Trip Journal entry for Wednesday, February 25th.
Being from the Windy City, you’d figure we’d be used to all this wind.
A Good Night’s Sleep
After two long, but wonderful days along the Road to Hana, we slept pretty well Tuesday night. We couldn’t believe we were halfway through the second week of our trip already. Bummer. Because of our planning habits, these last few days were setup to be pretty laid back and open to anything we wanted to do, or do nothing at all. Only the evenings were planned for tonight, tomorrow and Friday, so anything goes during the day.
Today’s plan was to do a little more beach hopping, seeing that the only real time on the beach we’ve spent so far was on Sunday. It’d be a shame if we spent two weeks on Maui and didn’t come home to winter in Chicago without a tan. Borderline sacrilegious, possibly. Anyway, Cindy had originally scheduled a second massage at the Westin because of the nice act of Aloha on their part from last Friday, but she cancelled in lieu of time in the sun.
It was slow morning getting ready, so we were already getting the day off right. The plan was to head up towards Kapalua and find ourselves a few spots on Napili Beach and Oneloa Beach in that area. We had visited Kapalua Beach a few years ago, so we were already somewhat familiar with those whereabouts. What we discovered as we headed out for the day, however, was that the wind had other plans.
First Off, Napili
The wind was blowing something fierce on Wednesday, with reported sustained winds in excess of 30 MPH and gusts even stronger. That helped bring in more showers as we headed further north towards Napili and Kapalua. We didn’t let that discourage us, though. At least not at first.
We made a stop at the Napili Village complex in search of lunch. We came across Maui Tacos, which we surprising had never tried before. Boy, we were really missing out. After gazing at the menu for a few minutes, we placed our order and were enjoying some great food in no time. I had been joking in the past that our mainland favorite, Chipotle, needed to open up an operation out here on Maui. But after trying Maui Tacos, I don’t think that’s really necessary anymore.
This was also my first full day without having my cell phone with me. Technically, I was without it Monday and Tuesday because there was no reception in Hana, but now it was official. I had commandeered Cindy’s cell phone to send updates to my Twitter account via SMS, but it didn’t feel the same without following my tweeps, also. Cindy soon grew tired of me constantly asking for her phone, so my live vacation stream dried up rather quickly.
To The Beach
After lunch was devoured, it was off to our next stop, Napili Beach. The wind was starting to pick up a little more as we made it to the beach, but still not terrible. The clouds, on the other hand, were hiding more of the sun and the warmth than Cindy would have liked. I did manage to spend some time waking the beach and snapping some photos. Since the conditions weren’t ideal for the sun worshipers, I had a beach fairly empty of occupants to work with.
It was a really nice beach, minus the weather. If memory serves, it was slightly larger than Kapalua Beach, and from what I’ve read, normally not as crowded either. There aren’t any towering resort buildings like you see along Ka’anapali Beach or Wailea Beach, which gave it a nice, somewhat isolated feel.
After Napili, Oneloa Beach was next. We continued on north along Hwy 30 passed much of Kapalua and found the parking lot for the beach completely empty. Were we in the right place? This is actually one of the larger beaches on this side of the island, where was everyone? It turns out we weren’t the only ones turned off by the high winds and passing showers, and the beach was completely empty. We didn’t even bother putting the towel down it was that windy. Beach hopping over.
Over the Rainbow
We decided to head down towards Lahaina and walk around Front Street instead. We still had a good part of the afternoon ahead of us before we had to be back for our luau at the Sheraton later that evening. We were thinking of going on another whale watch Friday morning, so we wanted to head into town and visit PWF to set that up.
As we drove further south towards Lahaina, it felt like night and day. Almost like the something out of the Wizard of Oz, with the gray and glooming conditions up near Kapalua starting to give way to bright sunshine and the vibrant colors closer to Lahaina. You know, the type of weather you’d expect to see on Maui. The wind seemed to follow us, however, but that warm sunshine sure was a welcomed improvement.
After scheduling our whale watch, we spent about an hour or so walking along Front Street. We weren’t really looking for anything in particular, and were just sort of taking it easy doing nothing. After a completely packed first 10 days of our trip, doing nothing certainly felt nice.
A Different Luau This Year
Our first luau at the Sheraton Maui Resort was two years ago. It was just that one evening that sold us on making that particular show one of our traditions every trip. It was right on the grounds of our resort, and while was relatively small compared to the larger luaus on the island, they still put on a great show. You have a spacious lawn area, a view of the Black Rock Cliff Dive ceremony and an always spectacular sunset off the shores of West Maui. Like I said, perfect.
Well, this year it was a slightly different show. Remember that wind that spoiled our beach hopping plans earlier in the day? Well, it was strong enough to force the luau indoors into the main ballroom at the Sheraton. It turned out to still be a lovely evening, and I realize the weather is outside anybody’s control, but it just didn’t feel the same without the cliff dive and the sunset. I guess that’s just part of our tradition that we’ve come to look forward to, and a little spoiled by.
Just prior to the luau, we took our annual Aloha Photo wearing our alohawear. It’s a little something we do every year, where we find a new matching set of alohawear to add to our collection, and take a photo together before our luau. Our tastes in alohawear have changed slighly over the years, and I was really liking the set we found this time around.
The Show Must Go On
Aside from missing the sunset and the cliff dive ceremony, the luau was still a great show. The other lacking omission, so we thought, was the fire knife dancer that is typically the finale of the night. As you’d imagine, that’s not something the local fire marshall would be too thrilled about seeing performed indoors. 
Fear not, though, as the show must go on. At the end of the main performance in the ballroom, we all emptied out into the courtyard outside and crowded around as a small group. It was a different take as in years passed, being able to stand closer to watch the show rather than sitting in our seats. It allowed everyone there have a better view of the little fire exhibition, wh
ich was cool.
And of course, I just had to take advantage of being closer than usual, and snapped this photo as part of the performance.
It was a great finish to the luau and the evening. Normally, we end the evening with a stroll along the beach after the luau, but that wasn’t in the stars tonight, or any night during our trip this year. One of the few downsides of coming to Maui in the winter months I guess, but I think the whales and some of the other advantages more than make up for it.
