Here is the link to our pictures.
www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp…
I am posting this instead of both of us together as we have done in the past, so it%26#39;s easier to read. Hope you enjoy.
This trip was about rest and relaxation. This was our first real vacation in 20 years. We only booked 1 activity, The Feast at Lele luau. We booked this 4 months in advance. We did one drive around day, then a rest day, then a drive, then a rest. This worked very well for us. We knew we wouldn’t have time in a week to do it all, so we picked a few things and enjoyed the hell out of them. We can’t pick a favorite thing because we loved it all. We loved the Westin Resort and Spa. It was busy and there were lots of kids, but the service was spectacular. We enjoyed watching and interacting with the other guests and were not bothered by the kids or people. We feel so relaxed, even still and will never forget this special time we had together.
Day 1 8/24
We left the house at 6am and got to the Thrifty parking lot at Seatac at 7am. We parked the car and took the shuttle to the airport. Checked in our bags and then went outside for a last cigarette. We then went through security and found the airport bar. Wanted to calm the nerves a little. I had a red beer and Steve had a couple of double bloody marys.
We boarded our flight and tried to watch the Five People you Meet in Heaven on the dvd player. I couldn’t hear out of my headphones, so gave up, but Steve watched it. Mission Impossible was the movie on the plane. The planes screen also showed where we were headed, with a map and a plane icon. This was fun to follow. We finally saw some land and we got really excited. We had been on the plane for almost 6 hours. I was choking back tears I was so happy.
After we got off the plane I was looking for the lei greeters, as I had ordered one for Steve. I saw them but didn’t see Steve’s name. I walked right past them, then turned around to check again. Steve followed me with a “what the heck are you doing look on his face.” I told him to look at the sign and he was really surprised. A pretty girl placed it around his neck. He then told me he couldn’t figure out what I was doing because the leis were for special people. I told him that he WAS a special person. We walked to the baggage claim and I had a smoke while Steve waited for the luggage. It came in about 10 minutes. We then got on the shuttle to Hertz. There was no line. We got a white Ford Focus. No ashtray in car. Started driving to hotel. It was a beautiful drive. Saw waves crashing over the sea wall. Steve said it reminded him of Santa Barbara. Saw lots of surfers and passed by a fruit stand selling pineapple and coconuts. We are truly in Maui now.
Got to the Westin Maui Resort and Spa. Valet comes right up to our car and opens door for us. Very friendly and welcoming. We tip him $5 and walk in. He sees that there is no greeter to give us our leis, so he runs in to give them to us. He tells us that the tea leaves are for the guys. Puts them on us and once again welcomes us. Hotel is beautiful. We wait in line about 5 minutes to check in. It was 2:15 and room was not ready. We are told that we will be in a very nice ocean front room. We go to the bar to wait until after 3 to get our key. I have a pina colada made with fresh pineapple. The bartender gives me lots of samples of the different tropical drinks. I was in heaven! He also tells me that they are all the same price and which ones have 3 shots so I can get my moneys worth. We went to the desk at 3:15 and room was not ready yet, but they would call our cell phone when it was, so we go to bathrooms to put on our bathing suits as it was very hot and humid. We still had on our jeans and tennis shoes. Got changed and found a nice spot to sit overlooking the waterfalls. It was so lovely. There was another couple there who was also waiting. Chatted with them for a few minutes and them we both got the call that our rooms were ready.
We got room # 790 on the 7th floor ocean front beach tower. We were told we were very lucky to get this room as there are only 3 Premium Deluxe Ocean view room categories that front the ocean on each floor. I think the next step up is a suite. Don’t want to say how much we paid, but you do get what you pay for. The view was definitely breathtaking. Tropico restaurant was right below us. The porter came up with the bags. He was very friendly and set our bags on stands and asked us if he could answer any questions for us about the hotel. He also offered to get us ice. Tip him $5.
