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Gordon & Zoud's Excellent Journey to Maui, Hawaii
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 Gordon (Lu Chi Fa) is the owner of the popular Coffee Pot Restaurant near Beach and the Embarcadero in Morro Bay. He is also the co-author and subject of the book, Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan. |
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We arrived in Kahului on Maui from Los Angeles on Wednesday - Gordon via San Francisco and I from Los Angeles. Even our luggage arrived with us! We picked up our rental car and headed across the island to the coastal town of Lahaina, just 20 miles west and north of the airport. Having previously lived on Maui for over three years, I pointed out local landmarks and "sights-to-see" as we drove along.
Our condo was located right on the Kaanapali Beach Resort golf course. The view was inspirational, but there were problems with being right on the golf course, as we would soon discover. This being our first night on the island, we opted for dinner at a location close by, Leilani's in Whaler's Village. Back in the day, I ran a movie theatre in this mall. At Leilani's we dined on clam chowder, Maui tomatoes, goat cheese, Maui onions, shrimp ceviche with serrano peppers, and opaka (locally caught rock fish with white flesh, very tasty), served with noodles. It was a great feast to start off our vacation.
By now it was way past our California bedtime and we headed home for rest.
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We were awakened around 4:30 in the morning to the sound of golf course maintenance workers trimming the grass and greens! We would be startled into wakefulness and slip back into sleep, only to be jarred awake every few minutes by the next lawn mowing machine or vacuum sweeper or some other loud machine. The weather was so balmy that, of course, we had our sliding doors and jalousie windows wide open to take advantage of the trade wind wafting through our place.
After rising around 7:30, we decided to take a walk on our beach. Before going to breakfast at Lahaina Coolers, we checked out the water temperature, which is always in the mid-80 degree range and crystal clear as well. The restaurant quickly became one of our favorite places for breakfast. After breakfast, we walked along Front Steet, checking out all of the various shops and getting some ideas about souvenirs that we needed to bring back to the mainland. We also discovered an old historic Chinese museum that was open. Here we discovered that many Chinese people were involved in the early history of Hawaii.
Later, we drove south past Maalaea Bay and headed down to Kihei town. We stopped and looked in a shop that my friend, Keith, owns with his brother and sister. Gordon picked up a Hawaiian shirt and I picked up a couple of items for my daughter. After discussing the state of the local economy with Keith, we continued our trek south. Lahaina, Maalaea Bay, and Kihei are all on the west side of the island and all are situated right on the ocean. The southwest portion of the island is quite dry and is reminiscent of Southern California. I wanted to show Wailea to Gordon. It is also on the coast, south of Kihei, as well as Makena and the Ahihi-Kina'u Natural Preserve down in La Perouse Bay.
We drove by all the resort hotels and condos lining South Kihei Drive and continued south past Wailea to Makena. We drove into the "old" Maui Prince Hotel, which is now the Makena Beach & Golf Resort. I wanted to make sure that it was still there since it has a great beach. The Maui Prince went into bankruptcy last year and has opened under new ownership. We drove past Makena Little Beach and Makena Big Beach until we reached the end of the road. We passed through the lava fields from the last volcanic eruption from Haleakala in 1790. This alien looking landscape has produced some of the best snorkeling spots on the island. Almost every time that I have visited this area in the past, I have seen parrot fish, green sea turtles, and even an octopus leaping out of the water. After taking in the sights and admiring the spectacular homes to be found in the area, we retraced our steps and headed back home.
Upon our return, Gordon headed for the swimming pool and I got in a short nap. Afterwards, we strolled to the Marriott Vacation Resort for drinks and to watch the sunset. We arrived a bit late - the sun had already set. But since we were on Maui, it didn't really matter. Dinner was at Kimo's on Front Street in Lahaina, where we dined on smoked marlin, Caesar salad and seafood chowder. After dinner we once again strolled along Front Street, which this time had more people out and about. We stopped in a couple of galleries to look at some of the local art.
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We got up early again and went down to Lahaina Coolers for a light breakfast. After eating we reversed our direction from yesterday and headed north.
This time we went past Kaanapali, Honokawai, Kahana, Napili, and Kapalua. This portion of the island receives a little more rainfall than southwest Maui so the topography is quite different than that which we experienced the previous day. We stopped briefly on an overlook at Honolua Bay. Gordon really liked this spot. Continuing on, this being an island, we found ourselves headed east as we traversed the topmost portion of Maui. The road, which has been perfect until now, got narrower and narrower until it reduced down to a single lane. I am used to this condition, having driven this road on many occasions, and knew to take it slow and easy.
