I love the drive up the mountain and the views. I never get tired of visiting.
On the way back we wanted an interesting lunch so we went to the town of Makawao. This is a small town upcountry with some shops and restaurants. We ate at the Makawao Garden Cafe. The food was very good and freshly made. I had my Mahi sandwich and my son had an eggplant sandwich. The prices were very reasonable.http://www.letseat.at/MakawaoGardenCafe
Makawao is a great little town with some nice restaurants. There is also a funky bakery the Komodo Store Bakery. A big store with not much inside. They make donuts and sweet pulled bread and the stuff is irresistible. We had guava filled donuts, plain donuts and the pulled bread. The dough is chewy and the outside not too sweet.
For dinner I grilled steaks form Costco on beautiful outdoor grill and the our hotel. We drank a Muga Especial Reserva 2009 for dinner. $29 at Costco. The wine was great, almost like a good California Cabernet Sauvignon. Balanced, medium bodied with tart fruit and smooth tannins.
Day 4 This was the day for our sales presentation at the Hyatt Residence Club. The people were very nice and there were no high pressure sales tactics. We politely said no. I don't know how people can make a $60k decision on a real estate purchase in 20 minutes.
The boys had taken the car to explore the road to Hana so we stayed around Kaanapali. We walked along the beach path and went swimming near Black Rock. The Sheraton is built into the rock. I believe that the Sheraton was the first hotel at Kaanapali. I actually stayed there over 35 years ago. The sand is very good for swimming and there is very good snorkeling near the rock.
For dinner we had Mahi mahi and Opah from Costco. We drank a Sancerre that was good. It wasn't a a real fruity wine like many Sancerre's today. It was acidic with just enough fruit. It was around $14 at Costco.
Day 5 We went on a catamaran trip on Teralani Sailing Adventures.http://www.teralani.net/ The boat left from the Whaler's Village at Kaanapali. We got a 25% discount by buying gift cards at Costco. The trip cost about $130 per person and included a light breakfast and lunch. The trip was about 5 hours. Winter is whale season and we saw a number of whales.
The boat had a snuba instructor and the boys signed up. Snuba is scuba without a tank or wetsuit. You are given a mask and air tube that is connected to through a tube to a tank floating on the water. You can go down about 20 feet.It was $65. They had 2 person units that floated in the water. The instructor lead the group of people. They enjoyed the tour.
After the boat trip was the infamous grand opening party celebration at the Hyatt Residence Club. See Part 1.
We checked out Lahaina for dinner. Lahaina is touristy and funky but it has a great banyan tree and a real waterfront port area. Parking can be very difficult. We made reservations at Honu Seafood and Pizza. The owners are chef Mark Ellman and his wife. It is part of their restaurant collection. They have another restaurant next door Mala Ocean Tavern and are building a third place nearby. It seems that this the new wave of restaurants. Famous chefs open a number of restaurants with different themes or price points. BTW he started Maui Tacos but has sold the chain.
Ahi Bruchetta
Honu Seafood was very nicely decorated inside, it is on the ocean and we were seated a few feet from the water. We had pizza, a fried oyster sandwich, ahi bruchetta, which is their house specialty and we drank some draft beer.
Day 6 We checked out of the Hyatt Residence Club and went down the road to Kapulua for some mini golf. Kapulua has one of the best mini golf set-ups anywhere. It is not advertised. You walk up to the guy at the driving range and ask for some putters. They now charge $5 a putter(it was free 6 years ago) and you get to play an 18 grass course that is not manicured but lots of fun.
Kapalua is a big golf resort with several hotels including a Montage and a Ritz Carlton. It is beautiful and windy. It is locate about 6 miles west of Kaanapali but the weather is completely different. We once rented a villa on one of their 2 golf courses and it was very nice but we needed to drive to Kaanapali for sunshine.
We went off to Hana for our next stop on the trip. The boys were going home and my wife and I were going to the Travaasa Hana Hotel.We tried to go to Paia for lunch but the parking and traffic were horrible. Paia is a great little town and has a very good pizza place and the Paia Fish Market http://www.paiafishmarket.com/which has been a family favorite. We did not try it this time. Apparently they have expanded to a second location in Kihei and I did read a review that said it had gone downhill. We will check it out on our next trip.
We ended up in Makawao again for lunch. More in Part 3.
Part 3, Hana the new foodie destination will be coming shortly.
Enjoy and dream warm weather.
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