Maui, Day 1

Layne, Daniel, and I headed off to Maui on Monday for a few days of rest and relaxation. I was celebrating being done with work and I also wanted to give Layne the chance to have a little fun after spending the last few months taking care of the little man. So we packed our bags and hopped on a (30-minute) flight and it was time for vacation!

Even though Maui is just a short trip away, it really did seem like a different world compared to Oahu. It was a lot warmer and sunnier (especially compared to our house, right at the base of the mountains) and it was a lot less crowded and populated than here. We arrived in Kahului, picked up the rental car, and headed off to the Ka'anapali Coast, on the west side of the island, to the Sheraton. The location of the hotel was just perfect--it's the last one in a long line of hotels, so we had our stretch of the beach to ourselves. The pool was perfect and the grounds were beautiful. Every morning, Daniel and I would take a walk along the sidewalk that runs about a mile down from our hotel, separating the hotel properties from the beaches. If we ever get a chance to go back, I now have a good idea of which hotels have the best pools for kids (Hyatt, Westin, Sheraton, in that order)!

On Monday, we spent the afternoon getting settled, unpacking a little, trying to get the little man to take a nap (unsuccessful for the most part), and splashing around in the pool.




For dinner, we headed into Lahaina to see what we could find. What a cute little town! It was a major whaling village in the 19th century, but the whalers didn't get along very well with the Christian missionaries, so the town also saw its share of violence. Lahaina was probably Hawaii's version of the Wild West, with gambling and drinking and shootouts, but now it's just a fun tourist destination.




Layne and I had a delicious dinner at the Lahaina Grill, where we discovered that they had a kama'aina (Hawaii resident) deal of half price entrees. Thank you, recession! Daniel did very well at dinner, as long as we kept him entertained. He even fell asleep as the entrees arrived, so Layne and I were able to really enjoy the fabulous food.

More of Maui to come.....