We ventured away from the condo today. Packing took awhile. We didn’t leave kihei until 9am. The drive thru Kahului was fun. We went thru a different part and saw more neighborhoods and working businesses (read nontoutisty).
We arrived at Iao Valley at 9:30am. Despite warnings, we were able to snag a parking place comfortably, but the parking filled up in the next hour. It was jungle, road-to-Hana type clime- gorgeous. We walked thru taro fields. We hike up to a lookout. There was a man dressed as a Hawaiaan chief of old, posing with tour bus folks. Laura dubbed him the “mean man” and wanted to go say hi. The Needle was visible and Wayne got to photo.
We left at 10:45am and crossed traffic of Kahului to make a 11:30am reservation at Mama’s Fish House. We were there 13 yrs ago for our honeymoon and have never made it back despite driving by it. The location for the place is lovely. A white sand beach with palm trees and open air dining.
The kids were a dream. They were hungry and ate well. I had the most amazing drink, a piña colada type slurry infused with mint. The girls claimed more umbrellas. We shared a lobster guacamole with sweet potatoe chips. Wayne loved his ono cerviche. I tried to capture macadamian nut glory with coconut prawn won tons in macademian nut dipping sauce. Very good. We shared a black pearl desert- chocolate mousse in a clam shell cookie.
The girls played the San and Wayne shot para sailers over a blue Pacific. It was 30 min back to Kihei (about 2pm). The drilling at the condo ruined naps for all but me.
At 4pm, we took the girls for a sand only beach experience. I avoided the water and took a break from the sun. I mostly read my book while Wayne showed the girls how to make a sand castle.
Dinner was grilled cheese and ham on Hawaiian sweet bread, edamame, sushi for lw, chips, and pistashios. The girls watched the start of Ponyo and conked out.
Tomorrow’s a down day. Beach early to avoid the wind. Maybe rain. Definitely laundry.
