Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Trip To Maui (2018)--Day 1
5/5/2018
Restaurants
To view our ratings of the Maui restaurants we visited, click here.
See ya later, Duluth!
The simple act of printing boarding passes for an impending trip brings the reality home--we're heading back to Hawai'i! It does this every time we travel, and today's printing was no exception. We were designated Zone 3 on our two flights on United Airlines. As I wrote in 2016, United's method of boarding is much more "civilized" than Delta's. United uses separate lines for each Group, so the sooner you get in line, the sooner you get on the plane once your Group is allowed to board. It also means you get a much better chance of getting overhead bin space for your carry-on luggage. This is important. Delta takes a rather "Oklahoma land rush" approach where everyone mills about in an area in front of where you board, waiting for their Zone (similar to United's Groups) to be called. A lot of jostling and some bumping goes on in the process, and it's a royal pain in the ass.
With the passes printed, Patty and I hung out and watch another episode of Scandal on Netflix, until it was time to take Kimo up to Birch Hill Kennels. He has been there twice in the past, and seemed to really like being there on both occasions. It's a much preferred alternative to Harbor City Kennel; when he was there in 2014, he looked rough when we picked him up at the end of our trip. Slitted eyes like he hadn't slept, dirty coat of fur, he wasn't the happy, bouncy boy we were used to! Thus, the change to a new kennel, and we're happy we switched. But we know we'll miss him at some point during the trip, and will think of him often.
Bruce arrived at 9:45 a.m. sharp and drove us up to the Skyline Shuttle office on the Miller Trunk Highway. They moved here a couple years ago, and now reside in a nice building with a decent sized parking lot where you can park your car and then shuttle to the Cities.
We asked the folks working at the office about their park-and-ride policy and how long we could park there.
Guy employee: "About 14 days"
Me: "What if we need longer?"
Guy employee: "Well, there is some leeway"
Gal employee: "But not 21 days!"
We would have needed 20 days, so it's unclear whether that would work. But when we returned, we found out from a co-worker that she had used their parking lot, and damage had occurred to her vehicle while she was gone. Considering that, we probably would leave our vehicles at home and get a ride from a sibling or friend up to the Skyline Shuttle office when we went on future trips to Maui.
There were only four of us on this shuttle, and it went very smoothly. Included, as always, was a stop at Tobie's Express in Hinckley so we could replenish beverages, grab some chips or a donut, etc. There was some construction getting ready to commence on I-35, so we'll see how our return shuttle fares when we return on the 24th.
The shuttle dropped us off at Terminal 1 (the main terminal) in the Minneapolis Airport. After calling the Best Western Dakota Ridge hotel, we hung out outside and waited. It only took about 20 minutes for their shuttle to arrive and within a half hour, we were checking in at the Best Western. After freshening up, we walked over to the Granite City Bar & Grille, less than a half mile away. We had a beautiful day for this short walk with temps around 80 degrees--a good thing since I didn't wear a jacket or long pants on this trip!
Patty and I started with the boneless wings, and these were excellent. She then ordered a house salad--she loves her salads! And I got the Cajun Pasta, which is pretty tasty. We weren't sure what to expect from this place, as reviews were mixed with the oft read comment that they're pricey. While this is somewhat true, it's equally true that the food here is outstanding. It will be nice to have this place as an option when we return here in the future.
We made it back to the hotel just in time, as severe thunderstorms rolled in within an hour of our return. After watching the storms from the lobby for a short time, we headed back to the room for the evening. Patty set the alarm for 2:30 a.m. in order to get ready for our 4:30 check-out and subsequent shuttle to the airport for our morning flight. Tomorrow will be a long day!
Previous: 5/1/2018--Our Trip To Maui (2018)--Prologue
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last updated november 19, 2021
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