Friday, May 22, 2009
Maui 2009
DAY 1: This trip started off a lot differently. For starters I wasn't stressed about my job the whole time, and I was much more looking forward to the trip, and in a much better mood on the plane ride there! Well I am never really a fan of over 5 hours on the plane, but after my Hawaiian beer, and some sleep, I woke up pretty close to Maui. We entered into a sea of clouds, which as it turned out, would be hanging out for at least the first few days. This time as well, rather than waiting an hour for the shuttle to leave and having it drop off a few more couples, we were able to get our rental car almost right away, and as an added perk, stop at "Da Kitchen" for lunch. The food was ok but it was really good to be in Maui! Another perk was a stop at the giant liquor store for some supplies (ie liquor and beer). We were driving in our (compact) Dodge Caliber, and I knew the road as if it had not been three years since I had been here. Not a lot of time past before it was bathing suits and the swimming pool, but it was a bit cold, and the hot tub was much more inviting. That and the Lakers Jazz game was on! I had my traditional first bud light at the bar, and proceded to drink the rest of the beers I brought down with me in my beer bag (great $5 investment at Wal-Mart). We met some guys from the Pacific Northwest (recurring theme for the trip) and they had a jug of liquor concoction, so I felt less bad about bringing beer down to the pool. A Hawaiian musician (who looked and sounded like Brutha Iz) with a yukele played for us by the pool, and the Seattle guys went up there and sang with him. After catching a good buzz and a nap, we headed over to Leilanis in Whalers Village, where I had a gardenburger and tried some of Shaunas fish and chips. When in Rome! I met a local shop owner who was very appreciative when I pointed out that the bartender ordered him the wrong food. The night, as per the usual in Hawaii, ended fairly early.
DAY 2: A fairly unsatisfying breakfast at Whalers Village started off the day, followed by a cloudy day by the pool. The beers were the better part of the afternoon. I braved the cold long enough to do the water slide, and it was off to Lahaina for Warren And Annabelle's. We had dinner at the Hard Rock. We must have been starving because we ordered a bit of everything! Perfect open air ocean view table. We also finally saw David as his shave ice stand. We then went to the show, where you have drinks and listen to "Annabelle the ghost" play requests on the piano. The whole thing was kind of cheesey but we met a nice couple from Oregon and they talked about their yearly trips to Maui. Something about this place I guess! The coconut porter wasnt half bad either. The Warren part of the show was amazing. Not only was the magic good, but I was dying of laughter the whole time. He was hillarious, put on a good show, and the best part was when he was making fun of everyone. We did some shopping at ABC and Hilo Hattie (another recurring theme) and headed back to the hotel.
DAY 3: The weather was trying to get better. A better breakfast at our buffet (which you have to do at least once), but at $60 after our discount, only once!. After about an hour, I finally talked Shauna into doing some snorkeling over at black rock. Before we even got in a sea turtle swam right up to shore, almost as it to investigate what was going on. After about 5 minutes in the water she was hooked, and there were so many fish to look at, amazing colors, and tons of coral, especially over at the tip of black rock. But look out for the divers overhead! After a couple hours, we changed and took a walk up Ka'anapali over to the Hyatt to see the penguins, and R2D2, the coolest parrot ever. We had to head to Lahaina, for the Banyan Tree's birthday, which wasnt all that exciting. Not the tree, but the birthday party. We had some pizza at this place where the girl who worked there, also worked at Da Kitchen. Lots of people from the mainland live here and have not been here for too long a period of time. We gave the rest of the food to David and he gave us a super ono shave ice. I ate it so fast it was ridiculous. I found the big Buddha for Shauna, and then it was off to the Luau. We were stuck at a table with some weird, overly drunk Canadians, who ended up being ok after we started talking about sports. People seem to bond over obscure baseball conversation, and ordering every tropical drink on the menu. The food was ok, the show and the music was good, but the free booze was great and BOY did I ever get my moneys worth.
DAY 4: Heavenly Hana. We actually did make it out of the hotel by about 8, and made it to Charleys by 9:30 for truly the best breakfast of the trip (recurring theme). There was a sensational Bulls/Celtics game and the Rockets also beat the Blazers today. The veggie scramble was so good, and the perfect start before the windy road. Our first stop was twin falls, and my first banana bread stand. I bought a couple of things, and gave the nice German lady a tip. There was a rastafarian guy selling some hemp jewelry under the bamboo, and we took a nice hike down to where the falls are. This is the stuff I never got to see when Jeff sped along the highway, hellbent on getting to Oheo Gulch! One of the falls was shut off, but it was still really nice and surreal down there. Well, after spending about an hour here, we were walking up towards the car, when I could not feel my keys anywhere. Not in the pockets, bag, nowhere. No cell phone reception, and too far from civilization. This is not good! I ran back over to the campground and the German lady gave me a look like...I have something of yours. Thank goodness for tipping and the nice German lady who found and held onto my cars for me. I imagined far worse possibilities! I got some more goodies at the Huelo lookout, and proceded to stop at every banana bread stop and waterfall picture site along the way. A lot more hiking, getting dirty, and fun. I found the fruit stand we stopped at on the last trip and bought some of my favorite coconut candy and the Mango banana bread, and got a veggie taco from Up In Smoke bbq. After hours, we made it to Hana, thinking we were in time for the East Maui Tarot Festival, but it was too late, so we went to Black Sand Beach. We explored the Blowhole, the Lava Tube, and hung out on the beach for a while. The road always seems longer on the way back than the way there! We were so tired when we got back, but after a nap, we went to the same mall in Lahaina we always go to and had a Mexican dinner. I had a Modelo Especial, which reminded me of Mexico! I always long for the other places, even when I am IN one of those places!
