Escape to Maui

Part 1. Not sure how many parts there will be...

Dreamiest vacation I've ever had. It really was. Our agenda for the trip was: no agenda. We ended up doing a lot but it just felt so calm and relaxed and fun. Of course Maui was as gorgeous and sunny and colorful as ever. And then I was with my very best friend and favorite travel companion. Perfection.

We flew out late on Friday afternoon leaving behind our 4 darlings, and a fresh layer of cold, fluffy snow. We may have been slightly excited.

 

We flew late into the night and arrived in Hawaii at 9:00 pm local time (midnight at home) but we'd had a few naps on the plane and felt so excited to be there. Too bad that the ocean turns into a sheer black abyss in the dark of night so we couldn't enjoy the view as we drove to our hotel—Marriott Maui Ocean Club. After stopping for groceries and checking in we sank into our bed at 11:00 that night and slept so soundly.

Saturday morning we were still awake before the sun and so ready to get out in the beautiful air and see the ocean—hence, the perfect morning for a run on the Kaanapali Beach boardwalk. We ran from end to end a few times and rounded out a nice 5K before stopping to cool down by the pool. Oh my goodness I was so sweaty! I forgot about the humidity (which I actually loved except when running :) and then the heat when the sun finally rose from behind the tall resorts and hit us—near 80 degrees right away. It actually felt incredible but was a shock to the system. A very, very good shock!

Pre-run, gettin' the tunes going

 Mid-run: amazing view and sweaty lady

The rest of the day was super laid back. We hung out by the pool for a while, walked over to Leilani's for lunch and Joseph's most favorite meal in Maui—fish tacos. Then we wandered around Whaler's Village, hung out for more pool/reading/napping time, and stopped by Leilani's again for takeout hula pie to eat while we watched the sun set. We ate a light dinner back in our room and watched Date Night on Joe's laptop. I love that movie and laughed so hard. Again. Every time I see it actually. So funny I cry (the pole dance scene of Steve and Tina at the club? so ugly and awesome!)

 

 

Oh, this hipster hottie is taken!

 

My snorkeling guy. He loves it and went out exploring almost every day.

I sat on the beach and dutifully watched out for him (read good books and looked for cool rocks and shells)

 

 

 

 

Sunday morning we got ready for church (we were up super early, but we could not stay awake later than 9:00 pm HI time the night before so we still got awesomely long sleeps), went to breakfast at the huge Westin buffet, and then drove over to 9:00 am sacrament meeting. The view from our seats in church—too beautiful:

Then we wandered around Lahaina forever just window shopping and taking our sweet time. Loved our easy no plans pace. We had lunch at a fantastic spot in town called Cilantro Grill and got the highly recommended Mother Clucker Flautas—very yummy. We went back to the hotel to unwind and nap (really? how was I even tired?!) before wandering back out to the pool area to read and hang out. That evening we made spinach and fruit smoothies and microwave popcorn for dinner while we watched the Golden Globes (on very early over there—starting at like 5 pm).

Monday morning we wandered over to the Westin again, this time for a 7:00 am spin class. It ended up being just the two of us there with the instructor and of course the studio had a beautiful view of the resort and ocean. The room was pretty hot for a spin studio so again, I was a super sweaty girl but loving the workout!

 view from the studio

We went back to our hotel to shower and change, and actually pack our things to move to the Sheraton Maui just down the beach. Thanks to my sister-in-law working for Starwood hotels we got an awesome "Starfriend" rate but it was only available certain nights—had to book another place for the earlier part of our stay. During the lapse between checkout and check-in we drove up the road to Kahana for a pizza lunch, a quick pedicure at a little local joint while Joseph shopped around, and then up to Kapalua for some exploring.

We found a beautiful beach just off the Kapalua Coastal Trail. It had been raining most of the morning but had just cleared up around lunch time and the beach was almost empty. We played around for a bit and then walked up to the golf course in search of a spot we'd read about called Dragon's Teeth. We had to basically walk on the rough side of the green near the tee to get to it but it was such a cool little find. The lava formations are super ragged and whitened by the sun (like huge teeth) and the waves still crash up against it constantly making it a great place to just sit and watch nature at work. Plus the water in the bay beside it was so aqua blue I could hardly believe it. I wanted to bottle it up somehow and bring it home! We tried to capture it with our cameras but they can hardly do it the justice it deserved.

 

 

love the crystal clear water in Maui

 

 

love note to the darlings

 Craggy Dragon's Teeth

On our way back out we saw a little plaque naming the spot as a sacred place for Hawaiians. We hadn't seen it on the way in and in reading up on the internet wandering around it is discouraged if it's not done with respect and reverence. I certainly wasn't trying to be reverent there but the place is so stunning it's hard not to admire it with awe. I hope we weren't disruptive to the feeling of the place—it is such a gem that I'd be sad to have missed it. If you go there in the future just do so calmly and quietly, right?

In the early afternoon we got settled at the Sheraton (in our room with the most awesome view!) and spent some more time laying in the sun and reading at the pool. In the evening we ate some takeout salads we'd gotten earlier in the day and then watched as the rain picked back up and poured down in Black Rock. We watched another movie on the laptop, The Bourne Supremacy, and went to bed for the night (again, before 9:00 pm—we are certified Hawaiian earlybirds).

 

It's true by the way, the flowers in Hawaii smell just like perfume.
Oh and they are perfectly stunning too.