Summer Vacation Part 2 - MAUI

The second leg of our Hawaiian vacation was in Maui.  Joe and I had been here before, but the kids had always begged to go after looking at our pictures.  Maui is beautiful, tropical, has beaches everywhere, and had the most fruit stands of any of the islands.  A complete contrast from the Big Island of Hawaii that had so many landscape changes it is difficult to describe!

MAUI DAY ONE

Kaanapali Beach = = Sea Turtles in Ocean = = Whalers Village Museum = = Lunch at Aloha Mixed Plate = = Shop along Front Street, Lahaina = = Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice = = Baldwin Home Museum = = Lahaina Courthouse = = Banyan Tree = = Hauola Stone = = Old Lahaina Luau

On our first morning, we were greeted by a beautiful double rainbow (difficult to see second one).  This was taken from the balcony of our Sheraton Maui hotel room (the least favorite of the four hotels we stayed in).

The kids ready for our beach morning!  The hotel was on Kaanapali Beach - a stunning beach with clear blue water, sugar soft sand, and had black lava rock on one edge for cliff diving and providing protection for a coral reef that turtles liked to frequent.  Ethan enjoyed the beach so much that he tried to take the sand with him - his swimsuit had an entire beach inside of it (poor guy had sand everywhere, even in his ears!).

After beach time, we decided to explore the area.  First stop was the Whalers Village Museum, a tiny museum located inside of a shopping mall.  While it didn't take very long for us to walk through, it left quite an impression on the kids!  They learned how the old whale trading business worked - from hunting the whale, harvesting its blubber, sales, and how the workers lived on board the ship for three years at a time.  The harvesting of the blubber really disgusted/fascinated them!

I had a true Hawaiian plate lunch at Aloha Mixed Grill in Lahaina for lunch.  A protein, two scoops of white rice, and macaroni salad.  So many carbs!  The meats are shoyu chicken, teriyaki beef, and my new favorite fish monchong.  Joe and I ate this fish almost every day while in Hawaii - delicious!

Olivia sampled a Hawaiian local favorite dish called Loco Moco - white rice topped with a hamburger patty, topped with a fried egg, and smothered with brown gravy, served with macaroni salad.  I guess it is Hawaii's version of Springfield's horseshoe!

After shopping along Front Street, we stopped for the absolute best Hawaiian shave ice ever at Ululani's.  I wish we would have eaten here every day!  All syrups were homemade, as were the toppings.  Clockwise from left, we enjoyed:  pineapple and orange (Olivia), passion fruit (with the seeds), pineapple, and pickled mango (Joe), POG (Ethan), and pineapple, calamansi, and strawberry with mochi (a flavorless gummy candy) (Kate).  The line was long and slow but completely worth it - the workers really talked to each customer to explain the various flavors, make recommendations, and even give free samples of each flavor.

The kids in front of Lahaina's Banyan Tree.  We asked them how many trees they saw here, and they guessed twenty.  There is ONE tree here, with various root systems posing as trunks.  This was the perfect spot to stop and rest while the kids explored the tree.

Olivia and Ethan in the actual trunk of the tree.

The Hauola Stone (the second from the left rock that looks like a seat).  This is considered a magical and healing stone in Hawaiian history.  Royal women would come here to labor and deliver their children.

We ended our first day in Maui with the kids' first Luau at the Old Lahaina Luau.  This is such a fun event - they pride themselves on being the most authentic luau on the island (which means no fire dancers), and they do not disappoint in the food or entertainment department.

Enjoying drinks at our table.  We opted to sit on the ground in the traditional manner.  This also means that you get the best seats in the house since they are in the front row to the stage!

A family photo behind the luau stage.

The kids waiting for the pig to be revealed.  The unearthing of the pig from the imu - an earth oven where the whole pig is roasted, is a show by itself!  Two workers dig out the dirt/sand to reveal the banana leaf cover, which is then lifted off to show the pig that had been cooked by hot stones.  All of this to make the most moist and delicious pork ever - Kalua Pork.

Ethan trying Poi (mashed taro root) for the first and last time.  He was not too crazy about it!

Many wonderful pictures of the luau dancing were taken, but I have shortened it to two!  What we didn't get a picture of is Joe and I having our 17th wedding anniversary dance next to the stage (along with half of the people in attendance - seems Hawaii is a popular place to celebrate!).

MAUI DAY TWO

Breakfast at Island Press Coffee = = Haleakala Volcano = = Lunch at Kula Lodge = = Fruit Stand = = Kaanapali Beach = = Sea Turtles in Ocean = = Dinner at Cliff Dive Grill = = Cliff Diving Ceremony

Day two started with a yummy and quick breakfast at Island Press Coffee - excellent banana bread and lilikoi bars.  We then spent our morning driving to the top of the Haleakala Volcano.  Many people will do this drive before sunrise so that they can see the sun rise over the volcano.  We did not feel like waking up at 3am to accomplish this, but we still had breathtaking views.

