Gordon's profession.

After strolling around the nearly deserted lobby of the Hyatt Regency, tourism is down by at least 50%, we drove down the street to Whalers Village. We checked out the jewelry and art stores on our way to the Hula Grill for a delicious lunch.

At 3pm, or so, we headed down to Front Street, Lahaina. We visited the Banyon Tree, we told our cousins of the zillions of birds who made their home there . . . on this day they were oddly silent.

Just north of the Banyon Tree is the Parrot Guy (probably not his official name.) That guy, or I should say a guy, with a bunch of parrots, may or not be the same parrots, are always there offering to take your picture with his birds. Our kids had their picture taken nearly 20 years ago.


We stopped in at Crazy Shirt. It was fun to see their Stuff Dyed In: Beer, Hemp, Wine, Money, Ti Leaf, and Lavender. They have others but they might have not been on display.

We check out most of the jewelry and art stores on our way to Kimo's. HEY--linking on to Kimo's I came across their Hula Pie ad . . . we did not see that!

I wonder if it's worth a return trip?

We drove home to Kihei where our friends upstairs had finally arrived. Some of us had sandwiches for dinner, some had a bowl of Haupia ice cream, some . . . we won't mention names . . . had both. We stayed up until 8pm talking. They returned upstairs to finish unpacking and we went to bed. Some of us will claim they stayed up later because to go to bed before nine is just sad.

North Side of the Island

Thursday - This was the day we had decided to take the drive to Hana . . . not GO to Hana but drive the road toward Hana.

We drove north up the Mokulele Highway. Our first stop was the Sugar Museum. I cannot count the number of times the hubby and I had passed it over the years but this was the first time we stopped and took the tour. The largest question looming on our minds was: How long does it take for sugar cane to mature? The answer: 2 years.

Next, continuing on Highway 36 we stopped at Mama's Fish House in Paia for a wonderful lunch. I haven't been here in years. It is much nicer than I remember and the view was amazing . . . as was the food. Again, the fish was de-lish, and these are words coming from a non-fish eating person.

After lunch we rolled back into the car and, finally, headed toward Hana. If you've heard that it's windy and windy . . . it is. (Okay . . . so I had to ask the hubby how to spell both . . . cause I didn't want to say windy, as in all-turny, and have it mean windy, as in blowing air) in actuality it was both. Mostly all-turny roads windy. We pulled over to watch the surfers, wind-surfers, and para-surfers.

The mile markers, which we were using to find the stops, confused us. We had started at 3 only to have them reset at 5 or 6. We saw some waterfalls . . . were they Twin Falls or the falls near Waikamoi . . . we're not sure.

Next stop was the Garden of Eden. We enjoyed the many 'labeled' plants that we had noticed but had no idea what they were.



Continuing our trip, we took a left when we spotted Keanae Arboretum and headed for the the peninsula. We saw the taro beds, expansive shoreline with its wild, crashing waves.

There was a little house with two brown ponies in the front yard. I could have sworn the chair on the porch was rocking back and forth. I couldn't quite make out if there was really a person in the chair . . . but I thought I could make out some white shoes and maybe a newspaper they were reading.
I snapped a pic . . . what do you think?
On the way to our final stop we passed a rest stop. I only mention this because I only caught a glimpse of the weirdest sight. Next to the bathrooms there was a fenced in area.

Inside the fenced in area, there were chickens and cats . . .

LOTS of them, several herds roaming the inside of the corral together. There were also a bunch of people who had pulled over to look at them.

If I had been driving I would have stopped. I really mean LOTS of them.

Really. LOTS.

The last stop was Pua'a Ka'a State Park. We found another waterfall.

. . . and another wildlife creature: a Maui mongoose.

For the final time we piled into the car and headed home, returning well past dark. It had been a very long day. We enjoyed Komoda's apple pie and some Haupia ice cream for dinner. I was the first to hit the sack. I heard the other three soon followed. It had been a very long day for all of us.

Wednesday - The hubby thought this morning we should allow our guest to recoup after their travel day. We had brunch at the Grand Wailea and strolled around the grounds. We then walked down the coast to the Kea Lani and strolled through their interior. The women opted to sit in the lobby as the men hiked back up the road, back to the Grand Wailea for the car.

The remainder of the afternoon we spent in the condo. There was discussion of what we would do for the remainder of the week and just a bunch of general downtime. Unfortunately there was no, much needed, nap and I really didn't get to read much.

Around 5ish we headed over to the Shops at Wailea. They have WOW--Wailea on Wednesday where the art shops serve champagne and puu puus, sometimes there are artists appearances and wonderful Hawaiian bands perform. We wandered through the art stores--there was such amazing displays. I really enjoyed the glass work and am in awe of the tiny glass-encased jellyfish.


