Trip report 5/18 - 5/28 Part II (not quite as long I hope!)

(continued)

Wed -

We%26#39;d made a date for snorkeling with Dan %26amp; Lisa, who%26#39;d offered to take us out to snorkel with the giant sea turtles in Napili. The trades were finally in full swing here, it was really windy!! We walked over to Honokeana cove and entered off of the sharp lava here...not the greatest entry, would have been better to walk farther to Napili Point, where there are stairs down to the water... We kicked out a ways and found several med sized turtles, who seemed to be just as interested in us, as we were them! Funny! After kicking a way%26#39;s further, we came upon BigBoy... about a four-hundrend pounder! Teri was a bit freaked when she first saw him coming at her! The break was semi-large that day and they get shoved almost into you really quickly from it, if you%26#39;re not careful ! Awesome experience!! Exiting where we entered was even trickier. Especially with the break now getting larger! We finally made our way out, with a few minor cuts %26amp; scrapes... So, it%26#39;s Wednesday in paradise...what necessity could be pressing enough to demand our immediate presence?? Of course...it%26#39;s the American Idol finale -- OH brother!!! Luckily, I was recipient of the bf of the year award, %26amp; didn%26#39;t bi+ch too much about this. We went back to the Villa %26amp; had salad%26#39;s and left over pizza %26amp; pasta from last night - even better today!!

Thurs -

I am starting to get panicky about leaving %26amp; awoke really early for my morning jog/walk around the Kapalua resort. I can think of no better location on earth for a stroll ! I decide that today will be a pool day at the Ritz - it%26#39;s amazing that we haven%26#39;t even been over there yet, the beaches were so wonderful !! Normally, I%26#39;m more of a resort snob (well, not really..), I really enjoy lounging at the amazing pools in the ritzy resorts... The Ritz pool is nice, a bit too cold for the gf, who prefers bath temp water... I am entertained by the smug, rather snobby look on a number of faces of those who are sunning at the pool !! I think to myself....gee, did I have this look too at one time?? HA!! Anyway, I decide that I%26#39;m glad the resort is closing for a large re-do, it is actually showing some age! We headed back to the Villa %26amp; cooked the rest of those %26#39;OnoDog%26#39;s%26#39; at the Ridge pool BBQ - did I say I%26#39;ve never seen such spotless Grills?? We spent several hours here at our nearly private pool, and finally hit the Villa to freshen up for dinner. Decided on the Outback right up the road in Kahana, and it was an excellent choice! I eat here more than occasionally, but was pleasingly surprised at the great service and perfectly cooked Filet%26#39;s, also gf had the add-on shrimp, which she said was incredible! Guess sometimes we%26#39;re just simple folk, not too difficult to please! After dinner, we drove to Lahaina Cannery and Whaler%26#39;s Village for some souvenir shopping...

Fri-

After my morning joe on the lanai, %26amp; my scenic jog (I NEED to buy my own Villa!!), we decide to call the Kapalua shuttle to take us down to Kapalua Beach. 3min later, the driver is there, %26amp; loads our chairs, boards and snorkel stuff in %26amp; we%26#39;re dropped right at the foot of the tunnel to the beach! Kapalua beach is just gorgeous!!! We do some snorkeling %26amp; kick it on the beach for hours... Finally called the shuttle, and by the time we walked through the tunnel, the driver was parked and waiting for us!!! What a great guy too!! We get all ready for Kimo%26#39;s visit #2 and Warren %26amp; Anabelle%26#39;s. At Kimo%26#39;s we are immediately escorted to our table upstairs on the rail, the server says he understands that Jack has reserved a special chunk of Prime especially for the man! GF orders Ono, cooked Kimo%26#39;s style and after several MaiTai%26#39;s %26amp; Lahaina Lemonade%26#39;s our entree%26#39;s arrive with a jaw drop! My plate has the most awesome hunk of Prime beef I%26#39;ve seen! Two full pounds, about 155 degrees and perfectly medium rare!! The prime almost melted in my mouth!! Yuuummmy!!! GF%26#39;s Ono was just amazing as well... After dinner, out server returns and says that Jack has taken care of our entire dinner! True Aloha spirit here at Kimo%26#39;s!!! We hit Warren %26amp; Anabelle%26#39;s for the second show (when 1st sells out, they normally add a 2nd..) at about 8:15. The Annabelle part of the show is a bit cheesy, but we make the best %26amp; suck down a few tropical%26#39;s... Warren is great! Such an entertainer, the gf thought the show was awesome! I had fun, but wouldn%26#39;t do it again....unless he made a Deed of Trust to a Kapalua Villa appear with my name on it....