To get to the top of Haleakala, you drive a mildly twisty road up 10,000 feet over the course of an hour or so.  The first available place to stop is at the park headquarters at 7000 feet.  Ethan decided to throw up all over the backseat of the car, his shirt, and Olivia's jacket, at about 5000 feet.  Many things went wrong here - he didn't eat much breakfast and he was reading in the car, both of which lead to him being sick.  Luckily we had a pack of baby wipes with us to help with the clean up, but we still spent the rest of the day with the windows wide open to combat the smell until Joe scrubbed out the car with the hotel's free samples of body wash!  We ultimately decided to keep driving to the top of the volcano since we were actually closer to the headquarters versus turning around and going to the town of Kula.  But Joe decided to forever capture the moment with this photo showing Ethan with only shorts on since he threw up on his shirt and in his shoes, me cleaning up the car as much as possible, and Olivia completely grossed out.  Luckily the headquarters sold tshirts (only adult size, so it was very large on Ethan) and had a sink so we could rinse out his shoes.  After this we nicknamed the car Lenny (the license plate was LEN) since he had been through so much with us!

We made it above the clouds!

The view of our hike to the volcano crater view at the Haleakala Visitor Center at 9740 feet.  Ethan was feeling much better at this time, and decided to run up and down the trail, resulting in a bad fall and a very bloodied knee.  He did not have a very good day.

Ethan contemplating life at 9740 feet in front of a dormant volcano crater.  Not something that happens everyday!

Hawaii's silversword plant was found at the 10,023 feet Puu Ulaula Overlook.  This plant only grows on Haleakala and on the Big Island's two mountains - no where else in the world.

After a wonderful lunch at Kula Lodge (surprisingly good pizza), we drove back to the hotel, stopping off at a fruit stand for an afternoon snack.  We enjoyed pineapple, lilikoi, starfruit, and our new favorite lychees.

The rest of the day was spent on Kaanapali Beach recovering from the Haleakala drive (with me doing laundry)!  There were a lot of sea turtles swimming around the area this afternoon.

Watching the Sheraton's Cliff Dive Ceremony during our dinner.

Enjoying the sunset from our balcony.

MAUI DAY THREE

Kaanapali Beach = = Lunch at Hank's Haute Dogs = = Dinner at Lahaina Grill

We had a complete beach day today.  We rented four chairs and two umbrellas and relaxed all day.  It was exactly what we needed to recharge as we reached the halfway mark in our twelve day vacation.

We finished the perfect beach day with a wonderful dinner at Lahaina Grill.

And there is always room for dessert - especially the triple berry pie and the Road to Hana chocolate cake.

MAUI DAY FOUR 

Breakfast at Island Press Coffee = = Alexander Baldwin Sugar Museum = = Hookipa Beach = = Road to Hana = = Hike Twin Falls = = Lunch and Banana Bread at Aunty Sandy's in Keanae = = Puaa Kaa State Wayside Park = = Oheo Gulch = = Dinner at Travassa Hana Hotel

We checked out of the Sheraton today to move on to our next adventure - Hana.  After one more breakfast at Island Press Coffee (like I said - the banana bread and lilikoi bars are delicious!), we made a quick stop at the Alexander Baldwin Sugar Museum.  And I do mean quick - this museum took less than ten minutes to look through, and was primarily about the immigration that took place to work the sugar farms.  This museum was not worth the stop.

We began the Road to Hana (RTH) with a stop at Hookipa Beach outside of Paia.  Not many surfers today as the waves seemed too mild.

One of Joe and I's favorite memory from our previous Maui trip - a stop at Twin Falls along the RTH.  We first bought a bag of pineapple to enjoy along the hike.

The first waterfall at this stop is a very short 5 minute walk from the road.  But don't stop at this one - the better waterfall is one mile off of the road, and the hike can be just as fun as the destination!

The hike involved walking along an old water irrigation system,

and the hike ended with wading across a stream that reached above Joe and I's knees (so Ethan's pants got pretty wet!).  Olivia was not too sure about doing this part of the hike, but she did a great job with it!  But the hike was so much fun and so many memories were made.

The second waterfall located in front of a small cave.

Almost everyone stops at the base of the waterfall, but we decided to continue our hike to the top of the waterfall.  This was not a hike for the faint of heart - a very steep incline, no real path, rocks everywhere, and at two spots we had to rely upon ropes that someone had tied onto tree stumps in order to maneuver up the trail.  We decided it was a bit crazy of us to do this part of the hike, but the view was worth it!

