Maui, Hawaii

Maui

Roger and I finally found a travel destination we both love – Hawaii. For Roger, there’s lots of great golf and perfect beaches; for me plenty of natural wonders and remains of ancient civilizations; for both of us scrumptious food and technicolor sunsets. We flew into Maui, where we spent two nights. It poured rain our first day there, but that didn’t stop Roger from playing 2 rounds of golf. I spent my time taking a submarine ride (lots of fun) and hanging out in Lahaina, where there was a World Cultural Festival featuring Japanese hula dancers taking place under the giant banyan tree. I walked the historic trail, visited many of the art galleries, and had lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise. That night we saw Ulalena, a wonderful (I thought – though there was a dissenting opinion) Cirque de Soleil Meets Lion King show highlighting Hawaii’s history and mythology.

The next day I drove to the top of Haleakala, a harrowing drive full of hairpin turns. About ¾ of the way up I remembered my fear of heights and wondered what I was doing there, but forged on nonetheless. I was rewarded by breath-taking moonscape views of the volcano crater. On the way back down, I discovered how effective low gear can be.

We’d been advised not to overdose on luaus, so we did some research and selected the Old Lahaina Luau to be our luau experience. The food (including imu-roasted kalua pig and poi) was good and plentiful and the hula near-authentic. The beach-front setting was magnificent.

 Mimi Santini-Ritt 2006