Time to go downstairs and hit the pool. Got towels and wristbands at the towel stand. (Wristbands help so non-hotel guests don’t horn in on our pool) Again staff was very friendly. Pool area is very busy. Lots of people! Find 2 empty padded lounge chairs in the adults only pool. Jump in and water is refreshing. The temperature was just perfect to cool off. We found the water slide and get in line. Ask cute little girl if it was scary. She says no and asks me if I want to go fast. I tell her I do and she tells me to cross my legs and keep them straight and to spread them if I want to slow down. She cracked me up. I’m thinking the spreading legs thing may not be for me. My turn came and I’m going slow even though my legs are straight. I’m thinking I must be too big or too old or something. Then all of a sudden I was going really fast and it was great! We go to the pool bar to get another drink to take back to our lounge chairs. I get a $9 Mai Tai and Steve gets a $6.50 can of Coors Light. Finish those and then went to beach to body surf. It was a blast! Got sand everywhere where you don’t want sand. Waves broke very close to shore and pretty much dump you on the beach.
Go up to room and shower then walk over to Sheraton to watch the cliff diver. Pretty nice sunset. See hula dancer and guitar player at Keka%26#39;a Terrace at the Sheraton and decide to eat there. Order bottle of wine. (Red of course) Then waiter tells us that the cliff diver will be coming around with a big fish that he caught in the ocean. We weren’t really sure what he was talking about. Next thing you know, here comes the cliff diver right over to our table with a big red snapper! He was still dripping wet from his dive and he tells us that he caught this at an ancient Hawaiian fishing ground called Safeway. Very funny! Waiter takes our picture with him and his fish. Lots of fun. Then order coconut prawns and sashimi for appetizers. Delicious! Then we are told that we can go to the salad bar. Not really salad bar fans. Didn’t really want to get up, but we go anyway. The salad bar is inside and there is air blowing from somewhere and lots of it. My skirt blows up as I’m trying to get my salad. Steve tells me that I look like Marilyn Monroe. Another guy comes in and tells me the same thing. I should have worn my good panties. Don’t wear a skirt to the salad bar that’s all I can say. Salad bar was huge with lots of choices. Green salad, pasta and shrimp salads. cheeses and cold cuts. Finish salad and then Steve has Mahi Mahi (Steve kept calling it Maui Maui) and I have seafood linguine. (Both to die for) I couldn’t finish mine I was so stuffed.
After dinner we headed to Whalers Village to find the ABC store. Bought beer, lotion and water. Head back up to room to go to bed.
Day 2
Wake up at 3am. Managed to fall back asleep until 5. Sat on lanai drinking hot chocolate waiting for Steve to wake up. When he woke up, we sat and read the paper, drank coffee and watched the sea and the waves. Showered and went to McDonalds at Whalers Village so I could get an egg mcmuffin, which I get a craving for once in a while. (Very inexpensive breakfast) Steve got more coffee. Then headed over to Maui dive shop (also in Whalers Village) to rent snorkel gear. We didn’t have to wait in line, as we got there right when they opened. Gave us nice gear with a plastic fish card so we can see the names of the fish.
Walked to black rock and found a shady spot under a tree. A little girl told us the water wasn’t clear today and that we wouldn’t see any fish. We went out anyway. Kid was right, water wasn’t very clear. We saw a turtle for a few seconds and then saw a puffer fish and a black and gold butterfly fish. Then see another big turtle, thanks to another person who shouted “TURTLE”. It swam right under us. What a sight! We couldn’t have been happier. I felt our whole trip was now perfect because of that one turtle. That’s what I came to Maui for. I just love turtles.
Sat under tree again and 2 local guys come and sit by us. They had a cute little 8-week-old puppy. The other family by us babysat the puppy while the guys went in the ocean with their boogie boards. We watched them pick up some trash that was on the beach. When they came back, we ask them what kind of tree this was. They said they didn’t know, but they hated this kind because it puts round seedpods into the sea and they float around everywhere. We chatted a bit and played with the puppy. Then another family with a rude mother who doesn’t like local puppies comes and plunks her stuff pretty much on top of us all. She got upset because the puppy walked across her mat and knocked over her drink. It had a lid and I don’t think much spilled. Local guy offered to buy her another drink and apologized for the puppy, but nothing he said mattered. She was not very happy. (Pretty much a total b word) She said that she now had sand on her. We thought that was pretty funny because when we go to the beach we pretty much know that sand is going to get on us. Then more people came. Yes, another gal who doesn’t like local puppies. She doesn’t understand why she has to be by the puppy and asks local if he has a shorter leash. She was pretty snappy. We ask local if all the tourists are this rude. I mean we were there first, we were having a great time and visiting with everyone. Then people come, sit on top of us and complain. They could see there was a puppy. Anyway, he tells us a lot of them are, then picks up more trash and tells us that they are also very messy. We say our good byes and head to Whalers Village for lunch.
