It's now the evening of our last night in Hawaii, and I can honestly say - the weather has been truly and amazingly uncharacteristically wet, rainy, stormy and windy for Hawaii. Only today, our last full day, have we had what would be considered a "typical" Hawaii climate.
Because Tony and I are very similar in that our interests run in about the same general topics (fine food, fine wine, good looking boys, gossip and work, to support all of the above habits), we have found ways to entertain ourselves on Maui that don't necessarily involve laying by the pool or on the beach, soaking up the rays. Thus, we've been on a mission to see as much of the island and to enjoy as many diverse dining experiences as possible, preferably in tandem.
To that end, here's a list of some of the food/travel highlights:
Hawaiian Plate Lunch: I have absolutely fallen in love with the Hawaiian plate lunch. It successfully melds Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hawaiian and American culture into one meal, but not in the cloying and annoying way like so many restaurants on the mainland when combining diverse ethnic dishes. Tony loves the saimen, a soup similar to pho, but a bit sweeter and with more easily identifiable foods than traditional pho. I'm particularly fond of the noodle dishes: I love the chow fun and soon fun, thick rice noodles with a fermented black bean sauce and twice cooked beef. As well, traditional plate dishes, with steamed pork and other meats, the scoops of sticky rice, lomi-lomi (a salmon ceviche with tomatoes) and poy, abound. We've been to Da Kitchen in Kihei twice and Aloha Mixed Plate twice. The latter also makes kick-ass mai-tais.
Mai Tai: I would almost never be caught dead drinking a mai tai in the states - everyone knows that my first choice is usually a cosmo or wine. But the mai tais here are quite good; the best was at Moose McGuillicudy's in LaHaina. I also slurped down four during the luau. When tony asked me how many it had been when I got the fourth one, I looked at him and whispered "four" while the male in one of the four out of six wholesome couples at our table smirked at Tony, as if to say, "you lucky bastard"; little did he know that thanks to Polish genes and practice, I can drink like a fish and that Tony isn't into girls. Mai tais are definitely a very good Hawaiian tradition.
Mama's Fish House. Undoubtedly, one of our favorite restaurants in Hawaii: we stopped for lunch on our way to Hana (a two hour affair that cut our trip a little short) and during dessert, decided that we had to eat there once again for dinner on our last night. This is how great Mama's is: some whackjob drove his SUV into the airport and set it on fire, delaying flights by at least a day. A stranded traveler was quoted in the paper saying, "well, we'll just stay another day and it's a good excuse to go to mama's once again".
The Beaches. Due to uncooperative weather, time in the sun was severely limited. We did spend a bit of time at Hamoa Beach near Hana (black sand), and on our last day, spent several hours at Little Makena, located next to Big Makena. Little Makena was slightly rocky (I have scrapes on my shins and bruises on my legs to prove it); it was also what the guide book calls "clothing optional", with about 90% of visitors choosing the option of no clothing. You can guess which category I chose. Also, Little Makena attracts a large gay population, and at one point, I realized that I was surrounded by a sea of men, none of whom appreciated my best attributes.
Road to Hana. We braved the Road to Hana, which after having heard countless horror stories realized that it's not as bad as most people make it out to be. Incredibly twisty and turny, but well maintained and completely paved. The day before, we had driven throughout the north end of the island, which was far worse. Basically, if you've driven highway 17 to Santa Cruz or up in the Siskiyous, the Road to Hana is just fine. The journey to Hana is absolutely stunning. Verdant (Tony's words), lush, green, flora/fauna--it's incredibly spectacular. We stopped to enjoy two of many waterfalls and to take one short hike.
