We visited Maui again. Stayed at the Ekahi condos in Wailea. We had a 1 bedroom duplex with ocean views. We love Maui. Since we have pretty much toured the island this trip was about nothing, like an episode of Seinfeld.
We rented a Ford Fusion hybrid which get 44 MPG. I only needed 8 gallons all week. We filled up at Costco when we left at $2.89 per gallon. Without getting preachy or repetitive, Costco has everything at pretty much mainland prices. Food, wine, sunscreen, etc. They even have local fish. The Kauai shrimp with heads on are awesome and cheap.
The Wailea Ekahi Village condos are wonderful. Individually owned, you can rent them through VRBO, AirBNB, Destination Resorts, through the condo association, etc. We rented this time through VRBO. Everything went smoothly. The total cost with fees was about $430 per night. Our unit was unique as it was duplex with ocean views and a double lanai downstairs and another lanai upstairs. The unit was OK, comfortable bed, good kitchen and bathrooms but it was frayed around the edges.
The Ekahi condos https://waileaekahivillage.com/ekahiresort/mauimaps-2/ are on large property with low density and abuts a gorgeous beach Keawakapu. there is a pool and open kitchen clubhouse on the beach. Lots of lounges and a gate which leads to the beach.
Besides Costco, We found a great farmer's market in Kula, which is up country and it is called surprisingly the Upcountry farmers market.http://www.upcountryfarmersmarket.com/ . Saturday mornings 7am to 11am. There are lots of vendors and prices are very reasonable compared to the food-stores. We bought veggies and fruits and there are lots of snacks and health products.
For breakfast in the mornings I had papaya, mango, passion-fruit, pineapple, banana, fried egg and whole wheat toast.Maui pineapples from Costco, local bananas and papayas from various stores and stands. Passion fruit is hard to find in the winter but we found a few at various stands. For Mangoes you must go to Yee's in Kihei. It is small run down stand with the greatest tree ripened mangoes and papayas and some passion fruit.
Shave ice, Ululani's is a must go.https://www.ululanishawaiianshaveice.com/ What makes their ice great is that they use real fruit flavors. Ask for macadamia nut ice cream under the ice and we love passion-fruit, coconut and green apple syrups. They now have branches in Paia and Kaanapali Beach near the Hyatt.
For fish the Paia Fishmarket https://paiafishmarket.com/menu/is a must. I don't know how they do it. Great fish done simply and fairly priced. The have opakapaka, ono, ahi, mahi, opah and some others. A plate with rice or potatoes, cole slaw and a big portion of fish is around $25. A sandwich is around $12. They have 3 locations in Paia, Kihei and Lahaina.
For lunch try Tin Roof. http://www.tinroofmaui.com/ Sheldon Simeon decided to open a small place instead of a big fancy restaurant. Tin roof has rice bowls. It is open 10am to 2pm. There is not really a place is sit and eat. It is in strip mall near the airport and Costco in Kahului. For a great picnic go to Kanaha Beach Park https://www.mauicounty.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/101 The beach is gorgeous and has facilities. It is mainly for kite surfing but it is great place to eat after taking our food from Tin Roof. You go through the airport to get to the beach.
Inside Tin Roof.
A daily special rice bowl.
Kanaha Beach Park.
A resting turtle.
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Maui Brewing Company https://mauibrewingco.com/ has their brewery in Kihei up the hill near in an industrial park near Maui Nui golf course. The brewery is impressive and they just opened a spectacular new restaurant.
Maui Happy Hours
Monkeypod has happy hours 3 -5:30 and 9- 11 every day.
Maui Brewing has happy hours 3:30 -5:30 and 9:30 to 11 each day.
Sarentos on the Beach https://sarentosonthebeach.com/ has happy hour 2-5:30. The food at each of these places is great and happy hour can't be beat if you want to eat at the happy hour times.
Wine
There have been some very good deals on Oregon Willamette Valley Pinot Noirs lately. I have seen very good wines for under $20. Scott Paul - Le Paulee, Willakenzie, Montinore and others. There are many wineries in the Willamette Valley and I am not sure that Oregon wine is that popular. I have also found that the more inexpensive wines tend to be not very good.
I have recently had some very good Napa cabernets. Hall Napa 2015 and Beringer Private Reserve 2007. Both wines were very good but the Hall was actually 15.8% alcohol. I still can't get over that. it takes the fun out of drinking wine for me.
I am in the market for 2016 Bordeaux's. I have not tried any yet but they come highly recommended by all the wine gurus. Many have not hit the stores yet. There should be many very good wines for under $30. There is no need to spend big bucks on these wines.
Some Maui scenery.
Ekahi Village.
Wailea hotel path.
Highlights of the Wine Spectator 2018 wine stats
They reviewed 15,000 wines. 7,000 received scores of 90 or more.The average price of a 90 plus wine was $78. 56% of Oregon wines reviewed received 90 or above ratings compared with 42% of California Cabernets. Oregon wines average $58 while California Cabernets averaged $172. California Cabernets are more expensive than any other region's wines including Burgundy.
62% of wines from Tuscany received 90 or higher scores. 64% of California Syrahs received scores of 90 or higher. 78% of Champagnes received scores of 90 or higher. 65% of German wines received 90 or higher.
My take away is that you can find value in grapes other than Cabernet Sauvignon. You can look to less famous wine regions around the world for good value wines. New Jersey has some decent wines. The south of France is a great place for value as is Portugal. Syrah from California can also be a great value.
