Hearts in Hawai'i
Our Trip To Maui (2018)--Epilogue
6/2/2018
In case you haven't figured this out from this blog and my website (leepagen.com), I'm a list maker. Patty and I spend time discussing various vacations we've been on as well as future vacations we'd like to take--in that vein, the question of where this vacation stacked up with the ten previous vacations we've taken to Hawai`i came up. Suffice it to say the Aloha State is our favorite vacation destination, by far.
How to rate vacations? It comes down to several factors:
1. Expectations vs Reality
2. Activities
3. Weather
4. Food
5. Intangibles
The reality closely matched our expectations. We've been here so much that we know pretty much what to expect when we visit Maui. There aren't any surprises any more for us.
We did fewer paid activities on this trip than on any previous trip--Maui Swap Meet (if you can consider this "paid", as it only cost us $1.00), Cocktail Cruise, Atlantis Submarine, Maui Ocean Center, Slack Key Show. The cocktail cruise was our favorite of its genre, the submarine was fairly dull, the Slack Key show was fantastic, the Maui Ocean Center was okay, likewise the Maui Swap Meet.
The weather has been as good as on any other trip, save our 2008 Maui trip, when it was perfect, slightly cooler and sunny almost every day we were there. Trade winds prevailed the vast majority of the time this trip, and there was little rain.
As for food, this is one area where we can apply an objective measurement, owing to the restaurant rating scale we've developed over the years and apply to every place we eat at on Maui (and the other Hawaiian islands we've visited such as Oahu, Kauai, the Big Island and Lanai). The overall rating for this trip was the highest it's ever been. This isn't a surprise because, as you do more trips, you get more used to what's good and visit fewer places you haven't dined at before. Of the 19 places we dined at this trip, seven places were "First Time" experiences. Five places scored 90 or higher, the first time this has happened. In other words, our dining experiences were the best we've ever had in Hawai`i.
Intangibles--this measures such things as culture, interactions with locals and other tourists. While Patty and I aren't what you would call "social butterflies", we do enjoy our interactions with other people. In that respect, we had a wonderful time interacting with other visitors, wherever we found them. There were also rewarding conversations with locals at such venues as Baby Beach and Ho`okipa Beach.
Overall? This place ended up seventh of the eleven trips we've made to Hawai`i. Our first trip, in 1996, remains to this day our favorite.
Regarding the question of returning to Maui, it's not a "yes" or "no" question. We will return. The question is, when? Probably in 2021. The weight I've gained over the past few years made serious hiking an impossibility, and that needs to be (and will be) rectified before our next visit. I'd love to do the Lahaina Pali Trail, Waihee Ridge Trail, and a couple others. Losing some significant weight will aide in that.
Previous: 5/24/2018--Our Trip To Maui (2018)--Day 20
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last updated november 22, 2021
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