Went to the pizza place. I had a slice of vegetarian and Steve had a pinini. We ate our lunch on the beach, and poured our beer into coke cups. Steve met a guy from Philadelphia and they chatted while cooling off in the ocean. The waves were pretty rough. I went in and got slammed onto the beach I was lucky I wasn’t hurt. And I literally ate sand. I was trying to get it back up. Was having a hard time. Got it packed in my ear and tried to wash off, but water was too rough so went back to shower on beach. Then Steve did the same trick, got slammed onto sand got nice rash on his chest and ripped nipple ring ball out. He had to hold a wet towel on his chest. We went back to our room and I was gagging sand the whole way. Barely got room door open and I threw up. But hey, at least the sand came out. Got in shower and couldn’t get sand out of hair or ears. This is why hotel drains are clogged. We thought we got most of sand off at beach shower but we were wrong. It was really bad. Steve had a pocket full of sand, and I had tons of it between my suit and it’s liner. What a mess. Use q-tip in ear and cotton comes off and stays in my ear for the rest of trip. Didn’t bother me at all, but I knew it was in there. (Doctor got it out when I got home.)
Finally get most of sand off and get dressed for The Feast at Lele. Drove to Lahina and wait 10 minutes to pay for after 4pm parking. This is right across from 505 Front street. Seemed silly to wait, but there were no other nighttime pay options. We walked around and found place for nipple ring repair. And there was no charge. But the ball was bigger then his other one, so Steve now became the “big baller” for the rest of the trip. Walked over to Banyan tree took pics and saw Jesus Man. Then went to Blue Lagoon bar and had a couple of Coors Lights. Bought a few souvenirs then went to Heacocks bar. Found out they have a lobster dinner on Monday nights for $30 so we planned to go back then to eat there. I was able to smoke in Heacocks but the bartender told me that starting in November there will be no smoking in any bars on Maui with a 30 foot from doors rule. She was upset because it wasn’t put up for a vote. I think it would have passed anyway as there are not many smokers anymore.
Headed for the Feast at Lele luau and there were 2 locals set up with some pretty cool stuff to buy. Steve got a monkey wood tiki, which the artist signed by carving his name, the date and the name of the tiki god on the bottom. I got a turtle purse, a turtle necklace, a monkey wood turtle. And the best was we got 6 coconut palm baskets for $15. Feast at Lele was the BOMB! We LOVED it. Loved the food, loved the show, loved the service. The girls were beautiful with tattoos in very sexy places. (Noticed lots of the locals have tattoos of the Hawaiian Islands) The shaking of the hips, the costumes, the fire dancing, the rhythm sticks. It was amazing, and well worth every penny. One thing of note, we kicked our sandals off and went barefoot. Some people wore ties and spiked heals. They looked really silly and had a hard time walking. Besides that, it’s humid, no need to dress up!
Went back to hotel and got free valet because the lot was full. Spent rest of evening on lanai watching the sea.
Day 3
Woke up around 6 and had cashews and coffee for breakfast on the lanai while Steve read the Maui News newspaper. Also woke up to bad heat rash on thighs. Not use to the humidity.
We decided to drive north on hwy 30 to find Honolua bay for some snorkeling. We packed beer and snacks and snorkel gear. Drove and stopped at many scenic spots. Saw tide pools, sea cliffs, red cliffs and lots of interesting flora. Got to the bay, not too crowded, found parking. Walked down stairs, found shady spot. Put digital camera and cell phone in waterproof bag, and buried it in the sand below our towels. We went snorkeling and saw lots of fish. We went pretty far out. We took the underwater camera with us. Pictures came out pretty bad, but still had fun trying and got a couple of shots of some blue fish. Had a beer on the beach afterwards and climbed on some lava rocks. When we got up to our car there was no parking left and some cars where pretty much on the road.
