ALOHA! OUR TRIP TO MAUI

You may want to go potty and get a snack. 'Cause folks, this is going to be a tad lengthy.

On Monday, Max and I got home from a full week on Maui. We went kid-free with Max's brother and his wife, in celebration of the business being open for 10 years. Unfortunately, we failed to take our camera with us most of the time but we did get a few shots and I will scatter some of the non-unflattering ones with you in this post...

I have to start the travelogue of our trip with these three words: my parents rock. On Saturday the 12th, my mom flew out from California to stay with Hudson and Claire. Then halfway through our trip, my dad came to join her and lighten the load. We are beyond grateful to them for taking time out of their busy schedules to stay with the kids so that we could take off and relax. Thanks, Mom and Dad!!!

Rather than bore you all with a lengthy play-by-play of our entire trip (we all know I can go on just a little bit), I'm just going to go with a bit of info on where we stayed, our fave food experiences, and a few highlights. Natrually, the food part may actually be just the kind of lengthy play-by-play that I am hoping to avoid.

We left the afternoon of Sunday the 13th, arriving on Maui just before 8:00 that evening. Considering how insanely early it gets dark there, that left us with nothing to do but check in at the hotel (Westin Ka'anapli Ocean Resort Villas...my kind of place!), run back into Lahaina to shop at Safeway, eat a super late dinner in our villas, and go to bed.

On Monday, we decided to take the road to Hana but thanks to my sense of memory/direction being faulty that day, we ended up taking the road from Ka'anapali up past Napili and Kapalua and ended up in Kahalui where we came in at the airport the night before. If we had chosen to drive on to Hana from there, it would have taken another 5-6 hour chunk out of our day. Oops! My mom helped me feel a little bit better about my mistake when she told me that she would have made the same error. Anyways, while it wasn't the drive we originally wanted to take, we still enjoyed ourselves. We saw the blowhole along the coast, made several stops to enjoy the scenery, passed the jungle-like entry to my favorite snorkeling spot at Honolua Bay, paid a ridiculous $5 to a local for a small baggie of fresh pineapple, and drove on a semi-scary one lane road for several miles. The views were, of course, gorgeous, and I think that we all had a good time. As previously stated, we ended up in Kahalui. We pulled into the main shopping center/mall there and had lunch at one of my Southern California faves: Ruby's. Nothing like a shared Super Burger and a tasty shake to make one's day (especially after making a totally lame mistake like I did). We all enjoyed doing some shopping at the mall after lunch and then retreated to the hotel where we did some resting, snorkeling, and swimming.

Max and I at one of our stops along the NW shore with the island of Molokai in the background.

Now comes the quicker run-through of the rest of our trip. Aside from the drive on Monday, most of the rest of our week was spent in the Lahaina/Ka'anapli area. Those of you who have been there know that Lahaina is fun for shopping and walking around and between Front Street and the Lahaina Cannery "Mall", we participated in this time-sucking activity on a few occasions.

Another favorite thing to do involved - of course - going to the beach, swimming or relaxing in the warm ocean, and swimming in the pool (which was basically on the beach). We did make an attempt at snorkeling at Honolua Bay but rains from the day before created some horribly muddy runoff and they wouldn't even let people in the water. Bummer! We did stop the car above the bay on our way back to the hotel and could see that the murky brown water extended a good 150-200 feet into the bay. Beyond that it was crystal clear but even as much as I was dying to be out there, I wouldn't swim through that nastiness if you paid me. Well, depends on how much would you'd offer. Thankfully, the snorkeling out in front of our hotel was quite good - we were told that it is as good as it is at Black Rock (which we didn't bother with after hearing that). I was a little put out that I never saw a sea turtle during my swims, though I did spot one from a distance in Napili one day. The best (and/or rarest) things that I saw while snorkeling were puffer fish, a moray eel, needle fish, and a few white spotted tobies.

The last thing that I'll note is that I had my 1st mani/pedi ever while there (my 1st pedicure was just a week before). The hotel's spa was completely wonderful and if it were free, I'd still be there, having my hands and feet manied and pedied 12 hours a day for the rest of my life. Read or scroll on and you can see my beautiful feet in a couple of pictures...

As for our culinary experiences, we repeated visits to 3 restaurants, one of which was a dud for for some and a hit for others at both meals. Our hands-down favorites were:

Kimo's in Lahaina - We ate 2 dinners there. I got the Onaga (fabulous fish only available a few months of the year) both nights and couldn't have been happier. Their Caesar salad that comes with dinner is super tasty, as were the carrot muffins and sourdough rolls. Oh - and I almost forgot about dessert. How dare I?! The Hula Pie is positively tasty. Vanilla ice cream on a Oreo crust, topped with chocolate sauce, macadamia nuts, and whipped cream. Mmmmmm...I'm starting to salivate.

