Maui 2008

We just got back from a 4 day trip to Maui. We had an awesome time! Maui is a 180 different than Oahu. It was more resort centric. We stayed at the Sheraton Maui, which was an excellent choice.

However, it wasn't 100% roses from the start. Our United Airlines flight was delayed 3 hrs prior to take off due to a leaking oil pump. This wouldn't normally bother me much except they didn't discover this leak until we were pulling out of the terminal for take off. So we were stuck on the plane for 3 hrs while the ground crew changed the oil filter. Luckily that was our only setback the entire trip.

After arriving in Maui, we got a rental car and started out for the Sheraton resort. It was on the west side of the island so we had a little bit of a drive ahead of us. On the way to the resort there was a lot of traffic so it took us a little over an hour to get there. The traffic and airline delay basically killed a day we had been counting on at the beach. But it was no big deal because we used the time to get settled into the resort. I guess since we got in later in the day the only rooms available where the suites. So our earlier misfortune turned out to be cool because we got upgraded to a suite. The suite was pretty cool. It came with a nice little living room set, kitchen table, and double porch.

The first night we went to Lahaina, which was 10 miles to the south of our hotel. Lahaina was a frequent stop on our trip. It has a lot of cool little restaurants and shops. The first night we went to Kimo's. We didn't have reservations so we "had to" sit out on there deck and have cocktails and watch the sunset. It's not a bad place to be for an hour waiting for a table. The cocktails hit us both pretty hard because all we'd had to eat all day was our Starbucks breakfast sandwiches and coffee. Needless to say we had a really good time at Kimo's!

Our first full day started out pretty crazy. At 3Am the evacuation alarm started going off in the hotel. But at 3:02 AM the all clear was sounded. Since we where on West Coast time and I'm used to getting up at 4:30AM, I was wide awake. Turned out to be not a big deal, because it gave me some time to get caught up with my sister who was wide awake at 9:30 AM Sulphur time. Kristen got up at 6:30 and we went off to the hotel breakfast buffet. The buffet came with our air/hotel/car deal we got through the travel agency. It was a nice buffet with all kinds of good things. The best part for me was watching all the little birds hoovering around the breakfast area (we sat outside under a big awning). They had been well trained to watch when people pushed their plates away or left their table. One bird even stole Kristen's french bread one morning! It was quite funny. But they were camera shy. When I had my camera out with a bait plate on the table they wouldn't come by.

The beach right outside of our hotel had was next to the Black Rock area which was supposed to be some of the best snorkeling on Maui. After all the fun we had last year with snorkeling we knew that snorkeling was one of our primary focuses on this trip. We headed out to the beach and decided to purchase a cabana from the hotel. This was really nice and worth it considering we spent all day on the beach. We snorkeled 4 times each time going to a different spot along the Black Rock cove. The water was fantastic! Not sure exactly what I saw but it was really cool. But after swimming all day we both paid for it at dinner and the next day. Our arms were on fire. We had sore muscles all along our forearms and shoulders. But it was well worth it.

For dinner we went back to Lahania. We went to IO's which was supposed to be a Hawaiian-Mediterranean fusion. The food was really good and they had a live Hawaiian contemporary singer there that was awesome. But we didn't listen too long because we were spent after spending all day at the beach and sharing a bottle of wine. We were ready for bed.

The next day we decided to get the cabana again. This worked out really great, because our muscles were still really sore and the current was much stronger. This limited our snorkeling a little. The second day were were graced with by the presence of this giant sea turtle just feet away from the shore. I practically swam into the turtle he was so close to use. Really cool! The second day we also discovered the pool side bar that was steps away from us. So we made several trips to the bar for the drink of the day! Repeating the phrase "Just charge it to the room!"

For dinner, we went to the Feast of Lele luau. This was a really cool adventure. It was a 5 course dinner timed with 5 act show that took us throughout the South Pacific. We both really enjoyed the open bar, acts, and show. Well worth the price of admission.

On our last day we had a 9:30 pm flight so we spent the morning at the hotel pool which was a lot of fun floating around the lazy river. Then in the afternoon we went to the Westin Spa. It very relaxing. I was really intrigued by the steam room. It was my first experience in a steam room and I found it to be very relaxing. Kristen really liked the tranquility room that was esstentally the waiting area before your treatments. It had an awesome view of the ocean and fruit/veggie infused water and gourmet teas. After the pampering, we went shopping in Whaler's Village (a little shopping area next to our resort) and Lahania.

From there our vacation was over. We made our way back to the airport and flirted briefly with getting bumped from our flight for a $600 United voucher. Our second trip to Hawaii was just as incredible as the first!

Check out more of our Maui pictures...