Last Night in Hawaii

Friday was our last day in Hawaii. We enjoyed it by spending a few more hours at the beach and taking in some sun. We heard Chicago was getting cold, so we were taking full avantage.

Friday afternoon we took a trip to see Whaler's village, which was nice. It's basically an outdoor mall with some great views and restaurants. We decided to eat in Lahaina since it was artist night. Every Friday in the summer the galleries feature local Hawaiian artists. Of course we bought a painting! It is so beautiful - it reminds us of the helicopter ride. The painting is of the South Maui Mountains - lush, green and oceanside. It was done by some famous Hawaiian painter who is world reknown for his Hawaiian portraits. I think we were a GOOD influence on Dale and Cher, who also bought a painting! They are adding to their Italian oils and bought a beautiful canvas of an Italian streetside cafe.

We had a fun last night and got some last minute rays on the beach on Saturday (before we took off at 12:30).

The vacation was a blast. We were able to relax, take in the beautiful Hawaiian atmosphere and the island vibe. Maybe we will visit again next year? Kauai and Kona are on my list!

xoxox and thanks for reading!

Jenn, Jeff, Cher, and Dale

Maui Winery and Paia Fish Market

Yesterday we took a "team break" and did our own things. Cheryl and Dale visited the Maui Ocean Center. This is a state of the art $20M facility that has lured visitors from all around the world. Visitors can see spectacular live coral displays (the largest collection in the nation), enjoy playful swimming displays by Hawai‘i’s beloved green sea turtles, awe at close encounters with sharks, rays and more – while learning about Hawai‘i’s natural history and cultural heritage.

http://www.mauioceancenter.com/

Meanwhile, Jeff and I took a scenic drive upcountry through Paia to Ulupalakua. We stopped in Paia, which is situated off the famous Hana Highway. Listening to the advice of the Zien's, we stopped for a quick bite to eat at the Paia Fish Market. It features simple but tasty local seafood entrees. The service is casual, done by orering at the counter and taking a seat at one of the many picnic tables inside, but the charbroiled fish (ono) burgers tpped with coleslaw can't be beat. We also had a basket of fried shrimp that may have been the freshest and best I've ever had! Ziens - Thanks for the suggestion!

After we finished lunch, we stopped at some of the local stores. Paia is a hippy town, full of small shops with offerings made out of hemp and/or coconut wood. There were major influences from Bali here also - WHICH I LOVED!!! I bought a really cute black wrap top from a lady that had longer arm pit hair than Jeff...this was our sign that it was time to leave...ha ha ha!

We left Paia and began our journey to Maui's only winery located in Ulupalukua. The air was so clean and cool, we actually had to stop and put sweatshirts on! We drove through rolling green pastureland, majestic mountain vistas, picturesque seascapes until we finally arrived at the 2,000 foot elevation where cacti and jacarandas bloom - Ulupalakua. Here cattle ranching blends with modern day argiculture and creates a perfect setting for the island's only vineyard - Maui's Winery.

The winery had a small, but quaint tasting room. It was located in the historic King's Cottage, built in 1874 for King David Kalakaua. As we entered, we cozied up to an 18' long bar cut from the trunk of a mango tree for our first sips of wine!

The wines were unfortunately not to our liking, mostly consisting of very sweet sparkling whites. We did however, purchase a few bottles of the unique pineapple wine made from locally-grown pineapples. This wine is good, but better served on a warm day with some fruit and cheese!

We left the winery and made our way back to the hotel where we met Dale and Cher for dinner.

We were craving some casual Mexican Food, so we ventured a few miles from our hotel to a local town called Kihei. We ate at Fred's Mexican Cafe. It was perfect - an open aired patio and a strong margarita can relieve any sunburn! After Fred's we drove through town looking for a fun place to have a few Corona's. We ended up at Lulu's Restaurant. This was a liely, tiki-style bar with open air seating. It was also salsa dancing night, which made for some great people watching! We had a great time, probably too good of a time! I do have some incriminating video of Dale, but I decided not to share. HA HA HA!