After we left the bay we continued on north hwy 30. Stopped at a fruit stand at Honokonau cove bought some stubby bananas and some passion fruit. Gal was making necklaces out of shells. They were very pretty. Drove some more and found weird rock place. There were lots of rock stacks and a weird rock maze. Can’t describe it other then to say it was a weird rock place. Saw what we think was mushroom rock, but not too sure on that. We thought we would go all the way around, but got scared because we only had a Ford Focus. No, not really, we just didn’t want to back up on the one lane road. We really enjoyed the wind at some spots on the north end. It felt like home. And it was so much cooler then at our hotel. So, we got turned around and found the road we were looking for on the way up. Lower Hapahani road or something like that. This put us a little closer to the sea, so we got to check out Kapalua and Kahana.
We were starving by this time because we didn’t eat our snacks. So we went to Lahaina and went to Bubba Gumps. Food was pretty good, we had coconut shrimp, peel and eat shrimp and fried shrimp. Mixed platter, think it was called shrimp feast or something like that. Not spectacular, but good. Steve had some crazy tropical cocktail and got to keep the glass. I had a bloody mary with a shrimp in it.
Then we went back to hotel and showered. Went down to the pool area and watched the most amazing fabulous sunset ever. It lasted way past 8 o-clock. We watched it for over 2 hours. The colors were amazing. We saw so many shapes in the clouds. Watched a dragon turn into a rat and so on. We were so relaxed. This may sound weird but the best part was that we didn’t have our camera. There was nothing to take away from the enjoyment of the wonder we saw. Everyone was talking about it the next day. Even the locals said it was one of the best they had ever seen.
Day 4
Sunday Day of rest. Today was cloudy, which made it a perfect day to lay by the pool. It was still hot, but not as hot and no wind. We put on our suits and got down there about 7:30. Found great end lounge chairs that overlooked the adult pool and the sea. I got a breakfast croissant from the hotel coffee stand. We laid and relaxed and had coffee and breakfast. At 11, we snuck our soft cooler with about 6 beers in it down to the pool. (No outside food or drink allowed) Steve ordered every other beer from the cabana girl. I ordered a pina colada. We also ordered a basket of chips and veggies that came with salsa, guacamole and ranch dressing. It was great to be waited on all day long. LOVED IT! We lay around, swam, and lay around some more. Found hidden cave in waterfall with a cold water Jacuzzi. Had a lemon lime shaved ice, which I later added a shot of tequila to. At 4pm, we were tired from all this hard work of laying around so we went up to the room to rest a little.
Then we showered and went to the ABC store for more beer and souvenirs. Then we walked south on the beach walk. Checked out the Kaanapali Ali, Marriott and the Hyatt. The Marriott and the Hyatt both have great areas for little kids. Pirate ships, and sandy bottom pools and such. Very cute! Came back and had dinner at Tropicos. Steve liked it better then I did. He had swordfish and I had Ahi. I was excited because it came with mashed potatoes, but when I got it, all the food was pilled on top of each other, potato, asparagus, and then the ahi with some crunchy noodle things on top of that. I prefer my food separate from each other so I can taste all the flavors. Ahi was ok, but not the best quality. Did enjoy a martini called “love Potion” Went upstairs and fell asleep watching a movie.
Day 5
Got up, read paper and had coffee on lanai, loved starting everyday this way. Today was drive to Haleakala day, House Of the Sun! We stopped and got gas in Kahului and bought some funny, huge sunglasses for our daughter. Big is in, and these are BIG. Passed through wonderful smelling eucalyptus groves. Stopped at Kula lodge and bought a sandwich. Drove to the very top, through the clouds, and it was mostly sunny and hot at the top. We wore shorts, tanks and tennis shoes. But had jeans and coats in the car. This was now about 11am. We walked around and couldn’t find the crater, or should I say the main crater. Steve kept saying is this it? And I would say no, that’s not it. It’s huge with cinder cones. He said well this is “it” cause we are up here. Funny! Felt kind of dumb that we couldn’t find it. Saw the Big Island, which was really cool. Fabulous views of the sea. Then we saw a woman smoking at 10000 feet. Couldn’t believe it. I didn’t smoke again until we got down to the bottom. Anyway, went down to lower visitor center, and then we saw what we came for. The clouds parted for us 2 fire signs, or so we thought. We are so glad that we did this because it was the most amazing site. There is no way to describe it and the pictures don’t do it justice. It was so strangely beautiful! We walked down a trail for a while and took pictures and just kept saying WOW! It was just stunning. What a way to spend our anniversary.
