The long awaited trip to warmer weather finally arrived. We left our motorhome in South Whidbey State Park at 4:00 AM and caught the 4:40 ferry for the Mukilteo and the drive to the airport. Leaving our car at the "Extra Car" car park, the shuttle took us to our check-in at Alaska Air to check our bags. Twenty minutes later after passing through security, we met Marni, Darren and Emma and had a bite to eat for breakfast.
The flight, though long, was uneventful as we landed at Kahalui Airport on Maui. The sun was shining, soft breezes carried the scents of Plumeria and Bouganvilla as we picked up our bags and made our way to Budget where we picked up our rental car. Then we were off to our lodgings at the Kaanapali Beach Club (http://www.diamondresorts.com/Ka%27anapali-Beach-Club-Photo-Gallery) arriving around 1:00 PM Maui time.After checking in we changed clothes and headed downstairs for a bite to eat before heading for the pool and beach. It was a beautiful day even though the winds were fairly strong and the surf was running. Later that evening we went into Kaanapali to the Castaway Cafe (http://www.castawaycafe.com/) for dinner on the beach.
After dinner we all retired to our rooms to rest up and get ready for the next day.
May 28th
The sun woke us up coming through our bedroom window. Tina made coffee and a little later everyone gathered in our room to discuss breakfast. We decided to try CJ's Deli and Diner (http://www.cjsmaui.com/). After breakfast we headed into Lahaina for a bit of a walkabout and a little shopping.Parking at the south end of town we walked back to the big Banyon Tree in Banyon Tree Park (http://www.hawaiiweb.com/maui/html/sites/banyan_tree.html) where there was a very nice arts and crafts sale going on. We spent an hour there then walked over to the Lahaina harbor marina where a fishing boat had come in and was displaying a huge Yellowfin Tuna and several other smaller Ahi. From there we walked through town checking out the shops on Front Street before heading back to Kaanapali and the pool.
We spent the rest of the day at the beach with pupu's and drinks from the poolside cafe, working on a tan, cooling off in the pool and checking out the waves. For dinner we walked across the street to a little place called "Nachos Grande" where we had a nice mexican meal of Burritos. Walking back to the hotel we went down to the beach to watch the sun set. What a beautiful day.
May 29th
Marni and Tina went grocery shopping this morning while Emma, Darren and I went down to the pool. We went to lunch in our room after the girls got back from shopping. The rest of the day was down at the pool and beach, after all, this was a vacation - heh, heh, with dinner at the poolside cafe.
May 30th
Today, Marni, Darren and Emma were going on a "Quad Tour" at the Kahoma Ranch (http://www.kahomaranch.com/) in the hills above Lahaina. Since Tina and I wanted to go to Hilo Hattie's, we dropped the kids off at the Ranch pickup point for their adventure. Then Tina and I went into town, parked in front of Hilo Hatties with the tour busses and went in to buy some new Hawaiian shirts for me and other goodies to bring home.
Leaving Hilo Hattie's we walked down to Old Lahaina and did some more shopping, finding a beautiful pendant necklace for Tina and and several nice pieces for Marni's birthday. The pendant was made from rose Gold with a curved setting for 1.6 carrets of Chocolate diamonds. The necklace was also of rose gold and even though the piece was deeply discounted, we weren't sure we wanted to spend that much. So we took their business card and said we'd think it over as we'd be in town for another five days.
By now it was time
to pick up the kids from their wheeled adventure so we walked back to the car and drove over to the New Lahaina business park. They arrived a few minutes after we got there looking like they'd been rolling in Maui's red dirt. It was time for lunch but they didn't feel comfortable going out like that, so we drove back to Kaanapali and dropped them off at the hotel. I had found a great little place for lunch called "Star Noodle", so we drove back to Lahaina for lunch. We shared an order of Pork buns which was served kinda like a taco in that it was pork inside of a folded bun rather than the usual stuffed bun. Tina had Pad Thai and I had Star Noodles which had generous pieces of roast pork, egg & delicious broth. I couldn't finish both the bun & the ramen as it was just too filling! Definitely worth the trip.After we went back to the hotel, Tina took Marni and Emma into Lahaina to show Marni the necklace she wanted. Needless to say, while they were ooohing and ahhhing over it Marni spotted a beautiful diamond crusted starfish pendant she fell in love with, naturally. Well, after drooling over the bling, the girls finally decided to forgo the thrill of acquiring some high end jewelery and came back to the hotel where we had a great pizza for dinner, ordered from the pizza place by the pool. And thus ended another beautiful day on Maui!