We stopped at another overlook for a gorgeous view of Maui's north coast and the island of Molokai in the background. By now we were heading in a southeasterly direction and would eventually find ourselves in Wailuku. Wailuku is another of the original towns on the island and is very "local" in population. But, before we could get there we had to get through the single lane obstacle course.
Of course, it was another beautiful day in paradise and Gordon and I were enjoying the ride and the sights. At Honokohau Bay, as I was gingerly easing the rental car around some sharp, narrow curves, this Hawaiian dude jumped right out in front of us and started doing some kind of hip-hop hula. I was laughing as I slammed on the brakes and looked to see what he was selling. He had fresh cut pineapple and coconut grown right there where he lived. We bought some of each and continued on. There were countless numbers of these little roadside stands where locals were selling everything from food, bead work, souvenirs and fish.
This area of the island has had Portuguese ranches on it for over a hundred years. Maui cattle have it made. Lolling around in the sunshine, surrounded by acre after acre of grass . . . what a life! As we got closer to Wailuku, some aspects of encroaching civilization began to appear. A couple of huge, exclusive housing developments appeared on our right. Continuing down the narrow and sometimes harrowing road, we encountered a car with some Asian tourists aboard. A very upset young woman was driving. I stopped and waved to her to come ahead. As she approached I hollered out how much fun this is. She was having none of it and replied how much she hated it. She asked how much more of it was there. I told her about 10 more miles or so. This was not an answer that she wanted to hear. Gordon and I got quite a laugh after this exchange.
We passed through the area called Waihee into Wailuku and headed up into Iao Valley. Iao Valley is located in the West Maui Mountains. They are mountains now, but in the geological past they were part of a single volcano much like Haleakala. Mother Nature is slowly eroding them down and has formed countless valleys as a result. Iao Valley is famous for being the site of the last major battle fought by King Kamehameha when he united all the islands under his rule a couple of hundred years ago. Also, in this valley is the famous Iao Needle, a volcanic formation resembling a needle, and the Kepaniwai Heritage Gardens Park.
After viewing the Needle we headed down to the Heritage Park and the Café for a snack. There we enjoyed smoothies assembled by Steve, who moved over to the island from Washington State to help his uncle run the café. This area is famous for the huge number of feral cats lurking or lounging about. But, on my way down the road I haven't seen a one. I asked Steve about this and he informed us that his uncle has taken over the responsibility for caring for these critters and has trained them to stay off the road by only feeding them at dusk well off the roadway. He also traps a number of them each week and takes them to a local vet who neuters them for free. The population is down from approximately 250 to 120 at this time.
After consuming our smoothies, relaxing and conversing with other patrons we visited the exhibits in the Heritage Garden. There are displays featuring each of the ethnic groups on the island. Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Puerto Rican, Caucasian and Hawaiian displays each give credit and recognition to everyone who has contributed to Maui's diversity. Leaving the gardens we headed to Kaahumanu Shopping Mall where we found a Farmer's Market in full swing. Gordon picked up some fresh fruit and vegetables for our dinner, i.e. papayas and avocados. We took advantage of a discount souvenir store that we found in the mall and stocked up on T-shirts and other items for our friends back on the mainland.
Heading back to the condo we stopped at the Maui Plantation. The Plantation garden looks great, but the store looks as if it's on its last legs. This is another example of the effect that the overall economy is having on the island. After a brief stop here we continued our journey back to the other side of the island. We stopped once again in the local Safeway to pick up some beer and munchies for pupus (Hawaiian for appetizers). Returning home at last, we jumped into our swimming pool and relaxed poolside for a little while. Gordon decided to prepare dinner at home for this evening. He put together a salad consisting of fresh baby spinach leaves, papaya, pineapple, tomatoes, avocado, imitation crabmeat, and ahi poke, (chopped raw tuna mixed with onions and spices). We enjoyed our pupus of chips and fresh salsa, beer, and salad out on the lanai and watched the sunset. Our next door neighbors came over with a bottle of wine that they were unable to use since they were returning the next day to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After dinner we took a walk around a local strip mall, looking for ice cream. We finally discovered some in the little store at the condo office. We ended the day reading and turning in early.