Down the mountain for dinner. Went to Heacocks in Lahaina. Sat in bar to eat dinner so I could smoke. Wanted to watch the Feast at Lele again to see what it was like for free. First off, it is not the same at all; in fact it looked kind of lame from where we were. You don’t get the feel of the show, no interaction; none of the great sounds of swishing skirts, and of course none of the great food. We don’t recommend seeing the show this way. If you go, pay it’s well worth it. We ordered lobster dinners for $30 and it was very good. The only bad thing was, that we had such a great bartender when we first got there, then he got off shift, and the night bartender was a stick in the mud. Barely said 2 words to us. Anyway, we had green salad with blue cheese first. It was very good with lots of fresh crumbles of blue cheese. Loved the lobster, and the rice. Got up to go wash our hands, because no towels were brought to us. Stick in the mud did come and wash off our table. Went back to hotel and had our free bottle of champagne on the lanai.
Day 6
Today our last full day we decided to spend it on the beach. I went down at about 8am and rented 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella ($25) from the hotel. I asked to be on the end, and that is where he put us. Very nice guy, we chatted for a while and when he found out it was our last day, he gave me a boogie board to use for free. We took our cooler of water and beer down to the beach and also bought and shared another breakfast croissant. We snorkeled off the beach and saw a ton of pretty fish and an eel. It was clear and beautiful. I found lots of shells and a tiny toy dolphin and dog in the water. I was looking for lost rings or jewelry, but found none. I really enjoyed diving down closer to the fish. We were very thankful for the umbrella, as it was really hot. It did get pretty windy. At 3pm we went up to the room and showered to get ready to go on our Teralani dinner cruise. We got on the catamaran in front of Whalers Village. We loved this activity. It was windy and we got to put up the sail. The crew was awesome. Very funny and the service was great. We only had about 20 people on our boat, so there was lots of room, and lots of food. They served antipasto, pasta salad with artichokes and mushrooms, cesar salad, rotini pasta with red sauce, some sort of fish, chicken and bread. It was all pretty good, and you could get as much booze in your mai tai as you wanted. Yes we boozed it up pretty well. Partied with 2 other couples, one Arizona transplant from New York City, and the other couple was from California. We had a great time and the captain was laughing at us whooping it up at the back of the boat. The sunset was great and we saw rainbows all over the place. He pulled in so we could watch the cliff diver at the Sheraton again. Not sure why some don’t like booze cruises, but we loved ours and it was a great way to spend our last night.
When we got back to the beach we continued in our revelry. We decided to go on a hunt for the best mai tai. We went to Leilanis first, and there’s were awesome. The bartender was great and he called us by name. Then we went to the Rusty Harpoon. There’s were pretty bad, served in too big a glass, and it was boring there. So then we went to the Hula grill. They came in second. Ended the night back at Leilanis for the #1 mai tai and the bartender still remembered our names. I think at this point we didn’t remember our names, so it was good of him to remind us. We ordered some nachos, which were pretty good at this point, then headed up to the room to go to bed.
Day 7
Woke up and had the usual coffee and paper on the lanai. Then we threw a ton of stuff away to make room in our 2 suitcases for all of the stuff we bought. We threw out our sunscreen, and toothpaste and lotion and some of our snacks. Filled 2 trashcans. Bet the maids had a heyday with all the stuff we left behind. Packed our stuff up and hauled it ourselves down to the valet. Got the car, and left our island home. So sad!
We drove to Kahului and went to the Harley Davidson shop to buy some shirts for some friends. We were in luck, buy 3 get 1 free. So that was a money saver. Then we went to Dennys for breakfast. Sat across from a big party of locals and it was someone’s birthday. This was fun to be by. Our waiter was a slug. He came and took our order and said “right away” but we waited 45 minutes for our food. Only got 2 refills on our coffee. When we got our food, we got the Tabasco and catsup from another table because he never brought it. He also brought us pancakes instead of the wheat toast we ordered. He told us that “right away” the toast would come but it never did. It was really pretty funny, and had us laughing the whole time.
