A Brief Synopsis

It’s been a while, in fact, it’s been far too long. I am back from Maui and still in this Maui-induced fog. Mainly, I had the single most amazing time of my life and I didn’t want it to end and therefore adjusting back to the real world has been much harder than I would have liked. That’s always the worst part of any vacation, coming back to reality. Maui was more perfect than I remembered it, which is saying a lot because for the last 12 years I have built it up as the most magical place in my mind, having extremely great memories of the one and only family vacation we took my senior year of high school. I have spent the last 12 years fantasizing about Maui and wishing I were there. It was not only as perfect as I remembered but in so many ways going from an 18 year old to a 30 year old made the whole thing so much better. Not shocking really. It was everything I could have wanted and more.

Stepping off the plane I was instantly thrown off by how hot it was. Hey, I’m from Oregon remember??? I don’t think I properly hydrated myself and then I was wearing jeans and ultimately this leads to a deadly combination. You see, we got our luggage, got the rental car without any hitches and made the 30 minute drive to Lahainia, where we were staying. All of this was probably too much for my body because as we were checking in and the woman at the counter kept talking and talking I became more foggy and felt sick. I tried to hold it in because I thought at any moment the checkout counter girl would stop talking, but she just kept going and I felt it coming more and more. I looked at Chris and was like, I don’t feel very good, I whispered so that the receptionist could not hear me. I listened some more, then I felt myself fading and walked over to the other side of Chris where he had a pop on the counter. I took a drink and Chris looked at me and said are you ok? I said loudly this time because I knew things were bad, No, I’m going to be sick. At that moment I wasn’t sure if I was going to throw up or pass out. Then my head started spinning and the 2 desk clerks and Chris were like, go sit down. What happened next was a horrific moment of me stumbling to the couch a few feet away as my head completely spun around. Chris followed me and as I got to the couch I braced a little end table next to it, but I more fell into it and ultimately knocked the table over as the glass top flipped onto the ground and I literally fell into the couch. I pretty much passed out. I don’t really remember the walk to the couch or the next few minutes. Chris was looking at me and the receptionist got me water. I started to feel better after I sat for a few minutes. Chris went back to the counter to finish up and I heard the people asking if I was going to be all right? At this point my ego was more bruised than anything else as I started to feel better.

As we made our way to our room, I instantly peeled off my jeans and turned on the AC. Our very first order of business was to hit the ocean. It was far to beautiful and tempting to not jump right in. It was so much fun to watch Chris in the water, as this was his first time to Maui, he had no idea what to expect and the warmth and beauty of the ocean was no exception. I just smiled because being in the water looking at our hotel room was exactly what I remembered and despite my initial fainting issue, I knew this was going to be a good trip.

We played in the ocean for a while and then came in, showered and cleaned up and headed out for dinner and to walk around downtown Lahinia. We ended up at Cheeseburger in Paradise. On Monday morning we enjoyed sleeping in a little, and then got dressed to head downtown to get a better feel of the city. We had fun just playing around, hitting up the Banyon tree, doing the tourist thing. We went to Bubba Gump Shrimp for lunch and then headed back to the hotel to hit up the beach once again. We spent the next couple hours lounging around the ocean, on lounge chairs, sunbathing, playing in the water. Testing out the snorkel equipment. It was so relaxing.

After our afternoon of rest we changed for our Luau. The Old Lahinia Luau did not disappoint. Once again I was reminded of how magical Maui was. We sat at a table at the luau with a couple from Germany. They were a lot of fun to talk to, and you certainly can not beat unlimited cocktails and a buffet dinner. Fabulous.

Tuesday morning we woke up and headed out for our 7 AM zip line adventure. It was a lot of fun, even if it ultimately wasn’t quite as exciting as we were hoping for. The initial leap onto the zip line was a bit nerve wracking, but after that it was kind of like a mild amusement park ride. I’m not really sure it was worth all the money we ultimately spent on it, but it was fun. Definitely one of those things that you’d do once, but I don’t think I’d need to do it again.

After zip lining, given our over indulgence in the sun the previous day we decided to be tourist in the afternoon and stay out of the sun as much as possible. We got a pizza and took it back to our condo for lunch. Then we headed out in the car to explore the island a little. We ended up at the Maui Tropical Plantation Center. We went to Kiehi to explore where we hit up Makena Beach. We ended our evening at a restaurant right by our hotel where we could watch a different luau for free. Good times.

Wednesday was officially our day on the water. We woke up to do a snorkel trip to Molikini. Okay, turns out my friends, NOT a boat person. Chris loved it, but we both knew he liked boats. Turns out they make me sick. Nice, huh. Actually I could have predicted that. I did my best and did not throw up despite feeling like I could at any moment. You guys would be proud of me because I sucked it up and even got myself a wet suit and put on a tight figure hugging suit for the snorkel trip. I never thought you’d see me in something like that in public, but alas, I did and it was fine.

After our snorkel adventure we did a little shopping before heading back to the room to shower and change for our sunset cocktail cruise. Our cocktail cruise was amazing. A definite highlight of the trip for me. Turns out there was a mix up with some people’s tickets and ultimately it meant that this boat that has 150 person capacity had 8 passengers. We were 2 of 8 people on the thing with 4 crew members. Needless to say we had amazing attention. There was more than enough food and we spent most of the evening chatting with the boat caption and having a great time. Free unlimited drinks yet again. We walked to the dock which was amazingly close to our hotel so no worries as we were both slightly tipsy. We made our way to the room and then decided to do a nice long moonlight stroll on the beach. This might have been one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. The beach was deserted and it felt like our own private beach. So freaking amazing.
Thursday morning we booked a Road to Hana bus trip. This had a few hiccups along the way, but ultimately it was a nice way to see parts of the island that we hadn’t seen before. It was amazingly beautiful and it was fun, but ultimately we decided that next time we’d drive the thing ourselves. And yes, there will be a next time. Chris feel in love with Maui as much as I am. We both didn’t know how he’d react, but he left the island feeling that he already wanted to go back.

Thursday night after our long day in Hana we had dinner next door and called it quits for the night. Friday morning we headed out for more snorkeling, this time around Black Rock. Yes, I snorkeled and I really enjoyed myself. We laid out on the beach for a while and enjoyed the tranquility that is Maui. We ate at the Lahinia Fish Company for lunch and did our last minute shopping. We then went to the Ioa Valley Park which was really lovely as well. The last 24 hours we pretty much spent just chilling and enjoying Maui.

I had the most amazing time. It was everything I had wanted and more. We will be going back. In fact my extended family, meaning my mom and sisters are already talking about next June being a family vacation there. And even if we don’t all go, I’m going back next year. It is definitely love for me.

I will probably talk more about it in detail later as I feel compelled, but just wanted to get a brief synopsis of it out there.