Thursday, June 5, 2014

Maui, May 2014

Gorgeous flowers
Last stop on this epic trip, the island of Maui.....

We saved the best for last. When we came to Hawaii five years previous, we loved Maui the best, and we agreed once again that it's our favorite island. We actually stayed at the same place as we did five years ago, which is a very nice condo right in Lahaina, about a five minute walk to Front Street, which has tons of art galleries, stores, restaurants, bars....perfect location! Once we arrived and checked in, we headed right to Front Street for some cocktails and appetizers while watching the sunset (it pains me to write that now, haha, being back to "reality"). Later we headed to the Lahaina Fish Company and had some yummy macadamia nut encrusted Mahi Mahi!

First night in Maui
Our first full day we headed to Ka'anapali Beach with our rental car, about 15 minutes away. We laid out for a while and then went to Duke's (yes, Duke's again!) and had an A'u fish sandwich-yum-o! Later we hung out by the pool....ah, vacation.

Let's just say, we did a lot of relaxing in Maui. Laying out, swimming, eating, drinking....what vacation is all about! We had a list of different things to do on the island, and chatted about what was a necessity, a possibility, or a pass. Overall, we really went with lounging by day, whether beach or pool, and dinner/drinks at night. Isn't it amazing when you're on vacation that those are your biggest problems: "Beach or pool? Which restaurant tonight?"

On Saturday night during our trip we went to the Old Lahaina Luau! My advice is that you must go to a luau when you go to Hawaii! We went to this same luau on our last trip and were lucky to get spots that opened up from someone cancelling...they were booked almost three weeks out! We had a great time at this (open bar) luau! :) After the luau we stopped at a hibachi restaurant turned into a karaoke bar and had some very wacky entertainment there!! We had some drinks and some good laughs!
Mom and I at the Old Lahaina Luau
Luau

The following day we had a little excursion to Napili Beach (about 20 minutes away)...absolutely beautiful! So, my goal was to find this hidden spot where you could snorkel with sea turtles. I did my research online and knew I had to look for a dirt path on one end of this beach. When we arrived, I did a little exploring up one path on one side of the beach, but it eventually led to nothing-the path just ended, so I turned around. I had rented some snorkel equipment, but had talked to some of the guys who worked right at the beach and they said visibility was crappy AND there was a tiger shark sighting somewhat recently...my odds of finding this hidden spot were not looking good, along with the sharks cramping my style!

Anyway, while I was on shore, I saw this big shadow swimming near all the swimmers, and it was swimming along the length of the beach from one end to the other. This shadow popped his little head up-a sea turtle! The people were oblivious so I'd yell out to them "Hey, look down!!" and they'd see this massive turtle swimming within inches of them. I was running like a major dork along the beach "following" this sea turtle--too scared to go in and swim near him because he was so big and I guess maybe nervous he'd bite me, haha. He was so cool when he'd pop his head up! Anyway, that got me all jazzed up and renewed my goal of finding this darn spot and getting my sea turtle experience!! I ran into a couple who were raving about their swim with the sea turtles "just over there" when they pointed to the opposite end of the beach I had explored-ah ha! So I gathered up my snorkel gear, and Mom, and we trekked over this sandy path, stony path, along some condos, through a gate that said "do not enter-no trespassing" and found the spot. The only thing was...I had to climb down slippery rocks to get to the entry spot, and this spot was the crashing point of some waves which swirled up a pretty serious current. Meaning, if you entered at the wrong time, you'd get smashed into the rocks. (No big deal). Mom was all nervous and such, and I was too..but I gave myself a little pep talk "Ah hello, you're right here, how often are you going to be in Hawaii at a spot to snorkel with sea turtles?! Get your butt in there!" and psyched myself up and got in. I timed the crashing waves and paddled out with no drama.

Napili Beach
Lo and behold, I started swimming around and within minutes, saw sea turtles swimming below me! It was this natural cove where they live/swim. It was AMAZING! The longer I stayed in, the more turtles I saw, and the more that I got to swim alongside...I'd even say hi to them.  It was honestly a really special moment and something that you can't say you get to do often! A true highlight of the trip. And, I didn't get smashed into the rocks on the way back in, either, so double score!

The following day was another beach in the AM, poolside by the afternoon kind of day. It was actually our second-to-last day, wahhh. We went to a fancy dinner that night, and picked up some ice cream on the way home. Oh, did I mention we got a little addicted to ice cream in Maui? Macadamia nut...coconut with macadamia nuts...chocolate with macadamia nuts...YUM! Not to mention that a pint was $10...woops.

Our last day was pretty awesome because our flight left at 10:30 pm so we had a full day of breakfast, shopping, pool lounging, staring at the palm trees while floating in the pool...just trying to sink it all in...let the sun warm us to the bones..Finished our trip with our final Mai Tais,and a gorgeous sunset.
Final sunset of our trip-in Maui

So...it was an amazing trip. Three islands, twelve nights....really a memorable and beautiful trip. When you're gone that long, you really do lose touch with reality a little-which works wonders! I didn't think about mundane things like paying bills, the work I needed to get done on the rust spot on my car, etc etc. I truly escaped and enjoyed each moment as much as possible. I'm so thankful my Mom and I are the best of travel buddies--we spent about two weeks together and had smiles on our faces for it all. We both agreed in the future, WHEN we go to Hawaii again, we'd probably do two islands maximum-Oahu and Maui-or even just Maui. There is so much to do and see if you have a rental car and a curiosity to see more of each island. So...until the next adventure....Aloha!

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