Commercialism vs. Wilderness

After we woke up this morning, before we even changed out of our pajamas, we went downstairs and out to the beach to walk around and take a few pictures. It's beautiful out there--not much of a beach in front of our hotel, but the water is sparkling blue.

Michael's first "dip" in the Pacific Ocean

We came back up, showered, then went across the street to rent snorkel gear for the week. We rented from Maui Dive Shop. The guy there, Joseph, was really helpful and gave several suggestions of where to stop for good snorkeling this week.

Next, we went to downtown Lahaina to explore. We visited several shops, checked out the menus at a few restaurants, and just got a feel for where everything is on the island.

A random patch of grass in the middle of Lahaina

The quiet streets of Lahaina. We haven't seen them this empty since!

Oh, and we figured out our convertible! When we first went down to the parking lot this morning, we couldn't figure out how to get it open all of the way. We had to ask one of the groundswork guys if he knew how the heck to work it. Turned out that there was this part in the trunk that we had to fold down to stop from blocking the top going down. Oops. But seriously, how were we supposed to know that? Since then, we've put the top down and back up again at least 15 times... it's so easy! :) We loooove the convertible. Totally worth the extra money... gotta have a convertible in Maui!

Me in the rental car in front of our hotel

We bought a few souvenir type things (Michael bought his first Hawaiian shirt--uh oh), and then took a short trip to Safeway to pick up a few things that we discovered we didn't have at the condo.

Then... back into downtown Lahaina for lunch. We chose to eat at this little place called Cheeseburger in Paradise. We have the Maui Revealed book, and it was recommended in there. Plus, we had walked by it earlier in the morning and liked the atmosphere. Not only that, but I was in the mood for some serious french fries. According to Maui Revealed, the fries at Cheeseburger in Paradise are amazing. Well, we weren't disappointed. We both had a "polynesian style" chicken salad sandwich. It was chunks of chicken with green onions, cashews, red peppers, etc. in a ginger sauce. Delicious! Why not a cheeseburger? Maui Revealed claims that ironically, their cheeseburgers are the weakest items on the menu. I was also trying to branch out from my usual "play it safe" ordering. I'm glad I did.

After lunch, we decided to take a ride up Route 30 to see some of the "West Maui Sights" highlighted in Maui Revealed. The scenery on the way was completely breathtaking. It was our first real glimpse at the "real" Maui. This is why people come here!

Driving down Route 30 with another Sebring convertible in front of us. Pretty drive!

Our first stop was at the Nakalele Blowhole. We hiked a little bit of the way down and took some beautiful photos of the view. Unfortunately, the blowhole wasn't really doing much... apparently we were there at the wrong time of day. We're going to try to go back later this week to catch some massive amounts of spraying water.

On the cliffs above the Nakalele Blowhole (it was below this). Hang loose!

More driving, more spectacular sights... next stop was at Olivine Pools. We had to hike down some pretty steep and rocky terrain (and a "DANGER: Do Not Go Beyond This Point" sign), but it was really cool. We were in flip flops (stupid), so it took a little longer and was a little scarier than normal, but we made it and it was worth it. We took a dip in the pools to cool off. Our camera battery decided to die shortly after, so we headed back up the mountain and to our car to go back to the condo.

The Olivine Pools from above. See the rough terrain we hiked down?

Taking a swim in one of the Olivine Pools

Only we didn't go back to the condo... we ended up taking yet another drive to nearby Ka'anapali Beach to see Black Rock. We parked at Whalers Village and explored that a little bit as well. We ended up buying some aqua socks/water shoes that are sure to come in handy this week. Then we FINALLY decided to head back to the condo to clean up to go to dinner.

Snorkelers at Black Rock

We have to be ready to be picked up by Mountain Riders at 2:10 a.m. tomorrow morning (yes, that's right), so we ultimately decided to just go get takeout. We decided to go with a local place that was recommended to us by the concierge downstairs. It also had a decent review in the Maui Revealed book. Called Honokowai Okazuya, it is just a little hole in the wall in a plaza not far from our condo.

We were excited for our takeout. This is obviously before we ate it. Two thumbs down. Wayyy down.

Well, let me just say... this was a major miss. It was disgusting. Granted, I am picky about my meat. But I ordered their "world famous" Korean Style Chicken BBQ, and I could barely even stomach a few bites of it. Just gross. The chicken still had skin on it (which I didn't realize), and it was fatty. Ew, I just don't even want to think about it any longer! Michael had some other chicken dish, which he also sad was chewy. Nasty. So, moving on...

We have to get up in about 6 hours, and we're not even in bed yet. Suppose I should sign off... more tomorrow!