Greetings!
Day 2 of our visit was lovely. We woke up early, grabbed two big coffees and jumped in the car for a trip around the island.
First thing: the beach. We stopped to enjoy Punahoa Beach near Olowalu. Being born and raised adjacent to the frigid Northern California coastline, I have never been more than knee deep in the ocean. Surfing on the PNW coast doesn't happen without wetsuits. The water here is warm and the sand is....well, sand and not rocks. I couldn't wait to take off my shoes and get dip my toes in! Greg and I enjoyed the beach for a while, observed the kids surfing in the early morning sun, and watched beach campers drift from their tents to the waterline. I will surely swim in the ocean when we have our beach day on Monday! I appreciated the cleanliness of the beach, and was impressed by the local organizations who were out early on a Saturday performing volunteer clean up services. Oregon could benefit from a similar dedication to stewardship of natural resources.
Next stop was Lahaina, where we picked up some sunscreen and bottled water for our hike. We drove out to the northern part of the island and hiked a short interpretive loop along the rolling hills of the coastline. Amazing views, no people in sight, and perfect weather! The geologic features of the cut-away cliffs were sinewy with sand, volcanic rock, and oxidization. Greg told me about the native plants and his adventures whale watching in the area. We took breathtaking pictures of Cathedral Rock and hiked back to the car.
Driving on the one-lane roads was difficult at times, but the steep green valleys with tiny villages at the bottom were worth seeing. Cows grazed along the green plateaus, and locals sold smoothies, shaved ice and souvenirs from roadside stands in the pullouts along the highway. Greg and I stopped often to photograph the dramatic coastline, boats and scuba groups in the pristine blue water.
Once back on the two-lane highway, we stopped for plate lunch (BBQ chicken, garlic pork in a banana leaf, macaroni salad, and white rice with cabbage) and enjoyed the sounds of a local band and choir that was celebrating World Peace Day. We took a brief siesta to recover, then hit the town for a delicious meal at a local, family-owned and run Thai restaurant called Bangkok Cuisine (http://www.bangkokcuisinemaui.com/). Greg and I enjoyed summer rolls, wonton soup, evil jungle prince fish, and pinot grigio. The atmosphere was delightful, and the food was yummy... we have plans to eat there again before we leave.
We returned to the hotel for a drink and the college football highlights. I had been craving something savory and spicy since that afternoon - a bloody mary with bacon. While popular at home in Salem, the hotel bar staff had not heard of bacon in a bloody mary before my order and looked at me like I had two heads. They conceded that, although strange, it sounded pretty good. On my next trip to Maui I expect to see it on the menu. ;-)
Over the next couple of days, Greg and I will be taking a sunset hike at Haleakala, driving to Hana for a day trip, and we have reservations for dinner and a show on Monday night.
Mahalo for reading our blog!
Anthony Bourdain: Eat your heart out! Great travel log and photos. But what? No spam? Really sounds like a super day with more to come.
ReplyDeleteawesome...and you're such a good writer! So glad I was strict about "no atari's or video games"!
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