Maui Wowie 2K9

My friends Breanne, Julie and I went on a little adventure last month. We took a week (turned into a week and a half, to be explained later) trip to Maui. It was paradise! When you step off the plane in Maui (see 1st pic), after you shake of the aches and pains of the 6 hour flight, each of your senses are immersed in all things Hawaii. You feel the warm weather; it's like being wrapped in a warm blanket. You hear birds of paradise singing their lovely songs. You smell the blooms of the tropical flowers. You see God's beautiful creation at its best. And you taste the tropical flavors of Starbucks? Yes, this was our first stop after exiting the plane. I soon found out that my 2 friends needed Starbucks to survive.

Our 1st day was spent in Kahana and Lahaina. We met up with one of Breanne's work buddies and got to see how the other half vacations. They were in the penthouse at a resort on Kahana Beach. You could see the whales frolicking in the water from their lanai! That's a fancy word for balcony or porch. As you can see (2nd pic), the weather wasn't too great the first day so after a quick dip in the ocean, toes only for me, we went for a walk and quick bite to eat in Lahaina.
This day happened to be St. Patrick's Day and as we were walking down the street my buddies were heckled by the local drunks because of their failure to wear green. The girls got over it pretty quickly once they had their hands on their lava flows (yummy frozen drink with pina colada and frozen strawberries). The 4th pic was taken at Cheeseburger in Paradise in Lahaina. Notice my green and Breanne's turquoise?


The next day we had was the gorgeous Hawaiian weather we were looking for. Low 80's in March? Yes please! We started off the day in our convertible. We went to Wailea where we found another Cheeseburger in Paradise to have breakfast at. My french toast (4th pic) was beyond amazing!
Our waitress was super helpful in planning out the rest of our trip. She gave us directions to her favorite beach, which soon became our favorite beach. Big Beach (5th pic) is just about 10 minutes south of Wailea. Little Beach is next door to Big Beach and only accessible by climbing over some rocks. WARNING! Little Beach is a nude beach. We saw some interesting people climbing over those rocks. Needless to say, we didn't make the climb. The sand on Big Beach was amazing and from our chosen spot on the beach we had a great view of the surrounding islands and the perfect spot to people watch. We spent a good 4 hours at Big Beach that day.

The next day we went on a LONG drive and a short hike. We were told by many locals that we couldn't miss out on the Road to Hana and we had already planned on taking in the sights of the Seven Sacred Pools which was at the end of that road. We left our condo by 9am, stopped by Starbucks for a few necessities and made it to Haleakala National Park (where the Seven Sacred Pools are) by noon. The drive was long, and at times scary, but so worth it once we got to the pools. See how happy we are! On the way back we stopped at Hamoa Beach. It's a small black sand beach tucked away off the Hana Hwy. Oprah has a house on this beach, but of course you can't see it at all from the public part of the beach.

When we were in the airport on our way to Maui, Julie made friends with this man named Frankie who lived on Maui. He told us about this boat tour that he said we had to do because it was such a great experience and he could get us a deal. Well, he was right about one thing; it was a great experience. We didn't need a deal though because $42 for a 4 hour whale watching/snorkeling trip with all the beer you could want (none for me, thanks) and a delicious BBQ is a great deal! This was probably my most favorite part of the trip. I thought we see a few whales here and there, but we saw lots and lots of whales and they even came within 10 feet of our boat! I almost peed my pants I was so excited! If you're going to Maui, you have to go on this boat trip, we compared and this one was the best by far. Here I am getting ready to snorkel and Breanne and Julie enjoying the sites of Maui. This is my favorite picture that I took of the whales.


Thinking it would be our last full day in Hawaii, we spent the entire next day at Kaanapali Beach. It's a busy but beautiful beach. We parked ourselves right in front of the Marriott where we would frequent for potty breaks and treats at their outside cafe. This was a great beach for floating in the water. Once you got past the wave break it was smooth sailing. I also taught the girls how to do the "washing machine." It's a great way to exfoliate your skin while letting the waves crash you into the beach. Here's a pic of Julie taking it all in.



The next day was the day that we were planning on going home, but a call from Bobby let me know that we weren't going to make it on the flight. A flight from the day before had been canceled and everyone from that flight was being bumped onto our flight. We took it with stride and welcomed this extra day in paradise. The only problem was that the owners of the condo, Breanne's friend Stafford and his wife Nancy, were set to stay there the following day. As soon as we started to fret about that Stafford called Breanne and told her that we could stay there that night and that we shouldn't worry about it. He's so great! So we spent that day back at our favorite beach, Big Beach, and relaxed.

On the new last day of our Hawaiian adventure, we knew that Stafford and Nancy would be arriving by 10am, so we woke early to clean up after ourselves. I was amazed at how fast 3 girls can clean a condo. We spent the time waiting for them to arrive at the pool because we wanted to give them a chance to get settled in. At about 11am, Stafford arrived at the pool drink in hand and I knew I was gonna like this guy. We showed him the pool tricks (see pics) that we had been working on and told him about all the amazing things we had done. We then went back to the condo to get cleaned up and ready for our flight. We turned our rental car back in, checked into the airport and waiting for the gate agent to call our names for our seats. She never did. Stafford was nice enough to drive to the airport to pick us stranded girls up. We had a little laugh about it, but didn't think it was as fun as we did the first time we got bumped. Thank God for Stafford and Nancy because they let us sleep on aerobeds on their living room floor. Here's a pic of Nancy and me and a pic of Julie and Stafford relaxing in the pool.

The next day we woke up and went to Charlie Young Beach, which is right across the street from the condo. It was a great beach and Julie made another friend. It was so funny, she was sitting there enjoying the sun and this guy comes and lays down about 5 feet from her, but he was right in front of her. It was bizarre! After Charlie Young Beach we went back to the pool to catch what we thought were our last rays of Maui sun. When we got to the airport that evening the ticket agent was nice enough to let us know that there was absolutely no way we were making it on this flight. So we immediately called Stafford who was still on his was back from dropping us off and had him come get us. Ok, this isn't enjoyable any longer.

Being stuck 3 days longer than any of us had planned on being in Hawaii wasn't very fun. The next day we spent at the pool and at the internet cafe trying to figure out how to get home. I was able to finally get out that evening on the red eye and Julie and Breanne got out the next afternoon. Even though it ended on a sour note, Maui Wowie 2k9 was a trip of a lifetime! I can't wait to go back. Nothing beats the Hawaiian sun.

Please let me know if you're interested in the condo we stayed at, I can get you in touch with the owners.


I remember why I don't post too often, that took me a long time! Yikes!