I've never been to Hawaii. Munro has been to Kauai and Maui a couple of times. Everyone says they don't want to raise my expectations, but that I will love it. Hawaii, or any of one the islands that comprise the archipelago, has never held much interest for me. But friends are getting married and we haven't had a real holiday in years, not since Panama. So we're grabbing the excuse with both hands and ... off we go.
Our flight left at the crack of dawn and we flew to SFO to catch our plane to Maui. I'm seated on the right side of the plane, so I have an excellent view of not only the sunrise but the wildfires devastating Southern California.
I see the mountains, which are clearly outlined against the beginning rays of sun. The Santa Ana winds have blown all the smog out to sea. As I look below, I see glimmers of red and gold along the hillsides, reminiscent of the way windows along Sunset Cliffs look at.... sunset (d'oh!). Then I realize the colors I see aren't the sunrise's rays on buildings but fires. Long, glimmering, twisting lines of fire with wind-whipped mares tails of smoke heading out over the land for miles, blocking views of the land and the beaches.
It's a scene from hell. LAX is completely obscured. So is much of Northern San Diego County, Orange County, and northwards. The smoke cover is so thick that I'm reminded of the cloud cover over New Zealand. Except this cloud cover is more deadly.
I'm thankful that we moved our flights to change planes in SFO and my heart goes out to everyone left behind.
It's an uneventful flight (the best kind, as Dad always says). We land in Maui with our final approach over pineapple plantations and surf breaks on the North shore. Munro is pretty happy.
Luggage, check. Boogie board, check. Car at rental place, check. Now for lunch at Mama's Fish House (recommended by the guard at the rental gate).
It's windy here as we wend our way through Pa'ia to the infamous Fish House. We are a bit cranky (well, he is, I'm ready for a Mai Tai and some fish).
Mama's is on the beach in a lovely setting and decorated with "found" objects. Now everyone will tell you to go here. Be prepared - we spent over $120 for lunch and had:
1 mai tai (me)
1 rum punch (Munro)
1 hearts of palm salad (teeny tiny bits of palm, and expensive)
1 main course (not even the most expensive at $36)
1 glass of wine (mediocre sauvignon blanc, shared).
The food was decent. Not outrageousely good, but decent. It's an easy $100 plus per head. Now I'm no cheapskate where fine dining is concerned, but I expect value. West steak house in Carlsbad delivers amazing value for the buck (and you pay mucho bucks there, but I'd move in - it's that wonderful). West, worth it. Mama's, not so much.
We leave and head out to do some basic grocery shopping. We're staying at a condo-hotel so we can pack picnics and make our own breakfasts. Our hotel is nice and we upgrade to a 9th floor room with sweeping views of the bottom half of the island and Molokini across the water. We're both a bit shattered from the flight and not much sleep the night before, so it's an early night.
Our flight left at the crack of dawn and we flew to SFO to catch our plane to Maui. I'm seated on the right side of the plane, so I have an excellent view of not only the sunrise but the wildfires devastating Southern California.
I see the mountains, which are clearly outlined against the beginning rays of sun. The Santa Ana winds have blown all the smog out to sea. As I look below, I see glimmers of red and gold along the hillsides, reminiscent of the way windows along Sunset Cliffs look at.... sunset (d'oh!). Then I realize the colors I see aren't the sunrise's rays on buildings but fires. Long, glimmering, twisting lines of fire with wind-whipped mares tails of smoke heading out over the land for miles, blocking views of the land and the beaches.
It's a scene from hell. LAX is completely obscured. So is much of Northern San Diego County, Orange County, and northwards. The smoke cover is so thick that I'm reminded of the cloud cover over New Zealand. Except this cloud cover is more deadly.
I'm thankful that we moved our flights to change planes in SFO and my heart goes out to everyone left behind.
It's an uneventful flight (the best kind, as Dad always says). We land in Maui with our final approach over pineapple plantations and surf breaks on the North shore. Munro is pretty happy.
Luggage, check. Boogie board, check. Car at rental place, check. Now for lunch at Mama's Fish House (recommended by the guard at the rental gate).
It's windy here as we wend our way through Pa'ia to the infamous Fish House. We are a bit cranky (well, he is, I'm ready for a Mai Tai and some fish).
Mama's is on the beach in a lovely setting and decorated with "found" objects. Now everyone will tell you to go here. Be prepared - we spent over $120 for lunch and had:
1 mai tai (me)
1 rum punch (Munro)
1 hearts of palm salad (teeny tiny bits of palm, and expensive)
1 main course (not even the most expensive at $36)
1 glass of wine (mediocre sauvignon blanc, shared).
The food was decent. Not outrageousely good, but decent. It's an easy $100 plus per head. Now I'm no cheapskate where fine dining is concerned, but I expect value. West steak house in Carlsbad delivers amazing value for the buck (and you pay mucho bucks there, but I'd move in - it's that wonderful). West, worth it. Mama's, not so much.
We leave and head out to do some basic grocery shopping. We're staying at a condo-hotel so we can pack picnics and make our own breakfasts. Our hotel is nice and we upgrade to a 9th floor room with sweeping views of the bottom half of the island and Molokini across the water. We're both a bit shattered from the flight and not much sleep the night before, so it's an early night.
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