May 31st (Marni's Birthday)
Today we decided to do some exploring so we drove up to the north end of Maui looking for the blowholes at Nakalele Point. The drive from Kaanapali up past Napili through Kapalua and on to Nakalele Point is extraordinary and is part of the adventure drive around the North end of Maui over to Wailuku. We finally arrived and parked just off the road with several other intrepid explorers and walked down toward the lookout over the beach.Nakalele Blowhole is the result of the ocean wearing away the shore below the lava shelf. With each wave, water is forced through a hole in the lava shelf resulting in the "eruption" of water similar to a geyser. The "blowing" of the water varies dramatically depending on tide levels and wave action. High tide and strong surf result in the best effects, but we could see the geyser erupting on the point axs the waves pounded on the shore. After taking some photos we decided not to try and find our way down to the point being content to watch the waves crash in sending great gouts of water flying up into the air where the wind caught the geyser and fanned it out in a large spray.
After returning to the hotel we got ready to go to Marni's Birthday Lu'au at the Hyatt Regency. Having special seating we are among the first to enter the dining area. The Lu'au started when we were greeted with a shell lei and fresh mai tais or fruit punch before being seated. While the rest of the diners entered the dining area a local group performed traditional Hawaiian music and several dancers performed on the stage. This was followed by the torch lighting ceremony and the unveiling of the main dish, Kalua Pua'a, pit roasted whole pig. During dinner we were entertained with a Polynesian fashion show featuring the islands most exotic pareaus (sarong) in creative styles.After a sumptuous dinner and desert the second half of the entertainment proceeded with authentic dances and music of the old Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand, Tahiti, Tonga, and Rarotonga culminating with a fire dance and a return of the island princess. It was really spectacular and Marni enjoyed herself immensely!
After we got back to the hotel, Tina brought out a birthday cake and we had our own private birthday celebration, a nice way to end a wonderful day!
June 1st
After breakfast, Tina told Marni that we were going back into Lahaina to take them to Hilo Hattie's. Once the girls , including Emma, were done shopping, we decided to walk into Old Lahaina Town for lunch and to pick up the photos of Marni & Emma with the parrots. The guy with the parrots wasn't there so we stopped at Gold Island Jewelery to look at the necklace Tina liked. While I negotiated a price for the necklace, Marni showed Darren the one she wanted. While she was busy showing Darren, I asked the salesman to give me his best deal on both pieces. We struck a price and Tina told Marni "Happy Birthday"! Marni was blown away but we were happy we could get her a nice piece of jewelery she would enjoy and remind her of her trip to Hawaii.
After we returned to the hotel, Emma and I went and rented snorkle gear and went out to the reef in front of the hotel to get in a little practice in preparation for the next day. We went out twice during the afternoon and I was amazed at how quickly Emma took to it - she's a natural!
Later that evening we went to Moose McGillycuddys (http://moosemcgillycuddys.com/Lahaina-Maui.html) for dinner and to watch the sunset.
June 2nd
Another beautiful day in paradise. Everybody was up early as we had to be at slip 103 in Malea Harbor by 7:00 AM to catch our boat to Molokini. We got there a little early and found a parking spot within 50 yards of our boat, the "Quicksilver", a twin hulled dive boat with upper and lower decks and a cabin with a galley and bar.After signing in we were shown aboard and given a light breakfast of fruits and juices before heading out of the harbor for Molokini. The trip out to the island took about 45 minutes which allowed us to get fitted with "shorty" wet suits to help us keep warm in the cooler waters out in the main channel. Once we arrived at the anchorage, the dive master had us in the water almost immediately and the five of us spent a half hour or more swimming with the fish and marveling at all the different coral formations and colors.
From Molokini, the captain took us to a place south of Makena called Turtle Town where there are usually lots of big green sea turtle. We saw several as we anchored then it was into the water to look for turtles and check out all the fish swimming in the coral canyons of the reef. Simply beautiful. And turtles too! Marni, Darren, Tina and I came in early but Emma stayed out until the call back signal. She had a great time and saw lots of turtles.After leaving Turtle town we went in search of Dolphins while having a great lunch of pulled pork sandwiches, a great macaroni/potato salad, fruit and beverages of your choice.we didn't see any dolphins this trip but it was a really special trip with all the family time.
June 3rd
Our last day to play! We walked across the street for breakfast then went next door to Snorkle Bob's to rent gear for the day for me, Tina and Emma. The rest of the day we spent in the water, at the pool, relaxing and just taking it easy. Emma had a great time swimming with Tina and showing off her diving skills as we snorkled in front of the hotel. It was really special to spend time with Emma doing something she enjoyed that we could enjoy too!
Later we went to the Hula Grill (http://www.hulagrill.com/) in Whalers Village Shopping Center. We had an excellent dinner for our last night followed by one last opportunity to get in a little last minute shopping.
After our walk around Whalers Village we drove back to the hotel and basically called it a night since we had to be up early for our trip home.
June 4th
Once again we were up early for the trip to the airport. Everything went smoothly - the drive in to the airport, turning in the rental car, dropping off our baggage, getting through security and boarding our plane. The flight to Portland was uneventful (a good thing) as was our flight to Seattle. Arriving at SeaTac we all wnt down to the baggage claim area and got our bags. We were all sad the trip was over but happy to have had the opportunity to spend time together on a vacation we'll all remember for a long time!
Aloha!
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