Friday Summary
Our Aloha Friday day this trip was more laid back and relaxing than the previous days this week. There wasn't much planned as this could have been Cindy's spa day if we had booked it earlier in the week. Just hanging out by the pool and having a nice quiet dinner in Lahaian.

It was a lazy morning yet again, as we skipped breakfast for another day. The sun was in full glory today, so we packed up our stuff and headed for the pool. We each had our iPods and books, and was probably down by the water for two hours. Our mini lunch consisted of some cool and refreshing pineapple wedges to start and sharing a plate of not-so-good-for-you nachos later on. It was okay, we're on vacation, right?

After heading back to the room to cool off and freshen up, we headed over to Whalers for a little shopping. Cindy and my mom had purchased rings over at one of the Pearl Factory booths in Whalers and we were bringing them back to be finished. After that, it was out to Lahaina for dinner.

We had pizza at BJ's in Lahaina, but unfortunately I was outvoted on the Hawaiian Style this time. They have some pretty good deepdish pizza which does resembles that of our hometown Chicago variety, but it's not exactly the same. There is a lot to say about the view, however, looking over the happenings on Front Street and the water out in Lahaina Harbor. Not bad for a pizza place.

Topping off the night, I setup out on the lanai to try and take a few photos of the night sky. There were still more clouds and it was earlier in the evening, so taking things down to the beach would have been premature since the torches on Black Rock were still lit. Again, nothing with as much bragging rights as last year, but I did get one or two nice photos of Orion and the other neighboring stars.

Itinerary - Friday, April 18th

• Sleeping in again
• Afternoon sun session by the pool
• Shopping at Whalers Village
• Dinner at BJ's Chicago Pizzera in Lahaina
• Stargazing from the lanai

Friday Timeline

9:26 AM HST

Up and back online this morning

Even on vacation, my morning routine still requires a little bit of screen time with a computer and the rest of the Internet. :)

10:13 AM HST

Spotted another whale from our lanai, this time, waaaaaaaaay back towards Molokai. Using the binos, you could see him slapping his fin.

The whale activity (we thought) was starting to die down from what we saw earlier in the week. We'd spot one or two whales out in the morning on occassion like we did this morning.

11:51 AM HST

Goin' down to the pool to do some reading for class

Sun, music on the iPod and a book in my hand. Every trip we've been on, I'm always reading something, and this time it was for the Digital Photography class I was taking. I've been reading up on photography for about a few years now, so there wasn't anything extremely new in my reading assignment, but it was a good reinforcement that I was doing some things right.

12:33 PM HST

Enjoying pineapple by the pool. Ahhhhhh

Hot, bright sun and cool, juicy pineapple. Really, what else could you ask for (a pina colada maybe?).

3:12 PM HST

Back in our room to cool of, watching yet another whale from our lanai

Washing the sun (and suntan lotion) off after our sun session. A cool shower and a fresh change of clothes after an afternoon in the sun is very refreshing and feels like vacation should.

3:43 PM HST

Finished blogging for Aloha Friday, heading out to Whalers and then Lahaina for dinner

Out on the lanai, blogging about our trip. If only I could do this for a decent living...

5:20 PM HST

Ordering dinner at BJ's Pizzeria

Made sure to spell "ordering" right this time ;)

I actually misread the menu somehow and we ordered a smaller pizza than we probably were hungry for. Oh well, left more room for Ha'agan Dazs for desert.

6:04 PM HST

Cindy's watching hockey at the bar, ANA just scored

Playoff hockey in Hawaii, one of our favorites. Cindy was cheering for Dallas as they beat up on Anahiem, who I was pulling for.

6:48 PM HST

Heading back to the hotel

The drive back to Ka'anapali from Lahaina at this time of night is really nice because of the glow off of the water in the sky just after sunset. Magic.

8:08 PM HST

Shooting Orion from the lanai (and through the clouds)

My first real attempt this trip of trying to capture the cosmos on my camera. Although we see Orion on almost any clear night back home, it's only visible over Hawaii for about a month or two each year because the islands are so far south.

Related Links

• Blog Post - Aloha Friday from Maui
• Whalers Village
• BJ's Chicago Pizzeria
• Photos - Stars over Maui (mostly from '07 Trip)