Hearts in Hawai'i

Our Trip to Maui (2012)--Day 9
4/30/2012

Maui Kayaks

We had another great activity this morning with our kayak tour at 505 Front Street at 8 a.m., done by Maui Kayaks. Jeremy, our instructor, was in the 505 Front St office at 7:45 when we arrived for check-in. After signing a waiver form, we picked out our life vests and paddles. Quickly we were off to the beach where two kayaks awaited. I thought we would be kayaking on solos, but we were put onto a tandem kayak. As it turned out, this was a very good idea. We were the only ones in this class, which was nice as it led to more attention and personalized instruction. After giving us a briefing on how to hold the paddle, how to paddle and so on, we dragged our kayak out into the water and got in. We paddled south past the Lahaina Shores and about a quarter mile south before heading out toward a platform which was set about a quarter mile out. The waves were very slight today, and there was a gentle breeze from the north. We then continued north towards the Lahaina Harbor, where we rested for awhile and drank some bottle water before retracing our steps.

Physically, I handled this pretty well, although my lower back was getting pretty tired by the time we made the final push northward at the end. The current runs north to south here, so we had to work a little getting back to the beach at 505. Overall, this took just over an hour and a half, and we had a blast! We saw one green sea turtle during the trip, which was cool.

It was money ($114) well spent, and we tipped him $10 at the end of the activity. We want to kayak again, either by renting ($50 for a day) or possibly doing the combination kayak/snorkel which Maui Kayaks offers, this activity taking place down in Olowalu.

Patty ready to hit the water

Nice view of our hotel from our kayak

We were pretty beat by the time we were finished; after washing up on shore, we thanked him and returned to the hotel. I stopped at the Whalers General Store first to pick up a couple calendars for Bruce. Then we hit the sun, but Patty only lasted about 15 minutes, claiming it was too hot. I stayed out there for about 1:45, adding to my already dark tan.

While Patty napped, I took off on foot to a swimwear shop where I’d seen some Speedos the night before. They had a pair of 36 Speedos, but they were a bit too snug. They didn’t have any 38’s in stock, so I left disappointed. I then walked over to the Maui Theatre and secured our tickets for Wednesday night’s Ulalena show. This should be a lot of fun and informative.

Lahaina Pizza Company

I was hungry, so decided to stop at Sure Thing Burgers for a quick lunch but they were closed. Walking past the Lahaina Pizza Company, I decided to pick up a take out pizza. Natalie was there! It was very nice getting caught up with her—when we last saw her two years ago, she was about to give birth. We hadn’t seen her on the beach since we had arrived, and it turned out it was because she bought a house up in Napili. They’ll be at our beach on Wednesday as they plan on kayaking the Shark’s Pit just offshore from our hotel. Possibly we’ll see her and her family then.

The quality of the pizzas at Lahaina Pizza Company has gone downhill since they made their break from the BJ’s Chicago Pizzeria chain. I'm not sure if the split has something to do with the quality downgrad. What I do believe is that the sauce isn’t as good as it used to be, and the toppings just seem a little bland. This is unfortunate, because at one time, we considered BJ's Chicago to be one of the best pizzas anywhere. At the very least, in Hawai`i. However, this pizza once again suffered from blandness and a scarcity of toppings, yet the crust on this deep-dish pizza is still outstanding. In addition, the cost is high. $23 for a medium two-topping pizza. Even by Maui standards, this is pricey.

Casanova

After napping for an hour, we took off for Makawao, with Casanova’s being our destination. We had dined here two years ago and were blown away by the quality of their pasta on that occasion. Once again, it was very good, albeit not quite as outstanding as it was before. Patty decided to also get pasta, and both of our dishes were tasty as was the Caesar Salad and the bread.

Baldwin Avenue in Makawao

Some hot tubbing tonight, met a couple from Wasilla, Alaska. It was her first trip, but he had lived on Kauai back in the early 90’s, post-Hurricane Iniki, working with his dad on reconstruction.


Next: 5/1/2012--Our Trip to Maui (2012)--Day 10

Previous: 4/29/2012--Our Trip to Maui (2012)--Day 8

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