Wednesday Summary
When it's your birthday and you're on Maui, it really doesn't matter what you do. YOU'RE ON MAUI!!!

I had previously posted what would be my perfect Maui birthday. It didn't exactly end up perfect to the letter, but it was still amazing. The day started early after a good night sleep from the night before (after the Road to Hana). We didn't know how well we'd do with the boat ride, so we skipped breakfast and headed out to Lahaina early.

It turns out that we ultimately didn't fair well with the motion of the ocean, but it was still amazing. We weren't out on the water more than 15 minutes when we already spotted our first whales, a mother and calf with a male escort. We really liked the narration and the expertise of the biologist aboard our Pacific Whale Foundation tour. She offered a lot of insight for the entire group, as well as individuals that walked around the boat and answered questions as well.

As part of our day's plans, we didn't take into account how long the whale cruise actually was. About that time, we knew we couldn't each lunch in Lahaina and dinner at Leilani's and still make it to the Hyatt for the star tour. We opted to push Leilani's to Thursday and stayed in Lahaina for a quick lunch. Afterwards, we spent some time at Hilo Hattie doing some souveneir shopping.

By the time we returned back from Lahaina, we had some time to spend before we had to be at the Hyatt. We walked over to Whalers, and grabbed a small bite at the food court. So, for my birthday dinner, my favorite Hawaiian style pizza from Nikki's Pizza. It wasn't a Hula Pie birthday cake, but it was still delicious.

The icing on our day was supposed to be the Tour of the Stars at the Hyatt Regency Maui. Unfortunately, there was too much cloud cover for the 8pm showing and it was canceled. We rescheduled for the following week (which is a good option when on a two week trip), but that, too, was canceled. Better luck next year.

Itinerary - Wednesday, April 16th

• Walking around Lahaina
• Whale Watching Tour with the Pacific Whale Foundation
• Quick lunch at Quizno's
• Shopping at Hilo Hattie
• Dinner at the Whalers Village Food Court
• Tours of the Stars at the Hyatt - CANCELED

Wednesday Timeline

6:44 AM HST

Up early again this morning, sitting out on the lanai and blogging to get caught up.

I believe this was one of the last days we were still getting up at the crack of dawn during our trip. After a while, we finally adjusted to the different sunrise and sunset times and slept in later.

Blogging out on the lanai, however, is still the greatest.

7:30 AM HST

Browsing through pictures from the Road to Hana. Won't have time to upload too many of them, though.

Upload speeds were a pain in the butt out on Maui with my Sprint broadband card. The hotel broadband was a little better, but nothing compared my connection at home.

9:34 AM HST

Driving out to Lahaina

One the many pluses of being on vacation, a little morning traffic doesn't stress you out.

10:11 AM HST

Stopping at the Lahaina courthouse, boarding the PWF Discovery in about 30 minutes

It was starting to be a very warm morning, so hanging out in the courthouse near the banyan tree before boarding was nice. Some interesting old photos in the courthouse, too.

10:51 AM HST

All aboard!

Everyone was aboard the boat, and it was time to head out into the waters outside of Maui.

1:30 PM HST

Back on dry land, a little darker and a little queezy.

We all were suffering a little bit (or a lot) from the motion of the ocean. I made it through about an hour and 45 minutes before I was really hurtin', but that last 15 minutes felt like an hour.

Watching the whales was such a thrill. After about an hour of looking through viewfinders of my Canon and my video camera, it was really starting to get to me. The binoculars were just as bad. We definitely want to do more cruises when we return February, so we have about 9 months to figure out how to beat the motion sickness.

2:15 PM HST

Eating lunch at Quizno's

After settling our stomachs a little bit and a short walk, we stopped in to Quizno's nearby for lunch. Nothing exotic, obviously, but familiar dining options can certainly be a good thing when you want a quick bite to eat.

3:36 PM HST

Finished shopping at Hilo Hattie. Resting awhile before heading to Whalers.

Crossing off names on our gift list. It's good to get the loved ones and friends out of the way first, so you can start looking for stuff for you. My mom picked up a few things for my aunts, while Cindy started her shopping for co-workers. I picked up a kukui nut lei that I was planning to wear for the luau the following week. Now it's hanging from the rear-view mirror in my car.

4:02 PM HST

Blogging on vacation again. It's more work than I thought it would be.

Blogging on our trip was fun, don't get me wrong. It did take a good amount of effort, just like at home, to keep up to date and provide all the details of what we were doing. It got a little easier during week 2 when we had less going on, but I still think it turned out better than the previous year.

5:53 PM HST

Eating pineapple pizza for my birthday. Delish

The original plan was to do Leilani's for my birthday dinner and celebrate with a tiny piece of Hula Pie (tiny meaning it serves 4). Well, we ended up spending more time than we thought in Lahaina after the whale cruise and the Tour of the Stars was coming up shortly. Plan B was the food court at Whalers Village.

For sure, nothing beats Hawaiian Style Pizza on the islands. We've had it at least once each time we've been in Hawaii, and Nikki's Pizza at Whalers has some of the best thin crust Hawaiian style pizza I've found yet.

6:44 PM HST

Waiting at the Hyatt for our Tour of the Stars. There is a chance it could be too cloudy

We didn't know where we were going when we got to the Hyatt. Cindy and I had walked there last year along the beachwalk, but this time we went in through the front door. First impressions of the hotel weren't that bad, although it didn't have the airy feel that the Sheraton does (at least in the lobby and main entrance way).

The first concierge we spoke with said there was a chance that the tour could be canceled because of the clouds, as it was the night before. We still stuck around, though, waiting for the official cancelation which happened about 30 minutes later. Found a few cute items in the gift shop, though, so it wasn't a total waste.

7:42 PM HST

Yup, Star Tour was cancelled

Our booking was for the 8pm tour. Back at our hotel, the sky was mostly clear by 9:30pm.

Related Links

• Blog Post - My Perfect Maui Birthday (posted before our trip)
• Blog Post - Whale of a Birthday
• Pacific Whale Foundation
• Hyatt Regency Maui - Tour of the Stars
• Photos - Whale Watching