We heard you could get cheap shirts at Walmart so we went there. Steve told me he has never been to a Walmart. Couldn’t believe that. So I told him I would show him the ropes of cheap shopping. We bought 5 Maui t-shirts. They were $3.19 a piece. Then bought 2 more for $4.99 for our neighbor’s kids. Steve bought a Maui shaka hat for $1.99 for a coworker and wore it home so it wouldn’t get squished.
Time to return the rental car. That was easy and painless. Then hoped on shuttle to airport. Didn’t enjoy this part very much. It was really hot, had to stand in line, Hawaiian air self check in screen wouldn’t accept our confirmation number so had to have the girl check in for us. Woman stood in our way so we couldn’t get our luggage on the scale, finally asked her to move. It was all very unorganized and chaotic. Got through the mess, and then went to the squish a penny machines and got 2 for our collection. Went into the bar and had a couple of beers. Bartenders were not friendly and we couldn’t wait to get out of there. Had one last smoke and waited to board our plane. A little late in boarding. Had lots of crying babies on our flight. It’s so hard for them, and us. Fell asleep for part of the flight. When we arrived, we had to wait 45 minutes for our baggage. It was weird like the baggage handlers put 10 bags up, and then took a very long break. Only had to wait a few minutes for the Thrifty shuttle where we parked our jeep.
The cool Seattle air sure felt like home.
Long Trip Report and Pictures
Great report! The link to the pictures didn%26#39;t seem to work, though (got an ';Album not available'; message)!
Seems like you two had a great time. I cannot wait for our trip- hurry up October 20th!
Long Trip Report and Pictures
So, did you have any fun? LOL You know it was a good time if idiot waiters didn%26#39;t upset you. It sounds like you had surf there like we had two years ago. The waves at Black Rock were up to 10ft. high and crashed directly on the beach. There was red flags flying everywhere saying not to go in the water. We also went to Honolua on that trip. Thanks for the great report.
I also got that same message on the album.
We had so much fun! Nothing upset us. And we didn%26#39;t have any issues between us. Of course we didn%26#39;t do Hana, so the story might have been different. The waves were rough 2 of the days we were there. And we just HAD to go in the water and body surf. Could have, should have worn rash guards at least.
Maybe someone who has an easyshare account can help me with the link. It may be kodaks page causing the problem though. Maybe this link will work. If I can%26#39;t get it to work, I will get them up on another site within a few days or so.
www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp…
OK I GOT IT! Thanks to an earlier post by 1lobo1! I guess with Kodak you have to invite yourself to look at your own photos and then post that link here.
www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp…
Hope that did the trick.
TwoTigers thanks for the trip report. Where are you from in WA? We live in Marysville and leave for Maui in a week. Your trip report got me so excited. Thanks for searching for the best Mai Tai. We will have to check out Leilanis.
PrincessKila, our family is from Martha Lake. We were just up your way and went to see Peter Frampton at Tulalip. Loved the outside venue. I hope you have a great trip! Bring light casual clothes. I wore shorts and tanks tops most of the time, or my bathing suit. I only put on makeup 1 time, it wasn%26#39;t worth it to put it on. Put my hair up most of the time too. And it was humid, the air felt very thick to us. We were sweaty all the time. Leave room to bring stuff back. Where are you staying?
Great report. Mahalo. Don%26#39;t you just hate it when people put themselves into a situation and then complain instead of move...the puppy and apparently sand hating lady.
Sounds like a terrific trip, and you both had the right attitude to make it so. Seven weeks from today, I%26#39;m there! We%26#39;re planning on doing the sunset cocktail cruise on our last night too, and you made it sound so wonderful, I%26#39;m glad we decided to book it.
Off to see your photos...
Thanks for sharing your trip with us.
Wow, those photos are gorgeous! Really, really cool. What kind of camera did you use? Thanks again for the pics...loved %26#39;em.
We have a kodak easy share. But the trick is to get one with at least a 10x optical zoom. We bought it for the trip and couldn%26#39;t be happier. It also has manual settings, which is great, but the auto setting is pretty foolproof!
I%26#39;m glad you all are enjoying our report, and glad the puppy and the dennys story didn%26#39;t come off as if we were complaining about it. Everything that happened just added to the fun. Can%26#39;t really explain it, but that%26#39;s how it was.
mask making
