I'm back in Seattle now. Winter has hit; rainy and I had to turn my heat up when I got to the house. My phone hadn't updated yet and the weather on it said: Paia, Sunny and 85 degrees. Reality is a cold splash of water in the face ...
I landed at Kahului airport and was getting my rental car by 11:30 a.m. on Thursday. I'm not a morning person and would rather do just about anything to avoid getting up before the sun. But ariving in Hawaii before lunch time makes a little suffering worthwhile.
By 1:00 p.m. I had met my friends and we were enjoying lunch at Hail'imaile, an wonderful restaurant surrounded by pineapple fields out in the countryside near Makawao. Bev Gannon, the owner and chef is a James Beard award winner and she has an excellent menu. I had the oyster and rock shrimp po-boy sandwich. Learn more about the restaurant here: http://bevgannonrestaurants.com/haliimaile/
After lunch we drove across the island to Kaanapali and I settled in to Tony and Kelly's new home overlooking the beach. We all changed into swim suits and headed to the beach to watch the sunset and drink some Kona Longboards. Later that night we had dinner at home; Poke, grilled Opah and caesar salad.
On Friday I gave most of my attention to the pool and the beach. Oh, and had some fish and chips and mai tais at Castaways. Late in the afternoon I had to snap back to reality and help get ready prepare for a dinner party at the house.
Saturday, I ran a 10K run in Lahaina. First time I did any running since Vancouver and my knee injury. Afterward, we all went to Whaler's Village and shopped. Saturday night we took a sunset cruise on a 65' long catamaran. Beautiful views, sunset and a supper of coconut marinated prawns and stuffed new york steaks.
Sunday we drove the island and ended up at Maui's only winery at Ulupalakua Ranch. We sampled their wines and ate elk burgers at the ranch store across the street. Maui has several cattle ranches on the slopes of Haleakala and at least one that raises elk along with the cattle!.On Sunday night we went to our friends Bud and Daryl's impossibly beautiful home in the hills above Kaanapali. We had cocktails and dinner poolside and then drank several bottles of wine from their cellar.
Today I got up early and drove the 30 miles back to the airport. The views along the way were great; the tide was up and the surf was spraying over the highway. The flight back to Seattle took 5 hours but it seems like a world away.
I've always wondered what the attraction to Hawaii was all about. This was my second visit to Maui this year and I think I get it now.
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