Maui Thursday

Our first full day in Maui started with a beautiful drive along the coast to West Maui - through Wailea, Kihei, Lahaina, Ka'anapali, and Napili... I think we like to get the lay of the land. We were looking for a snorkeling spot from our guide book. Of course there was no sign, so after driving back and forth a few times, we parked and walked through lush forest - full of chickens (?) - to Honolua Bay. It was a lil scary getting into the water - it was overcast, rocky, and there were only a few other people around. Once we got into the water and started swimming around it was beautiful - colorful fish galore! After we drove up to a lookout point and bought a papaya.

We headed to Aloha Mixed Plate for some Hawaiian fare - kalua pig, poi, maui sweet onion rings and local beer. Of course this place was right on the water and we set out on the deck. We checked Lahaina out a little bit - the banyan tree square, and drove down the main shopping road - but decided to head back and stop at another snorkeling spot - Olowalu.

and we saw a giant goat cross the street

We spent the afternoon relaxing on our beach (right in front of the hotel) with some sparrows

We headed to Wailea to walk along the beach path and watch the sunset. We spotted a group of whales that were breaching over and over again and of course we had the binoculars, so it was quite a show. We also saw a lot of the swanky hotels and started looking for a place to get a drink.

We ended up at the restaurant at the Grand Wailea - Humu­humu­nuku­nuku­āpuaʻa -they had a lot of enticing cocktails, but we couldnt resist ordering a giant rummy drink for two - it came in a huge wine glass thing, and other people at the bar congratulated us for getting it :)

We weren't that hungry, so we order the pupu platter - a taste of four of their desserts and it was amazing. The best were the ribs, but there was also a scallop on a taro cake, tiger shrimp, and a lemongrass ahi tuna stick thing. Mmmm...