Maui No Ka Oi

Aloha, my peeps!! Where been I ?
I been in da islands, mon!

(Not Jamaica, but even better.)

My regular reader will remember all my foofaarah about Maui a couple of years ago. Remember the zipline-ing and the ATV riding and the Haleakala-ing?! Those were the days, my friends!

This time, I stayed on the ground. And I STILL had the BEST time of any island. Because, as you know, Maui no ka oi. And I'll definitely be going back, so get used to this kind of boring Hawaiian thing. My trip this time consisted of eating and sleeping and visiting our friends, the Peacocks.

(Not peacocks, but even better.)

In case you haven't been to Hawaii yet, I won't gloat too much. I'll just share some photos in this post to bring you up to date. As preamble, however, I will bore you with a bit of personal ephemera. When I was growing up, our family did not go on trips. We did not camp. We did not go out to eat. We didn't hike or have green vegetables. My first flight was when I was 19 years old, going to college. My first artichoke was when I was in my late 20's. I didn't camp until I was 28 years old. My idea of travel was when my friends and I walked to the store for candy and walked back. Or, visited the spooky cemetery grounds at night, across from our townhouse complex.

So. After some years of learning to travel and to eat well and to love experiencing new things, I decided that my priority, for the rest of my life, is to see new things. To experience new things, and to learn more about art and self-expression. This is why I don't always get to take the art workshops I want to take, or buy the kinds of art supplies I otherwise might like to, because I've prioritized my expenses in another direction. It's been a hard choice sometimes, but one has to take responsibility for her choices. I'm so lucky that I've been able to see Paris and London and Hawaii and the Caribbean and that my plans for the future include all of these and much more. And even if I only have a couple of colored pencils and a handmade journal and some craft paints to take with me, I will be happy!

My next post will be blathering about Spoonflower and a lovely gift I received just before leaving on vacation. Because I'm a very lucky girl.

Last time I was in Maui I fell in love with the Maui Ocean Center. I don't snorkel much any more, but Cathie took some pictures while snorkeling, and when they're developed, I'll share them. These few shots from the Maui Ocean Center will have to tide me over.

'Tide' me over. HAAAHA! Get it?
okay.

The banner above shows my favorite zooplankton of all, the jellyfish. Luckily, there was a big thick glass separating it from me, or I'd have run screaming like a little girl.

Here's a spotted ray. Handsome, eh?

Here's a green sea turtle, as shocked by my appearance as I was at his sudden peek from below.

I went to my first luau, which had to be held indoors due to the threat of a storm. But it was still fun. (The storm came the next morning...the most rain I've seen in Hawaii at one time.)

This wasn't Flashdance, but it was great anyway!

I love Lahaina town, and we went over there three times during our stay. On our way to our first sunset dinner of the trip, I passed the following sign and had to get a picture.

At the restaurant, Pacific O. So pretty there. And the food was memorably fabulous.

Well... so were the beverages. And the bread.

The sunset from our table.

We are so fortunate to have friends, right there on Maui! The first two times this wasn't the case, but now, our friends, the Peacocks, have been able to move to Maui permanently. We were lucky enough to see them twice, once for real, authentic shave ice and a mini-tour of their city of Kihei, and another time for dinner and live music at one of their favorite cafes. It's so great to be able to vacation in a beautiful place with interesting friends we have so much fun with.

Phil and Cris, at one of their favorite spots in Kihei. Ah, that's the life!

Phil drove us on a mini-tour which included this preserve, Ahihi-Kina'u,
a lava-rock terrain with fantastic views of Haleakala.

Before we left, friends urged us to visit the Gazebo restaurant in Napili Shores. It's a small restaurant open for breakfast and lunch. There are 15 tables and no reservations, so there is always a line. We asked our resort people to get us preferred seating there, and they laughed. "Even Obama has to wait at the Gazebo!"

These are their amazing banana/macadamia nut pancakes,
and an omelette with portugese sausage and mushrooms. So Good!

Cathie was not a shy eater. The server barely had time to put down the plate.

I was eating so fast I'm out of focus.

The tidepool we visited after breakfast, just outside the Gazebo.

Another visit to Lahaina town. This time, for lunch at Cool Cats, a 50's-style diner.
This was the view from our table.

And our Longboard pints before the burger and mahi-mahi sandwich arrived.
(I told you this was an eating vacation.)

Ohai loop trail. We hiked this on one of the most beautiful days of our stay.
I didn't even notice how far I'd walked. The views were stunning.

I have a lot more pictures of this trail, but I'll have to share them later.

One of our last evenings, at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. My first time there.
These mojitos were to die for. So was the view, which I neglected to snap because...

...the dessert made me forget about the sunset!

Next Up: Chris mispronounces all the French she has to learn for her next Paris trip.