For January I took the vacation of a lifetime to Maui, Hawaii. It's 2018 and for 9 months of this year, I'll be continuing my declared 12 months of travels and LIVING OUT LOUD. I stayed for 7 days and 6 nights at the gorgeous Mahina Surf condos through Airbnb. I was accompanied by 2 good friends. My initial purpose in town was for the Island Eye Conference. Despite the beauty around me, I did attend a decent amount of hours of class.
Before my flight as I kept packing and unpacking, it is clear that someone didn't want me to go.
Day 1: Two of us flew in together with a flight starting at about 6 am. Despite the crying baby on our plane for the 6 hour leg, I was so excited to finally get to go on the trip that I could only dream of as a kid. Who doesn't remember when Saved by the Bell did Hawaii? We landed at OGG airport around 2:30p. We were greeted with leis. We rented a very stylish Jeep Wrangler.
Without reservations, we traveled to the nearby town of Paia and had an early dinner at Mama's Fish House. Though very pricey (about $100/person) this place was magnificent. The menu changes daily and the fish is fresh caught per day. Its a beautiful ocean front restaurant with outdoor dining. The Hawaiian flavors of each dish was truly amazing. So amazing til we decided to also make this our last stop before we leave for home. With over 5K reviews on Yelp, this restaurant lived up to it's expectations and more.
My gift to my roomies...
Day 2: The next morning, we decided to go see the sunrise on the ocean front by our condo. Though we couldn't directly see the sunrise, the views were so calm and breathtaking.
We had breakfast at a place called Gazebo. Another ocean front restaurant with great reviews. Despite the long wait, the cheap prices, service and delicious food made it all worth it.
During our week in Maui we fell in love with the convenience store called the ABC Store and a taco place called Fish. At the ABC Store, a drunk tourist told me about this fabulous rum that we should buy. I'll admit, it was worth the $35.
Sometimes it's the little things in life that make you laugh the most.
Since the local swap meet was closed, we ended up at an arts and craft show where we bought some lovely jewelry and art.
Day 3: I attended class for half of this day, but we picked up our third friend and headed straight to what's considered to be the most traditional and best luau on the island. Despite the $150/person price tag, this was worth it for several reasons; the unlimited drinks, the beautiful scenery, superb service and the beautiful dancers. Though I wanted to really see fire throwers and fire spitters, I learned that this was not included in traditional luaus. It ended up being a minor detail since compared to other luau pictures I've seen, ours was the most beautiful.
Day 4: We attempted to sit in class but were so distracted by the beauty around us. We left and decided to do an excursion.
We ended up at Miso Phat sushi restaurant. The sushi was likely the best sushi I've ever had. It was by far the most fresh fish I've ever eaten.
We then ended up zip-lining which oddly enough was a first time experience for us all. Though extremely frightening when you have to walk off each staircase or deck, it has by far been the most liberating experience in my life. It was that very moment that I literally only had God to depend on. I completely loved it! I don't know if I will ever do it again but it is something that I wanted to check off my bucket list so I'm happy that I at least got to do that.
That night we ended up at another ocean front restaurant in Whaler's Village called Hula Grill. The food and the drinks were good.
Day 5: We had breakfast at 808 Grindz Cafe. While we had every intention to end up on the beach, we decided to go whale watching via a Groupon through the company Maui Blue. It was a 2 hour venture where we got to see quite a few whales partially breach above water. It was quite beautiful to watch, but after about an hour, I was over the motion sickness I was beginning to experience on the boat. I do recommend that if you ever go whale watching, do as we did and go with a company that has a small boat which can get to the whales quicker as you notice them traveling in the water.
We had a small lunch and shaved ice. The Hawaiian dish was quite interesting. The shaved ice was very good. Not quite a New Orleans snowball but better since the juices seemed to be less sugary.
I decided to spend some time around the pool at our condo. I didn't get in because it was so cool outside but it was still nice to sit with my feet in the water for a while.
We ended up having dinner at another ocean front restaurant right next to the one we had eaten at the night before. This one was called Leilani's. The food was very good.
To be continued...
Before my flight as I kept packing and unpacking, it is clear that someone didn't want me to go.
Day 1: Two of us flew in together with a flight starting at about 6 am. Despite the crying baby on our plane for the 6 hour leg, I was so excited to finally get to go on the trip that I could only dream of as a kid. Who doesn't remember when Saved by the Bell did Hawaii? We landed at OGG airport around 2:30p. We were greeted with leis. We rented a very stylish Jeep Wrangler.
Without reservations, we traveled to the nearby town of Paia and had an early dinner at Mama's Fish House. Though very pricey (about $100/person) this place was magnificent. The menu changes daily and the fish is fresh caught per day. Its a beautiful ocean front restaurant with outdoor dining. The Hawaiian flavors of each dish was truly amazing. So amazing til we decided to also make this our last stop before we leave for home. With over 5K reviews on Yelp, this restaurant lived up to it's expectations and more.
My gift to my roomies...
Day 2: The next morning, we decided to go see the sunrise on the ocean front by our condo. Though we couldn't directly see the sunrise, the views were so calm and breathtaking.
We had breakfast at a place called Gazebo. Another ocean front restaurant with great reviews. Despite the long wait, the cheap prices, service and delicious food made it all worth it.
During our week in Maui we fell in love with the convenience store called the ABC Store and a taco place called Fish. At the ABC Store, a drunk tourist told me about this fabulous rum that we should buy. I'll admit, it was worth the $35.
Since the local swap meet was closed, we ended up at an arts and craft show where we bought some lovely jewelry and art.
Day 3: I attended class for half of this day, but we picked up our third friend and headed straight to what's considered to be the most traditional and best luau on the island. Despite the $150/person price tag, this was worth it for several reasons; the unlimited drinks, the beautiful scenery, superb service and the beautiful dancers. Though I wanted to really see fire throwers and fire spitters, I learned that this was not included in traditional luaus. It ended up being a minor detail since compared to other luau pictures I've seen, ours was the most beautiful.
Day 4: We attempted to sit in class but were so distracted by the beauty around us. We left and decided to do an excursion.
We ended up at Miso Phat sushi restaurant. The sushi was likely the best sushi I've ever had. It was by far the most fresh fish I've ever eaten.
We then ended up zip-lining which oddly enough was a first time experience for us all. Though extremely frightening when you have to walk off each staircase or deck, it has by far been the most liberating experience in my life. It was that very moment that I literally only had God to depend on. I completely loved it! I don't know if I will ever do it again but it is something that I wanted to check off my bucket list so I'm happy that I at least got to do that.
That night we ended up at another ocean front restaurant in Whaler's Village called Hula Grill. The food and the drinks were good.
Day 5: We had breakfast at 808 Grindz Cafe. While we had every intention to end up on the beach, we decided to go whale watching via a Groupon through the company Maui Blue. It was a 2 hour venture where we got to see quite a few whales partially breach above water. It was quite beautiful to watch, but after about an hour, I was over the motion sickness I was beginning to experience on the boat. I do recommend that if you ever go whale watching, do as we did and go with a company that has a small boat which can get to the whales quicker as you notice them traveling in the water.
We had a small lunch and shaved ice. The Hawaiian dish was quite interesting. The shaved ice was very good. Not quite a New Orleans snowball but better since the juices seemed to be less sugary.
I decided to spend some time around the pool at our condo. I didn't get in because it was so cool outside but it was still nice to sit with my feet in the water for a while.
We ended up having dinner at another ocean front restaurant right next to the one we had eaten at the night before. This one was called Leilani's. The food was very good.
To be continued...
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