Maui

October 21, 2019

I learned that the hotel had a coin operated laundry facility.  I am not sure I would call it a facility, it had three washers and dryers.  It took a few early in the morning trips before I was able to get a washer.  I was so glad that I was able to do a load instead of paying a fortune to have my laundry done.  The laundry was at the top of the very top of the hotel on the cliff where the original entrance was, there were great views which made doing laundry pleasurable.

As I looked out, I remembered back to my first trip and how Kaanapali looked with the sugar cane plantations.   Sugar is bright green and acres of it sat between the strip of hotels and the mountain.  It was beautiful and although Kaanapali is still something to see, I miss the sugar cane plantations   One of our drivers talked about how that the labor costs made it too expensive to continue so they moved operations overseas leaving the sugar plantations a thing in the past.

After we finished the laundry, we headed for a morning walk and eventually to Lahaina to check out a restaurant called “Down the Hatch” It had a lot of great reviews on Yelp and had been featured on the Food Channel’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” and normally I don’t make it a point to visit restaurants featured on those shows, but the yelp reviews were too good.  We were going to try it on our last trip but there was a long line, we were tired and we wanted air conditioning.   We found another place.

We got there right before lunch, Sophon ordered the Fish and Chips I ordered the Lobster and Crab stuffed grilled cheese on Hawaiian bread. Although the Lobster and Crab stuffed grilled cheese sounded good, I couldn’t help but wonder, is this going to be Instagram-able but not very good or was it going to live up to expectations?   It lived up to expectations and then some.   The fish and chips were also very good.

Lobster and Crab Grilled Cheese

Down the Hatch

Fish and Chips

I will say, “Down the Hatch” did not disappoint!

We hung out at the hotel the rest of the afternoon.   Later we decided to go to Safeway to pick up some Poke.  As we boarded the shuttle bus to Lahaina, I hear someone talking loudly on their phone.  She boards the bus and ends up sitting behind me.  The entire bus can hear booking an event.  At one point I hear her say,  “Yes, I am ready, I have the charge card, we actually, it is my boyfriends, but he is right here, let me know when you are ready”.

She then gives the first name and last name and I cannot believe she is this oblivious, so I turn to Sophon and say, do you have pen? We need to write this down!   The boyfriend heard me and got what I was saying and told his girlfriend not to quietly give the credit card information.

We returned to the hotel, watched part of the hotel’s Hula show and then packed up to depart to Honolulu the next day.

October 22, 2018

We had booked a day of snorkeling and I was really looking forward to being out on a sailboat for the better part of the day.   I woke up and received an email saying that due to high surf, they were cancelling this morning’s snorkeling trips.   Although I was bummed, I hadn’t been sleeping well the past few nights, spending a low-key day might be good.  That is exactly what today was.

Besides resting, I went walking up and down the beach.   I stopped to take a picture of the resort I was staying in.   Overall nice but I was not happy about the adult pool being closed.

waianapanapa state park

October 21, 2018

Hana is a small town at the end of Maui.  It is an underdeveloped area on Maui considered by many as unspoiled paradise.  Although it is only 52 miles from Kahalui, the road to Hana is a narrow road with a lot of hair pin turns and one lane bridges.   It can take hours to get to it which is the reason that it probably remains isolated and underdeveloped.   Although Hana is beautiful, it is not about the destination as it is the road to Hana with gorgeous views of the island, dozens of waterfalls,  bamboo forests and plenty of small places to stop to along the way.

We had considered renting a car to make this journey but I quickly put that idea to rest, I had made that mistake many years ago when I was doing an installation at the Royal Lahaina Hotel.  I was working the Night Audit shift and when I got off at 7AM, I took the rental that my coworkers and I shared and headed out.  It was a beautiful but slow and at times white knuckled drive.   When I arrived in Hana I stopped and reconsidered my plan, why go back the same way?  Why not go around the other side of the Island which is actually shorter? Continue reading →

October 20, 2018

We were well aware that there was a strike going on.  It was a dispute between a Japanese company and the unions.  It affected several hotels in Maui as well as the Moana Surfrider in Oahu.   We heard stories about it taking nine hours to check in and people were getting their own towels and linen, restaurants weren’t open and shuttle buses weren’t running.   Although I support the right to strike, I am not sure how I would feel about it impacting my vacation. Airlines charge you to change tickets and a lot of airfares are non-refundable.  It is a lose, lose situation.

The Hawaii Food and Wine Festival event was scheduled to be at the Sheraton Maui where they were striking.   We were told repeatedly that it must be cancelled.  I finally emailed the event coordinators who said that the event would take place. I was glad to hear it, these events are charitable events raising funds for the culinary schools in Hawaii.

Spiked! – 12 chefs and 4 mixologists.   I enjoyed it very much, not nearly as crowded as the ones on Oahu with a much for causal vibe to it.  Robert Irvine and Michele Bernstein were two names that I immediately recognized.   Robert joked about him having the best dish and after I had it, I had to agree, then again, there wasn’t anything that I didn’t like!   The night ended with a fireworks show!

HFWF Spiked

HFWF Spiked!

The Chefs pose for pictures

HFWF Spiked! At the Sheraton Maui

Kaanapali

October 20th, 2018

Sophon and I went walking in the morning.  I was trying to get my bearings.  We went walking along Kaanapali Beach when we stumbled across the Royal Lahaina.   I did a project there when I was doing property management system installations.  I remember who I was with and how we all went to a Luau.   I remembered that I took a free trolley down to Whaler’s village and sure enough that same trolley pulled up to the Royal Lahaina.  Sophon and I jumped on to it and a few minutes later, we were at the Whaler’s Village.

The Whaler’s village doesn’t look much different from what I remember.   It was filled with a lot of touristy shops.   we picked a few things up for the room and then headed back to the Westin.

Kaanapali Beach

Kaanapali Beach

Kaanapali Beach

Kaanapali Beach

Sunset over Kaanapali

October 18, 2018

This is my fifth year attending the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival (HFWF).  This year, I am going to attend a HFWF event in Maui in addition to the events in Oahu.   I am looking forward to seeing Maui, I haven’t been to Maui in a long time.  The last time was when I was installing Property Management Systems into hotels and timeshares.   During that time, spent a lot of time on the Hawaiian islands and I enjoyed every minute of it but it has been a while since I have been to Maui   It will be interesting to see how it has changed.

As with all trips to Hawaii, it starts with the 5 plus hours flight; a flight that I always find it hard to sleep on and I always arrive exhausted.   I was up at 5 AM to get to the Airport.  Hawaii is three hours behind me so I get in early but I it feels like I have had a long day that started extremely early.  y the time I get to the hotel, I find myself questioning what possessed me but after a nap and a stroll along the beach, I begin to feel as if I am in a tropical paradise.

Sophon and I arrived at the Westin Villa Resort where we are staying.   We were told that our room was not ready so we went to lunch.   Our room was ready before we finished lunch, we unpacked and waited for Cindy to arrive.    We rested and after Cindy arrived we walked down to Dukes for dinner.

While walking around, I remembered that when I was worked on Maui, it was called “The Honeymoon Island”.  It was called that because the majority of people visiting Maui were couples on their honeymoon.  My first reaction was that it has changed quite a bit, the vast majority of the visitors were families with children.  There were quite a few children there and I kept wondering why these kids weren’t in school?  This was no longer the honeymoon island.

No surprise that I was ready to go to bed by 9 PM!   Looking forward to the rest of my trip. Continue reading →