We are off to Whaler's Village tonight for a little shopping and dinner in Lahaina. I will fill you in on the details tomorrow. We leave at 2PM tomorrow, we are bummed but ready to get back to reality!

xoxoxo
Jenn

A View From the Sky

We took our Blue Hawaiian helicopter ride yesterday morning. It was AMAZING! We choose the Maui spectacular, which was 90 minutes. It was a combination of West Maui and Hana/Haleakala. We first flew over the magnificent West Maui valleys. The West Maui mountains are knife-edged ridges and have beautiful waterfalls that cascade down from towering cliffs into the streams running along the rainforest floor. Once we left the West Maui mountains, we landed in a remote landing site at Ulupalukua Ranch on the slopes of Haleakala. Our pilot popped the champagne and we enjoyed the scenery and pastoral setting for 20 minutes. We then continued on for another 45 minutes to explore East Maui, which includes the famous Hana and Haleakala. Haleakala is home to the famous Haleakala Crater and Oheo Gulch. Hana is famous for it's town, rainforest, waterfalls, and rugged shoreline. I took so many pictures that I couldn't decide which ones to put up.










After the helicopter ride, we took a drive over to Paia. This is home to one of the world's famous windsurfing beach, called Kuau Beach. We sat and watched the kite surfers, the surfers, and the wind surfers for a few minutes before venturing down the road to Mama's Fishhouse. This was a cool place...see the picture of Dale with his new best friend? The setting was old Polynesian with tropical flowers, bamboo ceilings, ect throughout the open air restaurant that sat on its own private beach.

Old Lahaina Luau

The luau was so fun! They started the night with fresh Mai Tais. As you entered the grounds, they had different activities you could try: hula dancing, wood carving, leaf weaving/basket making, ect. It was very interesting to see what "old Hawaii" was like.

As you can see from the pictures, we had traditional mat seating, which afforded us a front row seat! Right before dinner, they dug up the pig! The pig was buried in the imu, which is an underground oven. They gave a pretty interesting speech about how they bury the pig, what they bury it with, the stones and rock they use, ect.

Dinner was different, but good. It consisted of : Kalua Pua (roasted pig), polynesian Mahi Mahi, Pulehu Steak, Guava Glazed Chicken, Chicken long rice, and a bunch of traditional Hawaiian sides: island syle rice, Hawaiian Banana Bread, Lomi Lomi Salmon, Ahi Poke, Sweet Potatoes, Taro, etc.

The Luau was the story of how Hawaii was inhabitated and the old world historians thoughts about how it was founded, ect. It was told by a narrator and a chanter, which was very cool.

At the end of the night, we walked across the street to a local bar and had a few drinks with some of the guys from the Luau. We had a ton of fun!!!

xoxoxo
Jenn

Day 2 - A little snorkeling, shopping, and of course and Irish Bar!

As you know, we went snorkeling yesterday, which was really fun. I don't have the snorkeling pics yet (they were taken w a underwater camera), but here is a pic of where we snorkeled. SO BEAUTIFUL!!! We decided this morning that it was a good idea that we did that yesterday because last night a tourist was EATEN by a great white shark just off the shore in Oahu.....we were definitely out farther than the tourist was when he got eaten!!!! Needless to say, I think Cher's one and only snorkeling adventure was here in Maui. Dale also found this article this afternoon. This happened in the same place we were snorkeling yesterday! FREAKY!!! STILL HAD FUN AND WOULD DO IT AGAIN!!!!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2003985301_websharkattack31.html

Late afternoon we did a little shopping at the Wailea shops and then decided to visit the local bar here in Wailea...mostly full of locals. Believe it or not, they had a live Irish band playing. Go figure - Jeff and I always seem to find the Irish bars wherever we go! So for those of you who know Jeff...he was extremely happy sipping (or downing) his Guiness!

We are off to the Old Lahaina Luau tonight. It is a traditional Luau and feast. It was founded in 1986 and almost failed until a group of young investors came in and saved it. Today it is the most famous Luau in Maui and has been internationally awarded as the "thing to do" in Maui. The Luau sits over 440 people and generally runs at full capacity 7 days a week. No longer do the owners need to worry about the stability of this business! We are so excited for this. We will upload pictures either tonight or tomorrow!

http://www.oldlahainaluau.com/index_main.html

Last, but not least, the flowers that grow wild here are SO AWESOME! Cher was already trying to figure out how to get them shipped to her house weekly! Here is a pic of a flower that was just growing randomly on the street last night.

xoxoxo
Jenn