Pulehu Italian Grill at our hotel - Max and I had dinner on our own there one night when his brother and his wife were out on their own. It was SO good that we went back with them a couple of nights later for a repeat. We both ordered the same thing both times we went - I had the Frutti di Mare and Max savored the Filetto di Manzo which was served with white truffle mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. The calamari appetizer was also fantastic as were both of the salads I tried (Caprese and Caesar).

The Waterfront in Ma'alea - I know that a couple of people on the trip may argue with me on this one (and we only went there once), but I would have happily eaten at this place another time or two. Their Caesar salad is positively to die for...dressing and salad made fresh table side, complete with anchovy paste, fresh garlic and lemon juice, grated Parmesan, etc. I had their Cioppino for dinner (fish again...surprise!) and loved every last bite. Drooling again.

The Gazebo in Napili - one of the best breakfasts that I have ever eaten. And I hope to eat it again someday. There are only 15 tables and there is apparently always a wait (unless you're there before they open). But I would gladly wait until the cows come home for a meal at this place. Three words: yum, yum, yum! I got a "short stack" of their combo pancakes (2 cakes, each about 7-8" in diameter and a good 1/4" thick) which had pineapple, bananas, macadamia nuts, and whipped cream. I added the white chocolate chips that were offered in other pancakes. Then, to top it all off, there's a fatty bottle of coconut syrup on the table. I could almost drink the stuff...it's heaven on white rice, not to mention on these pancakes. In addition to the scrumptious pancakes (of which I could only finish one), we shared a "half" or slightly-huge plate of breakfast fried rice. What? Yes, breakfast fried rice. White rice with egg, bacon, ham, sausage, chopped onions, and green onions.

Cheeseburger in Paradise (Lahaina) & Ruby's (Kahalui) - I know that these are both chains and CIP for one is a bit of a tourist trap but honestly, their burgers are just plain tasty. The Super Burger at Ruby's is one of my all-time faves (Swiss cheese, avocado, etc. on Parmesan grilled sourdough) and at CIP, I had "Laren and Edna's Favorite" which isn't as unique or different as the Super Burger but still very good.

Lappert's in Lahaina - This ice cream is an old Hawaiian standby that I have enjoyed consuming during trips to Hawaii since I was a kid. They have all sorts of nifty flavors. There are old stand by's like Mint Chocolate Chip, Strawberry, Cookie Dough, and Vanilla. But bless their hearts, they also have some of the marviest original flavors ever. Like Heavenly Hana (their description: creamy chocolate ice cream with delicate swirls of marshmallow ribboned throughout with our handmade chunks of white chocolate covered macadamia nuts, dark chocolate almond chunks, chocolate bits & roasted almonds) and Tutu's Anniversary (their description: coconut ice cream with raspberry and passion fruit sorbet). There's also the Mini Peanut Butter Cup & Fudge...kind of like Moose Tracks but different. And quite possibly better. If it wouldn't make me put on 140 pounds, I would gladly eat something from Lappert's after every meal. Every day. For the rest of my life.

So strange that food took up such a huge segment of this post. Weird. It's like I have some of my dad's blood in me or something. Now, let me tell you a little secret: I just ate dinner before finishing up this segment on food. And I'm hungry again. And salivating.

To finish up, I'll tell you about the only decent set of pictures that we came home with (two digital cameras and lots of photo ops...you'd think I'd have done better). The night before we left, Max and I decided to go out to the beach and catch the sunset. We got out there about 15-20 minutes before the big event and failed miserably in our early attempts to keep our shorts/capris dry. You can't tell in the picture of our legs a few shots down, but I'm soaked up to my knees.

My pretty pretty feet (except for the blister that I got on my left foot the 1st time we went snorkeling).

A "super fabulous" couple took this picture for us. Really nice guys...and we ended up with one of the few winning shots from the trip!

Standing in the wet sand, waiting for another wave to come up and soak our legs.

One of a few "self portraits" that we took.

The sun setting over the Pacific (with a faint outline of the island of Lanai to the left).

At our last dinner before leaving to come home (at Kimo's!). I don't especially care for my semi-burned face and wind-blown hair but it's a good memory.

We took the red eye home last Sunday night, arriving here around 9:00 in the morning. Not my idea of a party but we had a great trip and we made it home safely. We came home to a clean house and happy kids. For which we will be thanking my parents for years to come.

And that's all she wrote...