A Quick Trip to Maui – The Valley Isle
Part 1
Part 1
My apartment mate, Sherb’s, nephew, Chuck, and his family made their annual Christmas Season pilgrimage to their time share on the Island of Maui. Sherb had often told them he would come down to visit with them while they were in Hawaii. This year Sherb honored his promise.
I had met Chuck, Priscilla and their daughter, Nicole, on my first visit to the Hawaiian Islands prior to moving here. Sherb asked me if I would like to go along with him down to Maui for a quick weekend trip from Friday, Saturday and return early on Sunday. I said, "Yes !"; even though I was just back from my 3 voyages and almost 10 weeks away from home on my "Almost a Last Hurrah" adventure. I guess I wanted to add one more Hawaiian Island to my memories of this beautiful state.
We got up and left for the Honolulu Airport much, much too early on Friday morning. We were the first in the waiting area for the 6 AM flight south to Maui
Sherb at Honolulu Airport - very early in the morning!
It was still dark when we landed, after 32 minutes in the air, at Kahului (Kahh – WHO – looie) Airport. We picked up a rental car, dropped off our bags for storage at the hotel we were staying at and set out for…. Krispy Kreme Donuts!
Kahului has the only Krispy Kreme Donut store in the Hawaiian Islands. It is located just outside of the airport. We ate breakfast there each of our 3 mornings on the Island.
What a treat to get a decent glazed donut still warm with a perfect glaze! The humidity in Hawaii makes it very difficult to have the sugar glaze on donuts and rolls not turn into a sticky, gooey coating. Getting a great glazed donut is one of the factors that make my semi-annual trips back to the Mainland bearable. I have a list of “favorite” foods I indulge in when I make my trips back to the Mainland.
Soon we were off to explore the sights in the early morning sunlight. Our first stop was at an International Peace Park built by the different nationalities and cultures who immigrated to Maui. Each group had created a pavilion representing their culture: Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean and Hawaiian.
A tribute to the Japanese immigrant farm workers
Chinese pavilion honoring Dr. Sun Yat Sen
Statue of Dr. Sun Yat Sen - President of China
before the Communist Chinese take over.
Chinese Pavilion - Lion Statue "Please, Scratch My Back!"
Korean Pavilion
Detail - Korean Pavilion
Map of Maui - The Valley Isle
It was still early morning when we left the valley where the International Peace Park is located. We drove along the coast road north toward Kapalua.
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| Kahului Street early morning |
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| The road to Kapalua |
Oh My! It's a long way down!
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| Country church - Road to Kapalua |
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Different colored blossoms on the same stem.
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| The road to Kapalua |
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| The road to Kapalua |
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| The road to Kapalua |
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| The road to Kapalua |
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| The road to Kapalua |
The views are stunning !
So was the road, it took about 3 hours to drive the 32 miles to Kapalua, but we made many stops for taking photos.
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| Blowhole on Maui's North Shore |
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| Molokai in the northern distance |
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| North Shore of West Maui |
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| North Shore of West Maui - Surfers |
As we got closer to Lahaina, the road became more crowded and the hillsides along the road were more inhabited. The drive soon reminded me of being in Irvine California as we passed golf course after golf course with major, very large resort hotel complexes one after another. The landscaping on both sides of the road was flawless.
We found the beautiful time share village where Chuck and his family were staying and soon met with them there. We then all headed off for sight seeing and lunch on the way to Lahaina.
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| Golf course in Lahaina |
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| Marriott Village swimming pool. |
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| Marriott Village - time share apartments |
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| Koi pond - Marriott Village |
We had lunch at a shaded outdoor café right on the seaside. After lunch, we drove through Lahaina and then parked the car to browse the many boutiques and shops. I took a number of photos. The afternoon passed quickly.
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One banyan tree completely fills the block behind an early city administration building
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| Nicole on one of the outstretched banyan branches |
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| Lahaina resort shopping area |
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| Cowboy and Sherb |
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| Lahaina seaside shopping area |
Lahaina means “Cruel Sun” and the sun is quite intense. I tried to stay in the shade as much as I could.
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| Detail on building above - a ship's figurehead |
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| The Baldwin House - built in 1834. The Baldwin's were a missionary family |
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| The Master's Reading Room next to Baldwin House |
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| Gilmans Store and location of the first Customs House |
Lahaina was an important stopping place for whaling ships and their crews in the early 1800’s. Many of the whalers were out of New England in the United States. I am sure that the sailor’s stories of the beautiful, naked Hawaiian women who swam out to their ships in welcome – lifted quite a few eyebrows back home. The New England churches sent out missionaries, including the Baldwin family in 1834, to bring these “heathens” into civilization and Christianity to Maui.
I don’t think anyone asked the Hawaiians if that is what they wanted.
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| L to R - Sherb, Nicole, Priscilla and Chuck |
We had an early dinner at a restaurant built out over the ocean. Our sunset dinner was very good. We had the perfect close to a fun day together as we watched a cruise ship sail past the nearby Hawaiian island of Lanai as it left Lahaina.
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| Island of Lanai behind cruise ship |
After dinner, Sherb and I drove back to Kahului by completing the route around West Maui to the seaside hotel where we were staying.
End of Part 1
Next - Getting really high on Maui.
Next - Getting really high on Maui.
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