Monday, November 26, 2018

Archives - Aug 2017 - The Honeymoon

Ah, honeymoon planning. If I'd had my druthers, we would've been in Madagascar for a month. Alas, I had to go back to school the following week, Anthony had limited time off from work, and we got a really, really good deal for a new resort in Hawaii. We're not really resort people, but the price was too amazing, the deal included a rental car for a week, and was insanely cheap through Starwood vacations. I called a couple times to confirm that we wouldn't end up with a $60/day resort fee added in, or crazy taxes, but no. Well worth it. Plus with a Delta AMEX card and using miles, the flights weren't too bad either. Steal of a deal. Maui it would be.

We arrived late on Saturday night and had a bit of a drive to the resort. Not much open foodwise, but we scrounged a at grocery store up the road and woke up to this lovely view. 




Breakfast at 808 Grindz. It's small and in a strip mall, you almost miss it, but it's so tasty and pretty cheap.
All the moco.
And I still dream about these macadamia nut pancakes with their special mac-nilla syrup. It is bomb delicious.

After breakfast we picked up some snorkel gear that we rented for the week and took off to some beaches. This is Honolua Bay, I think? You just park on the side of the tiny road and make your way through the trees.



Rough rocks, but good place to snorkel.
Then we tried another spot. Maybe this is Kapalua...



Then shave ice, of course. I still love Bahama Bucks best.

Dinner at Star Noodle. We LOVED it. And would go back again on this trip. And I'd fly back to Maui to eat it. It's delicious.




Monday morning surf lesson! Surfing is exhausting. We had a two hour lesson and then took a three hour nap.
We didn't want to buy the expensive photos so...





Lunch at Leoda's Kitchen and Pie Shop after. It's great.


Our fancy hotel bathroom. We had a huge two bedroom suite and could've kept 6 people in there. Maybe we should have invited friends?

More of the lovely resort. It smelled so, so good walking through the lobby. The pump something yummy in the air ducts.


Monday afternoon we drove out to the Olivine Pools. I was sorta scared, since people have died out there, but we didn't get too close to the edge of crashing waves.
















I guess we really liked those pools.


Stopped and caught the sunset.


Then dinner at Miso Phat. It's featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Two thumbs up.


Tuesday we went back to 808 Grindz and ordered those amazing pancakes again. Then it was time for Iao Valley State Park. It had been flooded and damaged, so not a lot to see, really.

Then we hopped back in the car and decided to do the road to Hana. I wasn't particularly concerned about doing that drive, but we had no other plans, so why not? We stopped a gas station for a phone charger and snacks, and off we went.

I don't even know of any of the stops we did, because I had done no research. And had no cell service. And the road is small, but we just pulled over whenever we could find a parking spot.
We did get to that awesome black sand beach though.

















Stopped in the big town on the way home for dinnerat Da Kitchen. Very busy and loud.
Wednesday morning we had another adventure on the southern part of the island. We had to get up early and drive a bit. Thank goodness for Hawaii being west - makes mornings a little easier. We had a kayak and snorkel tour lined up. These photos are either through a waterproof case or a crappy waterproof camera. Sorry.







We stopped at Big Beach after the tour. It's beautiful, but the waves are really strong, and people have gotten hurt here. It's not a good place for swimming.




This truck was delicious.



Always with the cats.

Spent the afternoon closer to home.










Last night, sunset walk home.

Dinner downtown at Cool Cat Cafe - open air.


Last breakfast at Slappy Cakes.


One more trip to the Olivene Pools

One more slip on of the comfy robes.

One last hike.

Final snorkel.

And one more dinner at Star Noodle on the way back to the airport. These wings are bomb.

The ahi avo - so very good.


Please always eat at Star Noodle when you are in Maui.

Time to go home and start real married life.


2023 Recap

Oh, hey there. It's been awhile. I disappeared for a bit. Everyone's doing their 2023 year in review today, and I figured I'd ju...

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