Maui #1 - 5/19 - 5/22

May 19, Saturday

We got to our resort, Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas, around 3 PM on Saturday and while Larry forgot about me sitting in the car, in the heat, without keys so that I couldn't even open a window (I did open the door, I'm not that dumb!!) he was busy checking us in and signing us up for trips and that must be when he realized I was still out in the car.
We got into our room and decided to check out the grounds and try to stay awake so we could get on with the week in the right time zone.  We went in the hottub figuring it would feel good after all the sitting on the plane, but it wasn't very hot.

A trip down towards Lahaina and we were at the Safeway in Lahaina Cannery Mall.  We did some shopping to at least get us through breakfast - cereal, milk, bananas and coffee.  I couldn't believe that in Hawaii bananas were $1.69/lb and that milk was $4.99 a gallon.  We're really spoiled living on the mainland and with Wegmans.  Of course this is a big tourist area so the prices might be higher than in other areas but how does the average worker afford to feed a family?

May 20, Sunday
We got up bright and early Sunday morning and took a walk going South on the Beach Walk.

We went into Lahaina to go to a 10:00 AM mass.  In addition to the normal garb, the priest was wearing a lei.

Then we spent the afternoon wandering around Front St where all the shops and restaurants are located.  I bought some hair combs that are better than the "As Seen on TV" type that I already have.  Also a couple of flowers.

Down by the Old Lahaina Courthouse is a gigantic banyon tree that was planted in 1873.  It's more than 60 feet high and takes up a city block.

After I took a picture of these parrots (used for those postcard photos that Gerry, Nadine and I did in 1995) Larry told me there was a sign that said no photos allowed.  And sure enough, there is the sign right in my picture - OOPS!!

We walked by Cheeseburger in Paradise and since we were hungry decided this was the place where we wanted to eat.  We each got a "Cheeseburger in Paradise."  The presentation wasn't much, it looked better if you ordered fries or onion rings which were served on the same plate but we were trying to watch our waistlines but the taste was incredible.

Larry got a Mai Tai and I got a Pina Colada.  I'm sure that meal used up most of my WW Points for the day.

On our way out of town, we stopped at Hilo Hatties and Larry got a new bathing suit.

During our travels we discovered a new grocery store, Times Supermarket.  It's closer to us and has some better prices - here bananas are only 1.59/lb.
 
After our big lunch, dinner was some appetizers and of course the requisite vodka and tonic.

May 21, Monday
Ann called to remind me it was Patsy's birthday (at 3:30 AM our time - she didn't know we were here).  We took another 2 mile walk around 6:00, this time going North and it took us up to where the Times Supermarket is.  It was only 1/2 mile to get there.

We took the Westin shuttle down to Whalers Village and checked out all the stores there and the Craft Sale going on at the beach.

We went to the pool for awhile but it was so windy out there it wasn't very enjoyable and when the sun would hide behind the clouds I felt like I should cover myself with my towel instead of lying on it.

We went back to the Times supermarket and bought a rotisserie chicken to have with salad for dinner.  The chicken turned out to be one of the best we have ever had.  Before sunset we went out to the beach area and saw the most beautiful sunset.  A couple that we met said they had seen the sunset every night they were here and this was the best one they had seen.

May 22, Tuesday
We went to our owner update in the morning and believe it or not, they had nothing to sell to us!

We decided to take a drive north and stopped at the end of the road past the Ritz Carlton where there was a parking area that led to a walking path but we took a walk across the Kapalua Golf Course toward the water.  It was so windy I felt like I was going to get blown over the cliff.  There were 2 couples on the 5th hole which had to be played (by the men) over the water.  With the way the wind was blowing they needed to shoot way to the left for the ball not to be pushed out to sea.

We found a new grocery store, Foodland, and bought two different types of Pokeafter being allowed to sample a bunch of them.  We got the Spicy Bomb Ahi which as the name suggests is spicy and the Fresh Kajiki Au (Marlin). 

We headed to the pool where it was much more pleasant than yesterday.  The sun was out and even though it was windy it must have been coming from a different direction because instead of being annoying it was a relief to have otherwise it would have been too hot.  I almost decided to go in the pool but then it was time to have lunch.  We went to the outdoor restaurant by the pool but after seeing the prices we decided to eat on our lanai.  We had snacks and a vodka and tonic - it was almost 4:00 PM.  A bird flew over, the birds here are really friendly, so I put a small piece of a chip on the railing and before I knew it there were lots of birds.  Eventually, they would take the food out of my hand.

We walked over to the Sheraton along the Beach Walk to watch the sunset cliff diving show.   We saw the catamarran that we'll be on the next night for our sunset cruise, they had a prime viewing spot so we're hoping we get the same.



We took the beachwalk back and continued to enjoy the scenery.