As artists cousin A and J looked at the art much differently than the hubby and I did. They "studied" it. Perhaps wondering how they could recreate what they were seeing. I do believe they appreciate it in an entirely different way than us normal people.

After the shops we headed down to Nick's Fishmarket, currently my favorite dinner restaurant on the island, at the Kea Lani Resort. We had such wonderful fish meals and we usually don't eat fish!

The waiters were so fast one could get knocked over. And if that wasn't enough, each table was not served by one waiter, it had FOUR! We ::rolled:: out of the restaurant and back home. Some of us optimistically believed we might have a slice of Komoda's apple pie with a scoop of Haupia ice cream.


We wanted to eat it but the reality was . . . we were just too full.


Don't feel too sorry for us. We'll get around to that apple pie soon!

What I needed was a nice long map--er, nap

Tuesday morning came much too early. Part of the problem is I struggled to keep my eyes open at 7 pm last night. I should have just gone to bed.

The hubby brewed our first Maui coffee... yum. And I was so busy Blogging that I missed my lanai sunrise writing time. Drat! So I guess I'm not as settled in as I would like to think I am.

We jumped in our Jeep and headed UpCountry, taking a right at the Makawao turnoff toward Kula. We wanted to see our other B&Bs option. It was a big ohana place with a wonderful view but completely deserted.

The only sign of Gabby was . . . well, the only sign you know a dog's been there. After visiting the abandoned Upcountry B&B we headed over to Makawao for lunch. The local wildlife was very friendly and came right up to us.


On our way to Komoda Bakery for cream puffs and an apple pie for our guests who arrive tonight, we came across this creature. He is as big as he seems.


I guess the big news it that we've traded in our adventure jeep for a ho-hum Taurus sedan. We've got 4 adults and the adventure jeep isn't going to cut it.

We returned to the condo where there were hours of reading and a nice long nap. Okay, so maybe it was only 20 minutes but that's a good nap for me.

We had a bite to eat for dinner and headed out to pick up Cousin A and J at the airport. They came in from Iowa--a very, very long flight--and we imagined they'd be very, very tired, which they were.

We sat on the lanai, in the dark, for some hours catching up before going to bed. We don't have any solid plans while they're here. We just want them to enjoy themselves and have a good time.

Move Day

Monday. . . today we say goodbye to the Lahaina B&B . . .


. . . drive to the south side of the island to Kihei. Of course it doesn't take that long. The day is gorgeous, the traffic. . . heavier every year. We pull up to register and I sit in the Jeep and snap our first home pic.


This is the view from the driveway outside the registration lobby. I'm thinking to myself . . . maybe we'll go there to snorkel, maybe we'll just snorkel off the shore here and dispense with the boating part. You never know.

It's a shock that our unit is ready for us. We've always had to wait until 4pm and we were just hoping to drop off our luggage and have them hold it for us while we traveled UpCountry. Our travel plans will have to wait and we settle into our unit.

I get to unpack EVERYTHING!

Now I can start to relax . . . once I can find my stuff . . . if I can find my stuff. I finished reading Silent in the Sanctuary that morning and tried to find a new book to ease into. Then I find the Christmas stocking I was cross-stitching last year which I must finish this year. Oh, my.

Then I find the small stack of Thank yous I need to write and mail . . . I want to know when does the vacation start?

Unpacking took us until 2pm, we stopped by the Rainbow Mall and had lunch at Maui Thai, the best Thai food we've had on the island. We had spring rolls (these may actually have been the best I have had in my life,) chicken pad thai noodles, Thai beef steak, and Thai sticky rice. I believe this subject needs more research before I can say it is the best.

After lunch we headed to the grocery store. Star Market, my favorite of last year, is the place we go first. There is a nice big, new Safeway but shopping there is just like shopping at home. It's not where I really want to go.

We need to get some milk, I check out the yogurt . . . I remember discovering guava, haupia, and lilikoi last year. The Meadow Gold yogurt section was depleted and I'll have to return. We did get some sweet bread for morning toast and some POG! It appears I am not the only one who loves it.

There were many, many bags to unload from the car and unpack in the house. By the time we had finished it was dinner time but neither of us, after our visit to Maui Thai, were ready for supper. We opted for puu puus. We headed over to the Five Palms Restaurant, a place that has been there since we started coming over twenty years ago and they/the hotel has just completed a very nice renovation.

The hubby ordered crab and shrimp sushi and I, coconut encrusted shrimp. It was one of those places where you didn't get much food, it was all about presentation, but you were licking every bit of it off your plate because it was so delicious. We washed this down with a chi-chi and the perfect Mai Tai.

This was the place where the perfect Mai Tai was found after a very long, laborious, thorough search of the island one year. The guys managed to extract the recipe from the bartender. A few years later, after the ownership had changed hands--a few times--they switched to a less expensive way of making Mai Tais which, apparently, was not as good.

