Early morning in Maui

The Looks and Leaps sisters have been recruiting other storytellers in our family to write for the blog. We’re so pleased that our dear Dad, Joe, has shared a wonderful trip journal from the tropical paradise of Hawaii! Hope you enjoy as much as we did! Stay tuned for further installments!

– April, Sunny, Wendy

The Hawaii Diaries: Days 1-3
by Joe

Prologue: Why we came
Late last year my beautiful bride Cindy and I were trying to decide where to go to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. We considered many wonderful ideas and finally decided to return to one of our most favorite places we’ve ever been (and the location of our 25th anniversary trip): Hawaii.

We chose the late winter time for several reasons, to see the whales that migrate there every year (January thru April), to visit the Big Island for the first time to see the volcanoes and of course, 365 days of swimming weather found in this Polynesian paradise. We’ve previously been to Oahu, Kauai and Maui – but we think Maui is the best so far. The following will be a day to day commentary on our experiences, as well as some recommendations of sights and places we enjoyed.

Day one: The travel day
Since we are lucky enough to live in the great state of Kentucky it was going to take a complete travel day to get there. People on the West coast are saying what????…. all day? By the time you get up a couple of hours before the flight and then fly the 5+ hours to the West coast and then the 5+ hours to Hawaii, it is a big time commitment to get there. Never underestimate how much it is worth it, however long it will take you.

We got up around 4:30 am and physiologically prepared for the day of travel. Plane ride to Chicago went well. I tried to avoid this city when planning because of the possibility of bad weather, even in March, and it is very busy. But to get a great price on our ticket, through United, you pretty much have to go that route. We left Chicago on time and arrived in LA at LAX right on time. Another good flight and lots of time to spare in the airport. We had a layover of a few hours so we spent the time walking around and exploring the airport. During long itineraries, we try not to sit too long since we feel the exercise helps and we know we will be sitting 99% of the time on the plane. Left LAX almost on time and the flight went well. The power outlets didn’t work and of course wifi doesn’t over the ocean. But the movies were good and always helps pass the time. We watched The Good Lie, a very good story about some of the refugees known as the Lost Boys of Sudan, and I had to watch Big Hero 6 so I would know what my grandkids are talking about. We also find that long plane rides are a great time to set up a schedule of what to do each day. When we got to the Kahului Airport in Maui, it was about 7:45 pm their time (1:45 am Eastern). Not too bad, but the amount of time it takes to get your luggage is very long. Count on about 45 minutes. Based on my memory of the other times we have visited Hawaii, this is pretty typical. Renting a car is always a good idea in Hawaii because unlike some other island vacations, you will definitely want to get out and see the sights.

By the time we got to our hotel in Makena (Makena Beach and Golf Resort) we had been up almost 24 hours, but we wanted to say hi to the ocean so we took time to walk to the beach. Very neat to see it at night. Left the doors to our lanai (veranda) open so we could listen to the ocean as we fell asleep. We didn’t listen long because we both fell asleep very quickly after a full day.

Day 2: Checking out the area around the hotel and pool day
We were up early as we heard a rooster crow at 4:30 am. How do they know it’s almost time for the sunrise when it’s still so dark? We finally got out of bed at 6 am and sat on the lanai to watch the sun come up. The remarkable thing about the ocean and the mountains is how all the colors seem to change as the sun rises and sets.

Breakfast at the hotel and then out for a walk around the hotel grounds and the Makena Beach area. Found a black sand beach about a mile or two from the hotel. Hawaii has several of these as well as red, green, and what they call white sand, which is really brown (not Florida gulf shore white anyway). It was a very windy day so we decided not to hit the ocean but stay at the pool.

We watched passengers try to get on the boat to go whale watching. They got very wet and it took the captain several times to drive the huge catamaran close to the beach to get them all on. It was kind of funny. We saw our first whale sighting off the shore as it blew a huge spray into the air. Looking forward to our boat trip to see them up close. I hope the ocean will be calmer though. We drove to the Shops at Wailea to look around and buy a few critical supplies like soft drinks, bottled water and a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 bourbon. We headed back home to get cleaned up for dinner.

