Includes: Word Nerd Day, Chocolate Cake Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day, Pizza Day, Respect your Cat Day, Honesty Day, World Bee Day, Day of Music, Upcycling Day, Coffee Milkshake Day, Assistance Dog Day, National Surgical Oncologist Day, Talk like a Pirate Day, World Inclusion Day, Universal Health Coverage Day, and many more…
What is a vacation anyway? I don’t think I’ve ever had a real one. I’ve traveled to see family and had a great time, but a vacation? I guess I deserve one, or that’s what they keep telling me!
So, we went to Hawaii! Maui to be exact, and we stayed with our friends in their spare room. I’m so grateful to have been able to do this trip! After this long year of cancer treatments it felt like a true luxury to be able to decompress in such a beautiful place!
We left Los Angeles Monday November 6th, and arrived in Maui late in the evening. Got a rental car and drove to our friends house and was greeted with fancy glasses with star fruit and umbrellas! Our friends are the best!
Of course first order of business the next day was to find the best local place to get coffee! Wailuku coffee Shop was it! For most of our journey actually… Not only did they have good coffee, but they also had excellent breakfasts, biscuit sandwiches, and bagels. Yum!
That night we went to dinner at Cafe O’Lei at the Maui Tropical Plantation. I just had to have the Macadamia nut crusted Mahi Mahi. Wouldn’t you?
On Thursday we went to Kula Botanical Gardens. So many beautiful flowers and birdsong and bees buzzing!
Flamingo Flower, pink with a long stamenOrchid, deep brown and yellowStrange flower from another planet
On Friday we went to get some of the best fish tacos at South Maui Fish Co. and then we walked to Kalama Park to watch the sunset and take pictures and fly some drones over the ocean!
At Kalama Park after fish tacos, Kate takes a selfie with the beautiful Maui sunset behind her. Wearing teal star earring, sunglasses, a purple bracelet, and a black shirt.
Saturday we drove to Paia and had flatbread at the Flatbread Company. I’m pretty sure I saw a cat living in the rafters! After dinner, we wandered around this little town and treated ourselves to gelato at the Paia Gelato.
Kate smiles while Christian pretends to touch the top of “The ʻIao Needle”. Kuka‘emoku (a.k.a. the ʻIao Needle), an phallic erosional feature which abruptly rises 1200 feet from the valley floor.
That night we had Dinner at Tiffany’s (not to be confused with Breakfast at Tiffany’s), and I had my first (and last) MaiTai of the trip. Mai Tai’s are VERY sweet, although this one was tasty too! 🍹😆
After helping our friends move some stuff into their new place on Monday, we had Tuesday to ourselves and went to breakfast at SixtyTwo MarcKet where they have the most delicious shrimp cake eggs benedict. Then we drove to Ho-Okipa Beach and wandered around in the wind and found a place to see TURTLES!
Two turtles in the sand off the coast of Maui at Ho-Okipa BeachSame Turtles. Those rocks back there on the sand? More Turtles!
Wednesday was Whale Watching day. After a lovely lunch at Tante Maalaea Harbor Restaurant & Bar, we headed next door to the Pacific Whale Foundation, who does amazing work protecting the ocean and it’s inhabitants. Our ecotour was super informative and windy! We didn’t actually get to see any whales (no refund, but we were offered another tour for free!). Being on the ocean in a boat, made for a lovely afternoon, just the same.
Looking to the west off of the deck of an ecotour Pacific Whale Foundation boat. Rope hanging from the railing. Blue partly cloudy skies with the sun shimmering on the water.
Our last full day in Maui was spent revisiting our favorite coffee shop and looking at native plants at the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens. Then we also returned to the Cafe O’Lei at the Maui Tropical Plantation.
The courtyard and pond at Cafe O’Lei. You can’t see the ducks, but they were there.
Such a lovely relaxing trip! I think I had forgotten how to relax and though I never fully remembered, I did get some nice rest and experienced a lot of great beauty and chill Hawaiian vibes!