DAY 5: We had breafast in bed for Shaunas birthday, and went down to the pool. It was HOT HOT HOT!! The ice cold beers were extra delicious, and Antoine joined us. Boy that guy is a character. He was hiting on some married lady from Hawaii, uh, joking of course, but it was nice of him to have a few beers with us before he headed into work. We then went tubing in the waves, and all was fine and dandy until I got flattened by this wave and lost my sunglasses =(
We had a pretty mellow night in Lahaina, had dinner at Aloha Mixed Plate, and we did some more shopping.
DAY 6: Off to Lahaina for our snorkel cruise with Pacific Whale Foundation! This was a bit different than other snorkel cruises that I have been on, with the emphasis on the environment and education, and less on the booze. (Dont worry I still got mine) We took the one hour ride to Lanai, spotted a dolphin, and everyone went crazy. When we pulled into the harbor, imagine when we saw over a hundred dolphins, swimming, diving, and jumping out of the water. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. After they cleared out it was time for snorkeling, and after getting used to the cold water, the under water world was absolutely amazing. The coral and the rocks were like nothing I have seen before. The colors of fish I have seen, but we all spotted a squid which was pretty amazing. Spot 2 was not as good as spot one, but as usual, I was last to get back on the boat. The bbq lunch was pretty good, but the ice cold miller lite was even better! We spotted some whales on the way back to Lahaina. All in all a great trip. We had a little bit more pool time and water sliding, did some more shopping at Whalers Village, and went to Lahaina for dinner. After changing our mind fifty times, we ended up having a really good dinner at Cool Cat restaurant. The Hula Chicken was decent, but the onion rings were better. They even had live jazz music, and I think one of the bartenders were singing. We gave the rest of the food to David and met him for dollar drinks at Moose McGillicuddys. This has to be the most ridiculous deal on the island. We had two beers and a shot of rumpleminze and goldschlager for $8. This is the land of ONE drink costing TWELVE dollars. Of course this place was packed, but well worth it! We said goodbye to David, and went back to the hotel to pack. I hate this part too!
DAY 7: Packing last night enable us to go to what was REALLY the best breakfast of the trip, at the Gazebo in Napili. Everyone was saying to go here, so we finally did and boy did we wish we did it earlier! I was discouraged by the line, but I would wait in line ten times over. It was a perfect Maui morning. The sun was shining, the pog juice was flowing, the popeye omellete was good, and the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pancakes were the best thing I ever tasted. We had about two more hours or so of pool time, and it was Aloha and Mahalo. I love this place and will be back soon!
DAY 2: A fairly unsatisfying breakfast at Whalers Village started off the day, followed by a cloudy day by the pool. The beers were the better part of the afternoon. I braved the cold long enough to do the water slide, and it was off to Lahaina for Warren And Annabelle's. We had dinner at the Hard Rock. We must have been starving because we ordered a bit of everything! Perfect open air ocean view table. We also finally saw David as his shave ice stand. We then went to the show, where you have drinks and listen to "Annabelle the ghost" play requests on the piano. The whole thing was kind of cheesey but we met a nice couple from Oregon and they talked about their yearly trips to Maui. Something about this place I guess! The coconut porter wasnt half bad either. The Warren part of the show was amazing. Not only was the magic good, but I was dying of laughter the whole time. He was hillarious, put on a good show, and the best part was when he was making fun of everyone. We did some shopping at ABC and Hilo Hattie (another recurring theme) and headed back to the hotel.
DAY 3: The weather was trying to get better. A better breakfast at our buffet (which you have to do at least once), but at $60 after our discount, only once!. After about an hour, I finally talked Shauna into doing some snorkeling over at black rock. Before we even got in a sea turtle swam right up to shore, almost as it to investigate what was going on. After about 5 minutes in the water she was hooked, and there were so many fish to look at, amazing colors, and tons of coral, especially over at the tip of black rock. But look out for the divers overhead! After a couple hours, we changed and took a walk up Ka'anapali over to the Hyatt to see the penguins, and R2D2, the coolest parrot ever. We had to head to Lahaina, for the Banyan Tree's birthday, which wasnt all that exciting. Not the tree, but the birthday party. We had some pizza at this place where the girl who worked there, also worked at Da Kitchen. Lots of people from the mainland live here and have not been here for too long a period of time. We gave the rest of the food to David and he gave us a super ono shave ice. I ate it so fast it was ridiculous. I found the big Buddha for Shauna, and then it was off to the Luau. We were stuck at a table with some weird, overly drunk Canadians, who ended up being ok after we started talking about sports. People seem to bond over obscure baseball conversation, and ordering every tropical drink on the menu. The food was ok, the show and the music was good, but the free booze was great and BOY did I ever get my moneys worth.