Sat -

Pool day...private pool, to be specific! Awesome, had the whole enchilada to ourselves! Early afternoon we both got a craving for that Pizza Paradiso %26amp; I slammed the Mustang to Honokowai !! Wasn%26#39;t quite as good as the 1st time, but still best pie on Maui by a longshot!!! We hit pool some more %26amp; got cleaned up to hit the Pineapple Grill for the Saturday special (50% off bar menu %26amp; half portions of regular menu on Fri %26amp; Sat after 8pm). To our dismay, the lot at the Grill was JAM packed!! All these folks dressed to the tee are walking around... apparently, the place was hosting some $200/plate fundraiser and my boardshorts (errr..%26amp; my wallet.) weren%26#39;t gonna%26#39; cut it! We decided to hit Whalers %26amp; grab a pager at both Hula %26amp; Leilani%26#39;s, hitting whichever buzzed 1st... Both were over an hour wait!! So, I sucked it in %26amp; decided to visit the enemy.... Rusty Harpoon!! In the past, this has been a good place for drinks, particularly happy hour, but the food leaves LOADS to be desired... The menu is an over priced disaster, the bathrooms remind me of the Sebring I rented from Alamo - filthy! And our server appears to have indulged in a bit much of the Maui ';Pakalolo';... GF orders the Clam Chowder bowl %26amp; a salad %26amp; I order a 4piece ';slider'; burger plate off the kids menu at six bucks... HEY! Call me ';thrifty'; (or cheap, if you must..), but I refuse to be hosed on a $40 Sizzler-quality meal !! Anyway the soup was great but cold and my little sliders surprised the hell out of me - pretty darn good!! Mr. Metcalf, I guess your joint get%26#39;s a passing grade after all ! After this, we hit the beachwalk to the Hyatt... to remeniss about the previous experience(s) here..

Sun-

Hit the pool once again, and drove over to Dollie%26#39;s in Kahana for some sandwiches... The Pastrami gf had was the bomb and my chicken club was good except it was slathered in onions, which I%26#39;d asked NOT to be included. I%26#39;d have sent it back, except the server dropped the plates so quickly, then disappeared... I%26#39;d have probably had to search the beach for her!! We then cruised over to Kahekili (Airport) beach, since the weather looked slightly inclement up north and this was our LAST full day (I%26#39;m choking back tears all day long at this point....WAH!!!) The beach is really nice these days - been quite awhile since I%26#39;ve been here - I imagine the Westin OR had to shell out some ducats for all the improvements over here... Great BBQ area %26amp; really nice lawn area, for when the wind starts kicking up mondo-sand in your face on the beach!! Didn%26#39;t take too long for the sprinkles to start, so we decided to take a drive South to visit the other enemy...Kihei (I%26#39;m kidding, silly!!) Weather was slightly better here, but it being Memorial day wknd, the folks were out in droves!!! Made our way down to Kamaole III and should have kept going.... Sorry, but this used to be a really nice beach years ago!! There were a number of unsavory looking characters wandering around; and the picnic areas and bathrooms were thrashed... GF was paranoid, but I convinced her to mellow out... After all, she%26#39;s got ';Kwai Chang Caine'; to protect her!! The weather here didn%26#39;t improve much, surprisingly. I realize this is not the norm... So we returned to our Villa to pack on our last night. I had to get a paper bag in case I started to hyperventilate due to having to leave the following day... Our last meal would be a most memorable one, as we decided to try the Sea House at the Napili Kai. The place is just beautiful and the setting reminds me of Mama%26#39;s, without the prices! Teri ordered Surf %26amp; Turf, which was a bit small (4oz ea..) for 45 bucks, but ONOlicious! I had an excellent 1/2 lb cheeseburger...something I%26#39;d been craving since we%26#39;d been there! On the way to the lot, it started POURING rain!!! Buckets, like Florida rain!!! This was a sign our paradise was ending....