We chose Monkeypod Kitchen restaurant in Wailea. Saw the write up on it in the hotel in-room magazine. What a lucky monkey we were. This was a great laid back hip American eatery with 36 craft beers on tap and some of the best fresh fish you could sink your eye teeth into. We were told we had about an hour wait so we slid all the way down to the end of the bar. Just as we started looking at the menu the couple on the last chairs got up. As my wife sat down on the first chair and I got ready to sit down next to her, a fellow standing next to his daughter and wife started to sit down too. As we played Chip and Dale trying give the seat to the other he finally insisted so I sat down. We started talking and found out he was from New Jersey not far from where my son in law’s parents live. I bought him a beer for giving up his seat and we had a great time taking about NY and NJ as well as Hawaii. They got a call for their table and we decided to stay at the bar and order, which worked out great. The bartender was super and took a couple of pics of us. Our food was amazingly good as were the drinks. We started out with an order of their roasted Brussels Sprouts for an appetizer. Sounds unusual but they were so tasty. Cindy had the tempura fish and chips and I had the sautéed local white fish over polenta with a warm spinach and lobster salad. The bartender also “comped” a desert and a round of drinks for us for our anniversary – very nice touch. Headed home and since the drinks were strong and the food filling we crashed in our crib early, trying to catch-up on our missed sleep (if that’s possible).

Whale-watching boat

Day 3: The shoe is on the other foot
Up early again this morning. Rooster was crowing at 4:30 am but we held off until 6 or 6:30. It’s already light by then. Went to breakfast at the hotel buffet which is very diverse and the food is hot and well prepared. Omelet and egg station, bacon and today they had Portuguese sausage. Multiple types of cereal, including a yogurt and homemade muselix as well as hot oatmeal and all the fixings. All varieties of bread and bagels. Waffles, crepes, and stuffed french toast is rotated. Eggs Benedict today as well as fried potatoes. Multiple fresh fruit and fresh fruit juices. But the coffee is one of the best. White rice and miso soup for good measure.

Once again we were stuffed so we took a great walk along the road which followed the ocean with a great scenic route. Saw guys preparing for their first scuba dive. We spent the morning at the pool and playing putting green golf while waiting to go out on the boat to search for some whales.

At 1:30 pm we prepared to board the boat. Perhaps we should not have been laughing so hard yesterday? Once again the waves were coming fast and large but the helpful mates assured us they know how to get us aboard. My wife thought it might be a good idea to go towards the end of the line, but I said let’s go as close to first as possible. I didn’t even want to think about it too long. We took it all in stride, as it was part of the adventure. We got aboard with a minimal amount of wetness and found a spot on the boat to watch the others. We still couldn’t help but laugh as people got soaked or were mowed down by the incoming waves. The catamaran cruised the channels and handed out adult beverages and snacks while the captain took us on a hunt for whales. The catamaran was surprisingly stable and no sea sickness from anyone. We saw several whales which was very exciting. The humpback whales in Hawaii at this time of year are mostly from Alaska. They come here to enjoy the warm waters and to have their babies. In May they swim back to Alaska but always return. There are many options to take to get into the Pacific Ocean to view whales but we chose one that was convenient to our hotel. The boat we used came right up to our hotel beach. We highly recommend it for the staff and the great way they treat you (Kai Kanani). You do need to plan on spending about $50 to $80 per person.

We got back in time for Saturday church services at St. Teresa which was a great experience too. Open walled church with a great Hawaiian choir. We ate dinner at Amigo’s close to the church. Great Mexican food and of course blended or on the rocks margaritas. Cindy had the chicken quesadillas and I had a couple of soft tacos with carnitas meat. Ummmmmm. Headed home to our hotel and enjoyed relaxing in the room before turning-in. Ahhhhh, what a wonderful day.