The view from the top of the waterfall.  About three feet behind us is the waterfall drop, and beyond that you can see the stream that we waded across.  While we were up there, one man was brave enough to jump from the top of the waterfall into the pool.  The eruption of cheers at the bottom told us he survived ;)

This is what the kids had been talking about for years - eating pineapple on the top of a waterfall with their daddy.  We enjoyed all of the pineapple while looking at the view for a long time.  After the man jumped off of the top of the waterfall, we had the top to ourselves since no one else braved the hike.

Our lunch stop on the RTH was the Keanae Peninsula.  We first parked at the literal end of the road to this tiny taro farming town, and enjoyed climbing around the black lava rock beach, watching the waves crash.  It was very windy and loud here!  And it appeared that many people on the RTH did not make this stop (although I would highly recommend this area - it was one of our favorite activities), so we had the area to ourselves!

Kalua pork sandwiches and yummy warm banana bread for lunch!  I also highly recommend eating here.

A view of Keanae from above - you can really see the taro fields here.

So many beautiful waterfalls along the RTH.  I don't know the names or exact locations of these waterfalls.  We would drive past one, Joe would quickly pull the car over, and we would walk along the road back to the waterfall for a better view.

I do remember this little waterfall off of the cliff since I was sitting in our parked car when I took this photo - it was immediately on the road, and was lovely with the moss.  You can see it ending on the road in this picture.

This waterfall was past Hana on our way to the Oheo Gulch.  It was my favorite waterfall along the RTH.  Tall, loud, and crashing into the pool below.  We took this picture with a selfie stick, while balanced on a narrow ledge (with a sharp drop on the other side) along a one lane bridge - when a car would pass us we had to hold onto the ledge and lower the stick since there wasn't enough room for it to pass.  And, yes, before you say anything, we bought a selfie stick for this vacation for this very reason!

The sign we found in Maui that we found to be unusual.  If safety depends upon your good judgement, some people are in big trouble!

The Oheo Gulch - our final stop along the RTH.  This was actually ten miles (40 minutes) past the town of Hana, along a very difficult road.  From Hana to Oheo was the only time that Joe was tense during the drive - it was basically a one lane road the entire time.  The RTH was very twisty and had so many one lane bridges, but was not a bad drive if you took it slowly and drove defensively.

Many rock formations along the Oheo Gulch.  Ethan created his own tower as well.

The base of the Oheo Gulch.  This gulch is basically the back side of the Haleakala volcano - it is all the same state park.  The gulch has seven sacred pools with a waterfall cascading between each one.  It was really beautiful to see.

Near the top of the Oheo Gulch looking down.

We did not want to feel rushed along the RTH, so we decided to spend the night at the Travassa Hana.  Best decision we made all vacation - it was lovely, and I wish we could have spent two nights here (our second favorite hotel of the vacation)!  The only downside was that the hotel had no A/C, and we definitely needed it as it was a muggy night.

The kids loved that we received a golf cart tour of the hotel grounds before being taken to our room.

The view off of our ground floor balcony (all rooms were ground floor, in sets of three rooms per building).

MAUI DAY FIVE - FINAL DAY IN MAUI

Breakfast at Travassa Hotel = = Waianapanapa State Park:  Black Sand Beach, Caves, Lava Tubes, Sea Cliffs, Arches, Blowhole = = Road to Hana = = Hookipa Beach = = Paia = = Ono Gelato Company = = Flight to Kauai = = Dinner at Duke's Canoe Club in Kauai Marriott

Hana is a slow town, and we decided to embrace that vibe with a slow morning.  The hotel gives you complimentary banana bread and Kona coffee in your room.  Joe and I greatly enjoyed relaxing on our balcony with this.

After checking out of the hotel, we made a long stop at the Waianapanapa State Park, also known as the "black sand beach".  This park had caves, cliffs, lava tubes, arches, a blowhole, and the black sand beach.  It was all so beautiful to see the bright blue water against the black sand, with the bright green foliage.

Our first view of the arch along our hike.

The kids loved this rock formation - looked like a hang ten!

Our view of the ocean while standing on top of the arch.

The black sand beach - beautiful!  Although not soft.

Walking to the center of this lava tube that was on the beach.

Just to the left of the black sand beach was a much smaller beach that we noticed was empty.  We created our own hiking trail to get to it, and enjoyed spending time on what we nicknamed the "Baima Black Boulder Beach".  We had the entire area to ourselves for about 30 minutes before other people noticed us and started hiking over too.

Joe and Ethan skipping rocks along the Baima Black Boulder Beach.  The actual black sand beach is in the background on the left.  The sound of the waves along the black rock was indescribable but so lovely and relaxing.

Just before our beach was invaded by other people, we took this fun picture.

Our final day in Maui ended by driving back down the RTH, stopping at a few more fruit stands for homemade soda and fresh fish and chips for lunch.  We ended in Paia were we ate gelato and shopped the town before our 6pm flight to Kauai and dinner at Duke's Canoe Club in the Kauai Marriott.