After seeing the Nakele blowhole, we drove back to the hotel and cleaned up, then went into Lahaina to Warren and Annabelle’s, which according to the guidebook is the best show on the island. You can eat there, but we thought it would be cheaper to just eat in Lahaina, so we found an excellent deep dish pizza place and had a nice dinner, then walked over to see the show.
Before you see the show you are forced to wait in Annabelle’s parlor where you are served drinks, appetizers, and are treated to a “ghost” playing old tunes on a piano. It would’ve been enjoyable had the wait been twenty minutes…but it ended up being like an hour and a half before we were actually seated in the theater and got to see Warren perform his magic tricks. Thankfully, the show lived up to its billing and we were quite amazed. Warren was witty, humorous, and his show was quite impressive. If you get a chance to go to Maui, I highly recommend you check it out.
Day 6
The last day our plane didn’t leave until 6, so we used the morning to drive to the Iao Valley, a luscious Maui valley that gets over 400 inches of rainfall a year. It also has served as the site to one of Maui’s most historical events, a great battle during the 1700’s between two warring Hawaiian factions. Because my camera was broke, I didn’t get any picture, but again, you can see some of it over on Heather’s blog. It was quite impressive, extremely green and just some gorgeous scenery. Absolutely breathtaking.
Finally, our flight left at 6 (about 10 pm our time) and both the flight from Maui to Dallas and from Dallas to home were among the worst flights I’ve ever had. During the former, I was seated in front of two young kids who were separated from their parents, and they kept screaming, laughing loudly, and just generally being annoying. No one, it seemed, could get any sleep. The second flight, the lady behind me complained every time I tried to put my seat back because it interfered with her ability to push her laptop screen up where she wanted it, so I got little to no sleep on that flight either. I hope that lady gets stuck behind those kids on her next red eye flight.
Overall, I was blown away by the beauty and grandeur of Maui. Almost every place we went was breathtaking and absolutely stunning, and no words or pictures can fully do it justice. A couple of things extra that I’ll note.
Hawaiian people generally do live up to their reputation for friendliness. Most people were extremely helpful, and made you feel very welcome.
This does not necessarily extend to good service in restaurants though. Not that the service was horrible, but other than the luau, most places we ate the waiters weren’t great about refilling drinks. Most of the time on vacations I look at the food as one part of the equation when assessing how great the vacation was. I kind of separate Maui from that because everything else was so awesome. It’s not that the food was bad, it’s just that for the most part, I can’t say that it was exceptional. I had a very good open faced crab and shrimp sandwich at Leilani’s in Whaler’s Village, and the deep dish pizza was pretty good. Other than that, most of the restaurants were good but not great. The one exception was the breakfast buffet at the Sheraton. It was the best breakfast buffet I have ever had, bar none. The food was UNBELIEVABLE…so many fruits, meats, and breads that you stuffed yourself trying to get some of everything.
The Sheraton was absolutely fabulous, both in terms of ambience and the staff. When I return to Maui (notice I say when and not if) I definitely plan on staying there again. The bellhop, the front desk, the concierge…everyone was extremely helpful and gracious, and the rooms were very nice.
The one thing to note about Hawaii is that it does tend to be rather pricey. Almost everything costs money, and quite a bit more than what you would pay for at home. Consequently, the majority of people who are there tend to be a little wealthier, and that can make poor saps like me feel a bit out of place. That’s probably a silly thing to notice, but if you are used to moving in less affluent circles, it’s something to keep in mind.
Hope you enjoy looking at the pics and reading my take. Overall, the most beautiful place I have ever been and one of the greatest vacations I’ve ever been on.