Thursday, August 7, 2008

Maui Day 2

Maui Day 2-

Tuesday July 22nd


This morning we had to wake up a little bit early so we could go to a welcome breakfast/orientation type of thing. It was offered to us through Expedia, so we figured we should go to learn about all of the different excursions we could sign up for. Plus, they offered free continental breakfast, which was nice. The orientation was held at a different resort called Resortquest Kaanapali Shores and it was just a little ways up from where we were staying. We got there a little early, so we walked down to the beach for a few minutes.












































Overall, the meeting was informative and we got a nice breakfast out of it. We stayed behind after it was over and signed up for all of our excursions through Dave the Expedia guy and he pretty much planned our week out for us. Overall, Expedia did a fairly good job on our room and our excursions, however, after this trip, we think we'll sign up for the excursions in Lahaina Town since it appears that the same or similar excursions were cheaper at the booths on Front St. Just a little tip for you if you ever find yourself in Maui...

In the afternoon, we drove down to Front St. in Lahaina Town. It was only maybe 5 minutes from our resort. We ate at a local deli called 'No Ka Oi Deli' (which means The Best Deli). It was very, very good and fresh. You know you're at a good place when you see the locals eating there PLUS the prices were fairly low. I would definitely recommend you try this place if you're ever in Maui.































After lunch, we decided to shop. Front St is a well known street in Maui that has tons of shops. It's fairly crowded and finding parking can be a bit tricky. When we had gotten off our plane, they had given us a coupon to a place called Hilo Hattie's. It was right across from the deli, so we went there first. Don't make the same mistake I did and spend over an hour at just one place! We spent a lot of time and money at this one store only to find that there was a TON more stores to see. Plus, a lot of the stuff we found at Hilo Hattie's we also found elsewhere at a lower price and there are definitely No Refunds because the shop owners are hip to that game! ;)
















Anyway, we shopped at a few more places and I got a hand painted sarong plus a couple of really cute Hawaiian dresses. Chris got TWO count them TWO Hawaiian shirts! I'll make sure he wears them around Houston, that's for sure! LOL We cut our shopping short because it was getting too easy to keep buying and buying, so we forced ourselves to call it a day at shopping.......


After shopping we went back to the hotel to spend some time on the beach.









































































We decided to try out a restaurant right next to our hotel. The Westin is located on a beach called Kaanapali Beach as well as a bunch of other hotels. There is a sidewalk that goes along the beach and hotels, so you can walk up and down the whole beach side and visit the different restaurants and hotels. There's also a sort of outside mall called Whaler's Village along the sidewalk as well. If you go to the very end of the sidewalk, it ends at a rock called Black Rock where a lot of people say is a great place to snorkel, however, we never made it that far down although we wanted to. Anyway, after shopping, we walked down to a restaurant called Leilani's, which was pretty expensive. Each plate ranged from 18.00 to 30+ for an entree. We thought the food was good but we could tell that the cooks rushed making it (maybe because they were super busy). My shrimp was definitely overcooked and Chris' steak was overcooked on the outside (almost burnt in some places). Our waitress wasn't very friendly either and just came off as snobby, which was also a turnoff. Overall, we didn't really care for Leilani's too much but I think it has the potential to be pretty good I guess.The view was really nice from our table though. Also, we saw a pretty rainbow (which actually we saw a LOT of rainbows in Maui) after dinner.



























After dinner, we watched our first sunset on the beach, which was so beautiful.
























































That night we decided to go out to a bar on Front St called Moose's. One of the local boys at a store called Rip Curl in Lahaina Town suggested this place earlier in the day since they were having $1 drinks. We went and had cheap, good drinks and danced to some good music. We met some other travelers and overall had a fun time.

When we got back to the hotel, the lot was full. When the lot gets full at the Westin, they will valet your car for you at no charge, so that's what we had to do. (This is mentioned for a reason btw)


Tuesday was a great day overall. :)

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