DAY 4: Heavenly Hana. We actually did make it out of the hotel by about 8, and made it to Charleys by 9:30 for truly the best breakfast of the trip (recurring theme). There was a sensational Bulls/Celtics game and the Rockets also beat the Blazers today. The veggie scramble was so good, and the perfect start before the windy road. Our first stop was twin falls, and my first banana bread stand. I bought a couple of things, and gave the nice German lady a tip. There was a rastafarian guy selling some hemp jewelry under the bamboo, and we took a nice hike down to where the falls are. This is the stuff I never got to see when Jeff sped along the highway, hellbent on getting to Oheo Gulch! One of the falls was shut off, but it was still really nice and surreal down there. Well, after spending about an hour here, we were walking up towards the car, when I could not feel my keys anywhere. Not in the pockets, bag, nowhere. No cell phone reception, and too far from civilization. This is not good! I ran back over to the campground and the German lady gave me a look like...I have something of yours. Thank goodness for tipping and the nice German lady who found and held onto my cars for me. I imagined far worse possibilities! I got some more goodies at the Huelo lookout, and proceded to stop at every banana bread stop and waterfall picture site along the way. A lot more hiking, getting dirty, and fun. I found the fruit stand we stopped at on the last trip and bought some of my favorite coconut candy and the Mango banana bread, and got a veggie taco from Up In Smoke bbq. After hours, we made it to Hana, thinking we were in time for the East Maui Tarot Festival, but it was too late, so we went to Black Sand Beach. We explored the Blowhole, the Lava Tube, and hung out on the beach for a while. The road always seems longer on the way back than the way there! We were so tired when we got back, but after a nap, we went to the same mall in Lahaina we always go to and had a Mexican dinner. I had a Modelo Especial, which reminded me of Mexico! I always long for the other places, even when I am IN one of those places!
DAY 5: We had breafast in bed for Shaunas birthday, and went down to the pool. It was HOT HOT HOT!! The ice cold beers were extra delicious, and Antoine joined us. Boy that guy is a character. He was hiting on some married lady from Hawaii, uh, joking of course, but it was nice of him to have a few beers with us before he headed into work. We then went tubing in the waves, and all was fine and dandy until I got flattened by this wave and lost my sunglasses =(
We had a pretty mellow night in Lahaina, had dinner at Aloha Mixed Plate, and we did some more shopping.
DAY 6: Off to Lahaina for our snorkel cruise with Pacific Whale Foundation! This was a bit different than other snorkel cruises that I have been on, with the emphasis on the environment and education, and less on the booze. (Dont worry I still got mine) We took the one hour ride to Lanai, spotted a dolphin, and everyone went crazy. When we pulled into the harbor, imagine when we saw over a hundred dolphins, swimming, diving, and jumping out of the water. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. After they cleared out it was time for snorkeling, and after getting used to the cold water, the under water world was absolutely amazing. The coral and the rocks were like nothing I have seen before. The colors of fish I have seen, but we all spotted a squid which was pretty amazing. Spot 2 was not as good as spot one, but as usual, I was last to get back on the boat. The bbq lunch was pretty good, but the ice cold miller lite was even better! We spotted some whales on the way back to Lahaina. All in all a great trip. We had a little bit more pool time and water sliding, did some more shopping at Whalers Village, and went to Lahaina for dinner. After changing our mind fifty times, we ended up having a really good dinner at Cool Cat restaurant. The Hula Chicken was decent, but the onion rings were better. They even had live jazz music, and I think one of the bartenders were singing. We gave the rest of the food to David and met him for dollar drinks at Moose McGillicuddys. This has to be the most ridiculous deal on the island. We had two beers and a shot of rumpleminze and goldschlager for $8. This is the land of ONE drink costing TWELVE dollars. Of course this place was packed, but well worth it! We said goodbye to David, and went back to the hotel to pack. I hate this part too!
DAY 7: Packing last night enable us to go to what was REALLY the best breakfast of the trip, at the Gazebo in Napili. Everyone was saying to go here, so we finally did and boy did we wish we did it earlier! I was discouraged by the line, but I would wait in line ten times over. It was a perfect Maui morning. The sun was shining, the pog juice was flowing, the popeye omellete was good, and the White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Pancakes were the best thing I ever tasted. We had about two more hours or so of pool time, and it was Aloha and Mahalo. I love this place and will be back soon!
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