Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Trip to Maui (2012)--Day 1
4/22/2012
Prologue
This was our eighth trip to Hawai`i, and also our fourth trip where we only went to Maui. Why just Maui? Because, simply stated, it's our favorite island. It's the island with which we are most familiar with. It's the island which evokes the most nostalgia, starting with our wedding there in 1996.
This was also the first time we'd spent more than fifteen days on a single island, with this year's vacation spanning eighteen days.
I brought the same two cameras I used on our 2010 trip; a Nikon D90 with two lenses (an 18-200mm and a 50mm), plus a Canon Powershot S90 point & shoot camera. The 50mm lens never left the camera bag. Also included were a circular polarizer which was used quite often and a gradient filter which wasn't used.
New items packed on this trip? An HP Netbook, which turned out to be a wonderful tool for uploading pictures and journalizing our experiences on Maui. This also gave us the capability to use the in-house Internet (not free), allowing us to keep in touch with folks back home. Oh, and to also make my Facebook friends envious with constant pictures taken while here in Paradise. 
Restaurants
To view our ratings of the Maui restaurants we visited, click here.
Getting There
Shar and Steve picked us up at 3:30 for the drive to the airport. Check-in at the Duluth International Airport went smoothly, as it almost always does. The check-in lady was jealous we were traveling to Maui. Our first flight was on a Canadian Regional Airjet so they had to check both of our carry-ons due to a very limited overhead space. I got the Netbook out of my carry-on and Patty carried it in her small bag, since I didn't have room for it in my camera bag.
Waiting to depart from Duluth
After a short flight to Detroit, we got off the plane and found McDonald’s in the McNamera Terminal. $6.02 for a Sausage Egg McMuffin and a milk!  After that, two hours of killing time awaited us so we wandered all the way down to the end of Concourse A to our departure gate (A12).
The flight from Detroit to L.A was uneventful. L.A. is huge, sprawling and looks way too busy from the air. Once we arrived at Terminal 5, we attempted to find California Pizza Kitchen, only to learn they are no longer in business here. But a nice lady guided us to Terminal 6 where they have a Ruby's. We chowed down at Ruby's (very good burgers!) and then returned to Terminal 5 to find our departure gate. We dealt with a fairly long wait, over three hours, but a good portion of that time sped by as we engaged five folks from Atlanta in conversation. They were headed to the Grand Wailea for five days. Wow! We’ve seen this hotel and it’s incredible. They were first timers to Maui so we tried to help them out by passing along information on what we had learned from our previous trips to Maui. Eventually we boarded the plane and our flight left for Kahului on time.
In the Detroit airport
Taking off from Detroit
Somewhere over the Rockies
Over Los Angeles
Over the 405 freeway
The flight to Maui lasted "only" five hours yet felt much longer. With only 30 minutes of sleep so far today, I was feeling the effects of what was becoming a very long day. I did catch an incredible sunset over the Pacific from my window seat--Patty is sleeping so she misses it.
Sunset over the Pacific
At last, the lights of Maui appeared in the distance! We were geeked (Jim Rome-speak for "excited" for those who don't know this). Moods improved immediately. We actually landed over a half hour ahead of time. Debarking the plane, things went extremely smoothly from that point on. Our bag was one of the first on the carousel, Walking over to the Alamo pick-up spot, the bus was already waiting, and we were second in line at Alamo. Our car is a Nissan Versa, a fairly nice vehicle but I still would have prefered the Chevy Cobalt. The worst thing about this car is the CD player doesn’t play mp3 CD’s! What kind of Stone Age shit is this? The three CD’s I had burned in preparation for this trip are rendered useless.
But here we finally were, taking the drive to Lahaina on a beautiful Maui night. Encountering little traffic along the way, with just a little rain along the way, the drive to Lahaina didn't take long. It doesn’t matter what time of day or night it is, we love the drive to West Maui on the Honoapi`ilani Highway. From being so high up on the pali to being literally just a few feet above the ocean in places, it’s enjoyable every time we drive it.
Lahaina Shores Beach Resort
Arriving in Lahaina at the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort, Carmen welcomed us back. We're in room 515, where we stayed for a couple days in 2009, and it has changed! The first thing we noticed was that most of the closet had been closed off. That long closet which used to run the length of the entry hallway was no more. An in-room safe had been installed but wasn't operational. The Murphy bed, which we usually dislike, was surprisingly comfortable. The kitchen had been remodeled and we thought it was extremely nice. In-room internet was available for $40/week. Parking still cost $8/day. Overall, we liked this room quite a bit which features unobstructed sunset views. (note: We’re not totally sure, but it’s possible we stayed in 519 before, not 515)
Here is what we liked about Lahaina Shores and our room:
Beautiful ocean view and being able to fall asleep to the sound of the ocean
Full-sized kitchen with refrigerator, stove, microwave, toaster and coffee maker. Plus, free coffee each day.
Laundry facilities on each floor
While we didn’t use it, the Expedia Activities desk in the lobby is nice to have
A Murphy bed, which we don’t generally like, but was comfortable
Lahaina Shores is entirely smokefree! You sign an agreement and face a $200 fine if they find evidence you violated the agreement. It's nice to smell the tropical air without breathing in another person's pollutants.
What we didn’t like:
No free internet access. They supply the cable and you can purchase from Oceanic Time-Warner for $40/wk, but seriously?
$8/day to park. Same cost as two years ago, but still too high
No in-room safe. It’s the only hotel we’ve stayed at in the past fifteen years which doesn’t have this and I’m curious why this is.
We headed off to Safeway and dump just over $100 on some groceries. Shit, stuff is expensive here but we already knew that. Back to the room, we relaxed and ended up falling asleep around midnight, listening to the ocean. We're finally here on our favorite island!
Previous: 11/26/2011--Duluth East Hockey Preview 2011-12
Index of Blog Pages
last updated november 14, 2021
|