The guys grumbled and complained so much then foisted the perfect Mai Tai recipe upon the new bartender of the new establishment, insisting they make and serve it. The following year, I believe, the establishment had done just that. We saved them.

Returning to our condo, we strolled out onto the lanai to see the night sky. The place where Jeremy Gordon in Honeymoon Husband came to be. We looked at Venus, setting in the west, and Jupiter, shining brightly despite the moon-shine. Off to the south there was a triangular glow which I immediately knew was Zodiacal light. (I heard an astronomer talking about it on PBS.)

After I ran to the computer to look it up, confirm it was what I had thought . . . it had gone. I guess I'll have to wait until tonight to see it again.

Much Too Busy

Sunday morning the hubby and I woke early . . . well, early for Maui, late for us. We managed to t-a-k-e our t-i-m-e and finally we headed out for coffee. There was no way we could wait until the B&B breakfast at 7:30 a.m.

We walked to Starbucks and purchased a cuppa. It’s not what we’re used to… see Barefoot Coffee.

By 7:30, 9:30/10:30 DST our time, I was ready for breakfast. I had the best-est, most amazing French toast ever. It even would have been good without the two cups of maple syrup I accidentally dumped on it. It was a good thing I had a large plate so the excess could drip off and out of my bite-sized pieces. I ::think:: it was the type of bread they used. . . oh-my-dog! Totally de-lish.

The hubby and I jumped in our Jeep and headed north—past Kaanapali, we withstood the blustery winds and past the golf courses at Kapalua. We passed the snorkelers at Honolua Bay and pulled into a turnout to gaze down at them, wondering how they found a path to the beach . . . and wondered if we, too, could find it.


He wanted to go as far as we could . . . and the nice four lane road dwindled down to a narrow two lane, windy paved street. We pulled into another turnout to gaze across the amazing dark blue ocean at Molokai.


We passed Honokohua Bay still determined to make our way toward Kahului until we saw a large, gigantic gray area ahead. One does not usually see rain approach from off shore but there it was coming at us. We did not know how watertight our vehicle was and we’re . . . well, we did not want to get wet. So we turned around and headed south. We never reached the most northern point.

We returned to the land of the resorts. Between the Westin Maui and Ka’anapali Resort Hotel is Whalers Village home of the pleasant, outdoor restaurant Hula Grill. We ordered the shrimp cocktail, which were huge prawns, and an Ahi fish sandwich, along with the delicious Macadamia nut crab wontons.

I was disappointed that I wasn’t completely blown away when I sampled my first one. I discovered that my crab wontons, although a different shape, tasted very much like the ones I make. I will, in the future, make sure to add chopped Macadamia nuts since I think they are a wonderful alteration to the recipe. I learned of Hula Grill from Kate Rothwell's Blog interview with Diane Farr.

We went back to the B&B for more reading, me, and a nap, the hubby. This is, after all, our vacation, and that’s what we do to gear down. I think all in all we are over-doing the outings. We need to do more “nothing” but we are excited to be here and would like to take advantage of what Hawaii has to offer.

In the late afternoon we headed back to the Old Lahaina Book Emporium just off Front Street. We must have spent at least a good half hour browsing the shelves. I passed an enormous number of Dean Koontz, Clive Cussler, and Nora Robert's books. Of course, there was a large selection of Hawaii books, and near them, Mark Twain. I believe he has a connection with the islands as well.

I must confess that I did walk out of the store with a new purchase but felt I had to deny myself more because of space issues. Luggage-wise and shelf-wise at home. You know . . . so many books, so little space.

Our last stop for the evening was at Longhi's. The place has been there forever . . . I saw it twenty years ago on my first visit and have never stepped inside. We had drinks and shared some puu puus then walked along Front Street back to our B&B.

Another hour or so of reading and it was lights out. We stayed up past 8:30!

Sunset in Paradise

Saturday night
The hubby and I walked over to Front Street to find a place to eat dinner. After we walked... east? and came across Lahaina's famous Banyon tree.

You cannot imagine the noise of hundreds, maybe thousands, of birds screeching in this huge, serene tree. Anyway... we also came across, one of many, many, many, wonderful plumeria trees.


We did an about face at the end of Front Street and headed west back toward Kimo's, the only landmark I know. We came across The Lahaina Fish Company. We shared Ono and Ahi, and sampled their house soup... a seafood chowder. There, we also had our first umbrella drinks: a chi-chi and lava flow...and our first Maui sunset.

No ka oi. What adventures await us tomorrow? I don't know. But there was a little shoppe I spied during our trek down Front Street I want to revisit.

Aloha.

Gone to Maui!

I made it. This year the hubby and I are in a B&B for a few days before landing in our normal digs. It extends our vacation by a few days, making it 17 days, this year.

I can't wait until I recover so I can enjoy myself. I brought along some books from the RWA National Conference that I wanted to savor. I'm really looking for forward to some downtime.