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!

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!

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.

Sunday afternoon we went to Kepaniwai Park and walked to the ʻĪao Valley State Monument… SO many stairs! but it was worth it!

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!

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.

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.

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!