Mon -

I kissed (literally..) the Villa good bye, to make sure it remembered me, and treated me as well on our next trip here.

We then hit the road to the airport, and back to sad, sad reality...

I am truly sorry for the length, but it was part of my healing process!

Trip report 5/18 - 5/28 Part II (not quite as long I hope!)

What an AWESOME trip report!! We leave in two more weeks, and St John has always been ';our place';, so I am looking forward to discovering great places like you mentioned to return to time and time again! Hubby loves prime rib, so we%26#39;ll have to keep that location in mind! :) Thanks again!

Trip report 5/18 - 5/28 Part II (not quite as long I hope!)

Luv_2_Travel, thanks for the props! For a visual of that awesome Prime Rib, check the photo album:

…webshots.com/slideshow/559232635zSgQKE

Have a great trip!

MauiNKO

Wow. Amazing photos!! Dangit - two more weeks...

We are taking our 9 month old, but grandparents will be with us for a little over half the trip. Kimo%26#39;s looked fantastic!!

Thanks for sharing!!!

Sounds and looks like you had a good time. Mahalo for your report.

LOL - the enemy, and the other enemy. I%26#39;m giggling here.

Sounds like a wonderful trip. I too just love the Kapalua Villas. Very peaceful.

Hope you get to go back before too long.

I%26#39;m sorry to hear your report on Kam III. Anyone else know about the conditions at the Kam beaches? Is one better than another to avoid filthy bathrooms and unsavory characters? Sharing a beach is one thing, being intimidated in a public area is another...

Great report.... and not too long, you kept it interesting! I totally agree with you about the pizza Yum!

I do have something to help with the healing process... do you have your credit card out?

rusty harpoon??? by a seasoned maui vet like mauiNOKaOi,say it aint so!!!! u have to wonder how that place stys in bus. went there on our very first trip to maui about 14 years ago,uhhhhhhhhhh haven%26#39;t been back there since.

thanks for taking the lengthy time to share your experiences.

I was at Kam III on Monday for a family bar-b-q and either we have vastly different definitions of ';trashed'; or they did wonders cleaning everything up in one day. Recently picnic tables were painted and new grills were installed at many of them. The restrooms are typical rustic beach restrooms, with concrete floors, but I didn%26#39;t see anything that looked trashed. The floors are usually wet (it is a beach park!) but they are cleaned and restocked daily. As for the ';unsavory characters,'; maybe you saw my husband? With his tats and long hair and brown skin he can look pretty fierce, especially when playing the slip %26#39;n%26#39; slide with his neices and nephews. or maybe you saw my pouty 16 year old, who has decided to be emo this year? That can be pretty scary.

Kai; tat%26#39;s, long hair %26amp; brown skin doesn%26#39;t shake me a bit -- in fact, sounds like many of my pahtnah%26#39;s (I%26#39;m inked myself...).

The characters that freaked my gf were (2 groups) right in the pkng lot, with the subs blastin%26#39; %26amp; totally eyeballin%26#39; all the ';Jones%26#39;s'; driving in, in obvious rental cars... Normally, I fit right in to most scenes in the islands, but since I was crusin the Mustang convert, we became obvious eyeball targets... I wasn%26#39;t sure weather to keep the top up or leave it down, thinking they might slash away on it, like many have mentioned on here...

Far as the bathrooms, I can say that they weren%26#39;t nearly as bad as the one%26#39;s on Wailea beach! I%26#39;d just left West side %26amp; I guess I was spoiled cause all of the beach areas over there -- even on the holiday wknd -- were very clean %26amp; orderly!!