Hawaii day 2 & 3

We started our only full day on Maui Friday appropriately by heading to Ka’anapali Beach after having breakfast at the ok hotel breakfast buffet (not as pricey as the Hilton, but not as good, and Jill described the coffee as undrinkable). We frolicked in the surf and read on the beach until we were roasting, then headed back inside. After we cooled off, we went to Whaler’s Village next door to do some shopping. We both emerged with new shades and other goodies, but the food court didn’t have anything very appealing, so we returned to the Tiki Bar for some Kona Brewing Co. beer on tap and a hot dog for me and a hamburger for Jill.

The promise of free wireless internet hadn’t been fulfilled – each time I tried, in airports or hotels, it was only pay service. So I finally broke down and bought a day pass in the afternoon, uploaded pictures, blogged and surfed while Jill read. In the evening we took a walk over to the Royal Lahaina for their luau. It was more entertaining than the last one I was at, especially since we had good company at our table with a family from Oregon. The drinks flowed freely, the food was decent, and the dancers were good. Only shame was we never got a good sunset either day on Maui.

luau

Saturday morning we were both up early. Jill had been mulling over a pair of earrings at Whaler’s Village and decided to get them, so we checked out, drove over and she got them while I waited. Then we took the short drive down to Lahaina, the only real town in West Maui. We got a parking spot at the south end of town, then started walking north on Front Street. We popped in and out of shops, but my only purchase was as the Old Lahaina Book Emporium. They had a bunch of arts and crafts vendors set up in the shade of the big banyan tree, but we didn’t find anything we needed.

Lahaina

We were running short of time, and needed to eat lunch before we left town. Jill was torn between a place we’d seen offering fish tacos and a Vietnamese place near where we parked, and we decided not to backtrack. But on the way to the Vietnamese place, we found Pacific’O, which had both fish tacos and a great ocean view. The fish tacos and pork quesadillas we had were fabulous, easily my favorite meal of the trip so far.

Pacific'O

The trip back to the airport was easy, and the flight over to the Big Island less bumpy than the way over. Jill even saw a whale just before we landed (I knew we should have switched seats). We had Angel’s Taxi pick us up once again, then took us to Holua Resort at Mauna Loa Village. We checked in, then walked over to our condo where we’ll be spending the next week. It’s very nice and spacious, but I was disappointed that their wireless network is down, so I can’t connect from the room (I’m sending this from a Starbucks).

condo

We passed the Keauhou Shopping Center on the way in, so knew it wasn’t too far. We emptied out our backpacks and started the (all uphill) walk, now with a sprinkling rain falling. We saw a trolley bus pass us, and we happened to be near its stop in the shopping center when it was on the return trip and Jill got a schedule. We had an hour before its last trip so we went over to the Royal Thai Cafe, ordered some takeout, then headed back to the KTA Superstore to get groceries, then got the takeout with minutes to spare before the bus returned. We got back, put away the groceries (where we found we’d forgotten the steak and sausages) and heated the takeout. We had split an order of spring rolls, Jill got the Chicken Panang while I got the Fried Duck (literally a quarter of a duck sliced in several places and fried) with Royal Thai sauce – a sweet and spicy dipping sauce that was perfect with the duck. We had also gotten some Mehana Volcano Red Ale to accompany the meal – a nice pairing. After that we were bushed, and apparently I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Complete Maui pictures now here.